Problems with a cabinet wafer lock

[YetAnotherPicker]

Hello,

I am trying to pick a simple (i.e., not double and certainly not very high quality) cabinet wafer lock of a cabinet belonging to myself as a last resort before physically destroying the door.

I can easily feel and move all wafers, they move quite easily while having strong springs behind them. That part seems to be all as expected. Also, to confirm that it is indeed a wafer lock, I can actually see the lower parts of the waver rising when I manipulate wafers 1 and 2. That cabinet has two doors; I still have the key to the other one, so I know which way it turns.

The plug does not seem to fit very well - of course: cheap lock, high tolerances. That means, I can easily turn the plug a few degrees without applying any kind of tension at all. The problem is: when the plug is perfectly straight, all wafers can be moved completely up and down freely. But if I turn it ever so slightly, even after removing the tension tool, most if not all wafers do not move at all anymore. They seem to hit a very noticeable snag, and "nothing happens" even if I try to push them strongly. When I turn the plug back by the tiniest amount, all of them can be moved freely again. There does not seem to be a middle ground where I can make one of them click into place.

At no point do I have the feeling that any wafer in particular binds to anything. Either all of them move freely or, after turning the plug just a little bit (even by just pressing it with my thumb from outwards - seems just to be big play), the wafers move almost not at all.

If I try raking instead, I can clearly feel and hear that all wafers get pushed up and down freely when not rotating the plug, but when I start rotating it slightly (which does not need any particular amount of pressure at all, I can't manage to move it *less*), they all seem to freeze at the same time.

Does this mean that the lock is just completely borked, maybe some wafers bent etc.? Or is this normal behaviour for cheap cabinet locks, and I am missing a vital part about opening them?

Thanks in advance!

[cheerIO]

I would try over-lifting it.

Take a half diamond, turn it flat side up.
Raise all the wafers as high as they can go, make sure you go all the way back and get all of them.
Then apply tension to lock them up there.
Take out the pick.
Now slowly, ever so slowly, back off the tension.
Everytime you hear one of the wafers drop try to open the lock.

click, try to turn the plug, let off more tension, click, try to turn the plug, and so on.

[GWiens2001]

Just for giggles, pick it the other direction. Would not be the first time one was installed to turn the opposite direction.

Gordon

[Squelchtone]

Are you using a tension wrench and what kind of pick are you using? a snowman, half diamond, or s-rake are the fastest for wafer locks. upload a photo of the lock to http://imgur.com and link to it here.

You may also have the pick head inserted upsidedown, that's known to happen.

Thanks
Squelchtone

[somenewguy]

Aren't there waferlocks where the wafers are tapered outward to match a bevel in the plug?

[YetAnotherPicker]

Alright.

I tried over-lifting. I am pretty confident that I lifted everything up. I apply much tension, and all wafers seems to stay up. I slowly release tension, and most times 2, sometimes 3 wafers come down with a very noticable click. Sometimes, none come down, then I have to actively rotate the core back just with the tiniest amount of force. Looks like stuff is sticking up there.

The direction is most certainly correct, though I did try it the other way around, to no avail.

I use one of those cheap 9-piece sets and tried pretty much all of the picks (snake etc. for raking, all the usual stuff for SPP).

It is not upsidedown - you can actually see the first three wafers pretty well if the sun is just right .

Here are some pics from an open door on that cabinet.



Note that both keys fit another similar lock on the same cabinet - the particular rectangular form of the one is just for show, obviously.

[Squelchtone]

it looks like a double sided wafer, you need to rake the top AND bottom of the keyway to align them all.

example pic from google search:

[YetAnotherPicker]

I felt around on the lower side, and there are no movable parts there. The key only seems to be double sided so you can put it in either way. If you notice, the two sides of the key are completely symmetrical.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

I felt around on the lower side, and there are no movable parts there. The key only seems to be double sided so you can put it in either way. If you notice, the two sides of the key are completely symmetrical.

Called a convenience key; similar to automotive keys. Have you tried lubricating the lock prior to picking? Massive debate over the appropriate lubricant on this forum but for a one shot, one time thing it doesn't matter what you use. WD-40, Triflow, whatever you have around the house. See if that helps.

[YetAnotherPicker]

Alright, lubrification next. Thanks all for the hints!