What did you pick today?

[FancyPants]

So what's the point in 3 of those spools?

Unless you are ham fisted, they will never come into play as you would have to overset by a mile.

Looks a very chinky setup imo.

Seems a bit weird to me, too, but could you imagine if you HAD over set one a bit far? I'm sure we've all had a tight binder that we put a tad too much pressure on and had it just plunk right into the bore. Imagine you didn't notice it feeling weird going in and not knowing these pins were in the lock. You would simply have a large plug rotation that felt like a normal spool pin. When you'd apply pressure to the pin, it would seem like a normal spool pin.. that you would never, ever get. Remember you only need to screw up once You'd fight with it forever if you didn't reset the lock. I don't think lightening tension to let the single spool go back in the binding state would often result in a preferable outcome. It would also deter "backwards picking" that is sometimes, though rarely (to my understanding) utilized where all the pins are brought past shear line and then slowly let back into place by spring pressure, allowing a bit of a head start on a few pins at least.

That's all just me guessing though, I could be miles off from the truth. Maybe a more experienced member can shed some light on this? Definitely cool.

[Divinorum]

Tonight I picked an old American Lock. If my calculations are correct the date stamp UFL translates to June 1993. The lock is a Series 5260.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSDXOc9X1CE

[Divinorum]

This afternoon I picked my first fully pinned Mul-T-Lock It's a Mul-T-Lock Classic Jr with an 008 keyway. Picked with a half diamond and a small hook. Really happy about this one. When it turned open I did a happy dance. It feels like a big milestone.



4 Spools, 1 Standard.

[nite0wl]

Today, as I have every day for the past month I picked a pair of 5 pin Kwiksets (one double-deadbolt, one KnK) but more interestingly, two CompX mailbox locks. These CompX locks present a bit of a challenge, they have spring-loaded dust-covers which stand off about a quarter of an inch from the face of the plug and they seem to contain at least one spool pin in their 5 pin stacks. Luckily an original Peterson Pry Bar and a slender flat-tipped hook will still beat them.

[KPick]

Nice. At first glance they look like wafer locks.

[teamstarlet]

This afternoon I picked my first fully pinned Mul-T-Lock It's a Mul-T-Lock Classic Jr with an 008 keyway. Picked with a half diamond and a small hook. Really happy about this one. When it turned open I did a happy dance. It feels like a big milestone.

Nice work! They've always intrigued me but I've yet to give one a shot...

[hag3l3]

1 kaba 8 mortise cylinder, and 1 99 toyota rav4 ignition so far today. hoping more come in.
Forgot to mention the mortise was a dimple lock. new kit from china really paid for it self on this one.

[nite0wl]

Nice. At first glance they look like wafer locks.

It is hard to get a good angle with my camera but if you have one in your hand there is a pronounced 'tower' like protrusion enclosing the pin stacks. Of course when installed it would only become apparent that it was a pin tumbler instead of a wafer when you start working on them unless you were already familiar with the design (the front face of the lock has some unusual design features).

[KPick]

I think you're speaking about the design of the face of the lock. It is distinguishable.

[nite0wl]

I think you're speaking about the design of the face of the lock. It is distinguishable.

Exactly. A curved stamping on the face above the keyway reads "USPS-L-1172C" (a reference to a 2009 USPS Mailbox Improvement program which licensed the design for manufacture by CompX), this along with the dust cover and details of the outer facing make it easy to identify compared to the older manufacturer specific and white-box locks found on most mailboxes.

[FancyPants]

My locks from LocksmithArmy came in the mail today. Popped the schlages, the hitch lock and commando padlock almost instantly (read: easy pickings) while cowering from the JIS bilock style and a Geges that I'll have to get around to EVENTUALLY

[Robotnik]

Finally opened the Assa V-10 I referenced in a previous post. In my excitement at turning the plug, I blanked on the fact that I'd removed the tailpiece from the mortise cylinder for a previous shim attempt, so I got to play the lock equivalent of 52-card pickup with all the lock components after opening it. Oops.

[Robotnik]

The internal components (after I found them all )

[Divinorum]

Nice work on the ASSA. I played that game once and never found all the pieces. I'm amassed you didn't loose those tiny sidebar springs!

[Tighran]

Opened an old Yale wafer padlock as the first trial of a homemade low hook. Not a difficult pick at all, but I'm still putting some finishing touches on the pick.
Also got a Master 570 open that I picked up the other day... Nothing too challenging, but I'm still getting the hang of spools in a Master 140 and top-of-keyway tension using an American 5200 and a few others. Definitely making progress though and it feels good to improve!