What did you pick today?

[Robotnik]

Went throwback style with this 6-pin Yale Super Pin Tumbler.

[Robotnik]

After some attempts that resulted in hitting control a few more times, finally hit operating on the 7-pin unbranded SFIC I posted about last week.

[Squelchtone]

Went throwback style with this 6-pin Yale Super Pin Tumbler.

Nice work on that Yale, I have one just like it on my desk at work, people come in and pick it up and play with it.

What are you using to take the nice photos? (camera and light source)

Thanks!
Squelchtone

[ckielcave]

Hi..

some one gave me this at work today with no key..

Slaymaker Rustless .. Since i dont have the good picking tool for that type of lock yet.. i went through my key.. and a Secure lock key did the job
Ok i know technically i dint pick it.. BUT got it open !

[Robotnik]

Nice work on that Yale, I have one just like it on my desk at work, people come in and pick it up and play with it.

What are you using to take the nice photos? (camera and light source)

Thanks!
Squelchtone

The camera is my iPhone from a couple generations back, and I use a flexible board of white polypropylene as a background (usually). I recently converted our house's can lights to LEDs, which produce a decent light for photos like this. Pics can still be a bit yellow/orange in raw form, though, so I sometimes apply a slight hue correction in Photoshop (or, if I'm on my tablet and don't want to get up off the couch, Photobucket's hue tool will work). Definitely not the highest-tech setup, but I have a long background in 35mm & 120mm film photography, so I make it work until the day I spring for a good DSLR .

[Robotnik]

Hi..

some one gave me this at work today with no key..

Slaymaker Rustless .. Since i dont have the good picking tool for that type of lock yet.. i went through my key.. and a Secure lock key did the job
Ok i know technically i dint pick it.. BUT got it open !

I have the same padlock, oddly enough. It was my first attempt at impressioning, though it turned out to be a bit of a letdown. I smoked some brass stock after shaping it, got two marks from the wards, filed each them down ~1-2mm, prepped the blank again...and the lock opened when I went to mark it a second time.

A long while later, I found an old Slaymaker warded lock key at a curiosities shop and bought it, thinking it would at least fit the keyway of one of the three Slaymakers I have (and I could thus file it into a skeleton key). It turned out to fit the Rustless.

I did not, however, need to file it into a skeleton key, because it opened the lock without alteration.

None of this is meant to down your opening of your Slaymaker. Far as I'm concerned, open is open; nice work. I for one feature mine proudly on my 'Defeated Locks' list .

[Robotnik]

OnGuard bike u-lock. Believe this class of lock may be restricted from open discussion, so I won't go too deep into specifics about pick techniques and mechanics of operation . It's a bit of an interesting lock; you'd think disc detainer when first looking at it, but in fact is something quite different.

[femurat]

Good job Robotnik. You filled this page with interesting and different locks. What kind of lock is the last one?

Cheers

[Snakedoc]

Found this in my lock box and realized I never picked an Everest before. Needless to say it was not a challenge at all. What do you guys think about the Primus? How hard is it to pick the sidebar pins?

[Squelchtone]

Nice work on that Everest. What did you use to get the check pin up and did you do that first or after the regular pins were set?

I think you'll find the Primus much more difficult than the Everest. That single check pin does not compare to all those sidebar finger pins.

Nice pick, keep at it!
Squelchtone

[Snakedoc]

Nice work on that Everest. What did you use to get the check pin up and did you do that first or after the regular pins were set?

I think you'll find the Primus much more difficult than the Everest. That single check pin does not compare to all those sidebar finger pins.

Nice pick, keep at it!
Squelchtone

Thanks man, I used a peterson short hook to pick the check pin. After setting 2 pins I found the rest springy so I inserted my hook sideways and found the check pin, pushed it up till I felt a small give in the core. Went back and finished off the rest but the core still wouldn't turn...... Inserted the hook sideways again and hit the sidebar pin...... Open!

[hag3l3]

Had some fun today.
I have completed testing on A ford jiggle key. And after many romps through the junkyard.
Very happy to say that my ford jiggle key works marvelous.
Picked 10 best cores to control. Then tried to make a Nissan jiggle key... so far still working on it. ....
only opens erratically. All in all, fun times.

[Robotnik]

Nice work on that Everest. What did you use to get the check pin up and did you do that first or after the regular pins were set?

I think you'll find the Primus much more difficult than the Everest. That single check pin does not compare to all those sidebar finger pins.

Nice pick, keep at it!
Squelchtone

Thanks man, I used a peterson short hook to pick the check pin. After setting 2 pins I found the rest springy so I inserted my hook sideways and found the check pin, pushed it up till I felt a small give in the core. Went back and finished off the rest but the core still wouldn't turn...... Inserted the hook sideways again and hit the sidebar pin...... Open!

Interesting; out of the half-dozen or so Everest cylinders I've opened, the check pin has been a nonissue until the end (i.e, all six top pins are set, then I trip the check pin with a very thin SouthOrd tension wrench/wiper insert and the plug turns). Didn't know the check pin could be a factor while setting the top pins; that's good to know.

[Robotnik]

Good job Robotnik. You filled this page with interesting and different locks. What kind of lock is the last one?

Cheers

OnGuard is a fairly common bicycle lock in the US, available at Target, Wal-Mart and other big box stores, as well as specialty bike shops. Here in the bike-obsessed city of Portland, OR, I'd say it's probably the second-most frequently encountered u-lock lock after Kryptonite disc detainers. The OnGuards appear to be disc detainers at first glance, but this and the other one I picked yesterday turned out to have a cylinder that approximated a sidewinder-style auto lock.

[Snakedoc]

This was my first Everest so I don't have anything to compare to but it would be interesting to hear other guys experience with the lock. This particular lock favors CCW picking and requires the check pin to be picked more than once. When providing CW tension, the check pin is the first binder but I struggle to fully pick the upper pins as they keep popping back down or refuse to bind at all.
Funny thing is....... All 7 used locks I bought on eBay this past month favor CCW picking, these include American, Schlage and Abus. Not sure if it's because of worn internals or a freak accident.