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American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Having read the FAQ's you are still unfulfilled and seek more enlightenment, so post your general lock picking questions here.
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American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 19 Mar 2015 1:16

LOL, I said I wanted something more challenging in a lock because the ones I have been picking were boring... Well I got an American 1105 today and racked it open a few times but then tried to SPP it... not happening! I had to take it apart to see what they did to this thing.

bidding wasnt too bad 73644 but all of the key pins were serrated and it has 3 serrated driver pins and 2 serrated spools. WOW that one is tough!

I am going to have to take it apart and drop it down to 2 or 3 pins first just to get practice SPPing it with those...

Dont know if this was the right place to post this because it seems that this is the question section, If there is a more appropriate place for this I am sorry I didnt see it.

UnlockingBoredom
Last edited by Squelchtone on 19 Mar 2015 7:53, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: added American 1105 padlock to the title so folks can get a better preview of what the post will be about. Please help by making titles give readers a hint of what theyre about to click.
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby nickmannnxx » 22 Mar 2015 14:22

I love those americans! I had a lot of trouble with the 1105 at first. But I eventually found that if I added extra tension it helped alot. With the extra tension I would get one click when I pushed on a pin. With light tension I would sometimes get 2-4 clicks at once and the pin would be overset. I also started going through all of the pins, pushing until I got one click, then on to the next. It has taken me a while but I can now use light tension again as I am starting to be able to tell the difference between how a serration and a set pin feels
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby nickmannnxx » 22 Mar 2015 14:30

Also if you would like to make your 1105 a little easier while still keeping 5 pins stacks, you could replace some of your serrated American pins with plain Master lock pins.

I had some old laminated 4 pin masters that were so easy to pick it wasnt funny.
I ground off the pins that held it together with a file (grinder would be faster) and took it apart to retrieve the cylinder.
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby KPick » 22 Mar 2015 14:31

With the american locks. You have to know what you're looking for. When picking those locks, there is a sound (clicks) you have to listen for. Also, the feel of the clicks give them away. Its more like Click, Click, Clack. If you hear another click after the clack, most likely you progressed to oversetting a pin.
◄╕╒═►ĸρ‬‬îск◄═╕╔══►◄═╕╔══►◄═╕╔══►◄═╕╔══►нттрѕ://шшш.Ιοскpіскiиg1ο1.сοм/
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 22 Mar 2015 18:14

Thanks for the reply's, I took out the front 2 pins for now and am just working with it as a 3 pin lock (but in the back instead of the front) I have a lot of the Masters sitting around so taking out the driver pins and using them in this is a good idea... only have 1 spool and 1 serrated and the other normal.

I am really good at over setting pins!!! LOL
At least I have picked it a few times with the 3 pins and when I get up to being able to pick it with ease any time I want then I will be adding another pin until I can pick that with ease.

I dont want to thin my Sparrow's picks so I am in the process of making a set that is thinner for these tiny locks.. not much room for normal picks in a 1105 keyway.

I have tried it with a bit more tension and I lock it up real quick so right now I have to stay with kind of light tension but will try it with a little more I guess... Sure wish I had a bigger lock with bigger pins! this little lock has tiny pins...

UnlockingBoredom
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby Comrade627 » 22 Mar 2015 19:27

Too much pressure of your tensioner causes a really tight bind on the pins. When you try to lift an overtorqued pin it doesn't want to go, but when it does it's likley to overset.

For everything your lock tells you, there's a clue to be taken from it.
Overset = less tension
Counter rotation = spool pin
Etcetc.
Remember: Pick something every day, no matter how small and insignificant it may be…it helps maintain proficiency.”

SPP purist.
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby smokingman » 22 Mar 2015 23:29

If you haven't tried this already, put your tension tool in the top of the keyway
to get more room for the pick. :)
What is the best way to educate the masses? ... " A television in every home."
What is the best way to control the masses? ... " A television in every room."
From "Charlie" AKA " Flowers for Algernon"
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 23 Mar 2015 0:24

Finally got this thing picked...
I went with 3 pins in the back of the lock (still with the serrated and spoorated pins) and picked it 10 times.
I then went to 4 pins (2 serrated and 2 spoorated pins) and picked that 10 times.
I just put the 5th pin back in about 2 hours ago and it took me over an hour to pick it the first time ( i keep over setting pins because of too much pressure on the tension wrench (TKW)) but then I started letting up on the pressure and voila.... it opened.

I have picked it around 8 times now, with my shortest time being around 2 minutes. Now I will have to take it apart and have the wife select the order of how the pins will go back in so as not to give myself an advantage by seeing the bidding beforehand... :D

I want to thank you all for your comments and help, If I can start picking this with regularity, then I will try to add in a 6th pin in the last hole :shock:


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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby nick08037 » 23 Mar 2015 7:28

UnlockingBoredom wrote:Finally got this thing picked...
I went with 3 pins in the back of the lock (still with the serrated and spoorated pins) and picked it 10 times.
I then went to 4 pins (2 serrated and 2 spoorated pins) and picked that 10 times.
I just put the 5th pin back in about 2 hours ago and it took me over an hour to pick it the first time ( i keep over setting pins because of too much pressure on the tension wrench (TKW)) but then I started letting up on the pressure and voila.... it opened.

I have picked it around 8 times now, with my shortest time being around 2 minutes. Now I will have to take it apart and have the wife select the order of how the pins will go back in so as not to give myself an advantage by seeing the bidding beforehand... :D

I want to thank you all for your comments and help, If I can start picking this with regularity, then I will try to add in a 6th pin in the last hole :shock:


UnlockingBoredom


Hello UnlockingBoredom,

That is great work, glad to know that you were able to work it out. Reminds me of the "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" joke.

“Practice, practice, practice!”

-Nick
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 23 Mar 2015 22:53

Wow, I am very glad I got the 1105 with all its security pins, Well and the help of all you here.
I have put the pins in all different positions and now picking it is very easy, I was not a good SPP'er working with the Master locks, schlage and quickset's I mostly zipped or raked them open. I went back to the Master locks with no security pins and they are now extremely easy to SPP.

I have only been playing with picking locks for a little over a month now (well, on and off) and with the advice from you guys I have upped my picking ability a lot and I thank you all



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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 24 Mar 2015 2:00

Any advice as to what lock to look for next? The 1105 is getting boring now so I want something a little more challenging. Is the 5200 series harder? I am going to look for a video camera so I can post some videos on youtube like all those other guys just for fun. Is there a group of people that trade locks to get new ones to pick? Not that I have many locks, and the ones I have are pretty easy.....

Brain wandering again.....

Thanks for any advice on what lock to try next.


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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 25 Mar 2015 23:44

Well, I added a 6th pin to the 1105 today.... now it is hard and I am having fun trying to get this open. I get it to a false set and then I find what spool pin is causing it, I lift the pin but then I hear all the other pins I have set up to that point fall back down so I start over...

I also picked up a Master lock that has the removable core, I picked it in 4 minutes and took it apart. It only has spool pins so no wonder it wasnt hard. The weird thing about it was when I took out the core it didnt have a C clip on the back of the plug, It was just pinched in so it couldnt come out. I took my dremel tool and got rid of the part that they crimped on and after I got the plug out I finished grinding it off then filed flat and smooth so I could fit a C clip on it. I added a 6th pic to that one as well so now I have 2 locks that are a PITA to pick :D

When I get to the point I can pick these, then I will start looking for a Medico or some thing similar.


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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby Divinorum » 26 Mar 2015 20:20

UnlockingBoredom wrote:Well, I added a 6th pin to the 1105 today.... now it is hard and I am having fun trying to get this open. I get it to a false set and then I find what spool pin is causing it, I lift the pin but then I hear all the other pins I have set up to that point fall back down so I start over...

I also picked up a Master lock that has the removable core, I picked it in 4 minutes and took it apart. It only has spool pins so no wonder it wasnt hard. The weird thing about it was when I took out the core it didnt have a C clip on the back of the plug, It was just pinched in so it couldnt come out. I took my dremel tool and got rid of the part that they crimped on and after I got the plug out I finished grinding it off then filed flat and smooth so I could fit a C clip on it. I added a 6th pic to that one as well so now I have 2 locks that are a PITA to pick :D

When I get to the point I can pick these, then I will start looking for a Medico or some thing similar.


UnlockingBoredom


Keep at it, you will get it eventually. I find that changing things up helps sometimes. You can fall into a routine with a lock and get frustrated. You may feel confident on the binding order or how far to set a pin and stubbornness to try something different can be your worst enemy. That has happened to me a few times. Also FYI some master lock cores do not have a C clip. Instead they come apart by turning the plug in a specific direction (usually opposite way you turn the key). When turned this way it allows it to pass the crimp. I learned this lesson the hard way to :wink:
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby UnlockingBoredom » 27 Mar 2015 11:38

Divinorum wrote:Keep at it, you will get it eventually. I find that changing things up helps sometimes. You can fall into a routine with a lock and get frustrated. You may feel confident on the binding order or how far to set a pin and stubbornness to try something different can be your worst enemy. That has happened to me a few times. Also FYI some master lock cores do not have a C clip. Instead they come apart by turning the plug in a specific direction (usually opposite way you turn the key). When turned this way it allows it to pass the crimp. I learned this lesson the hard way to :wink:


Well I can pick both locks with ease now, I guess its time to rearrange the pins again... ( I know its time when I picked the lock while talking to my wife and didnt even realize that I was picking the thing..)

I met a great guy (locksmith) at the local swap meet and he gave me a bunch of locks (mostly Masters) but a few other kinds and he said that if I can make it back next week he will give me some more and I will be pleased with them.. :D

I also stopped by a locksmith shop to see if they had more C clips, just in case I do something stupid again. The guy in the shop was a complete ! He looked at me like I was doing something wrong when I told him I took a lock apart after picking it and then repined it and needed C clip just in case I had to grind off the end. He apparently doesnt like lock pickers that are not certified locksmiths, He starts to test me like I was his apprentice..

After handing me a few locks and I tell him what kind of pins are in it and tell him they are easy to pick (which he said the American is unpick-able!) He proceeds to open his safe and pulls out a key like it was the Ark of the Covenant (I swear he was praying at the time) and tells me that this key cannot get into the hands of normal people, only a locksmith with certain papers can get them and the lock it goes to is unpick-able... It was a dimple lock key (not the one with the magnets) I cant remember what manufacture at the moment.. but when I say "yeah I saw a guy on the internet pick that one, just all but kicked me out of his store)

I wasnt trying to be impolite to him so I dont know why he acted that way... oh well, at least I made a friend of the other locksmith and at least I have not been bored for the last month while reading here and picking my locks.. Thanks to all of you for your help
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Re: American 1105 padlock - What did I get myself into?

Postby nick08037 » 27 Mar 2015 12:20

Without making a judgement on your experience or by others on the forum, I am sometimes self conscious about the hobby part of my lock interest in the context of the work done everyday by smiths and tradesmen.

Maybe not a great example but we all know how to cook some, then there is the passionate amateur in the kitchen, but how would either of these folks causally approach a professional chef and have a conversation about food preparation?

Another example is the personal computer (how I hate that name) almost everyone has owned one but how does their interest, knowledge and experience compare to operation/support of the same equipment used daily to conduct business in the workplace?

-Nick
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