so I just bought a medeco.

[south town ninja]

so medic has regional keyways?

[Squelchtone]

so medic has regional keyways?

the whole point of a high security lock is not just to be hard to pick or drill. restricted keyways and blank control are a big part of the equation.

Medeco has more keyways than we will ever know about as some of them even facility specific to a particular office building, corporation, etc, and it would be dumb of Medeco to post a nice diagram of all of them for us, so we can only speculate. Some keyways are known or more common, like G3 and S1, some have fancy names like Liberty, Patriot, Freedom and Gotham, and some keyways are exclusive Dealer Based Keyways which I guess would qualify as "regional" I have X3 keyway in my area, but I know a guy in Florida who has Z3 and I've never seen that around here.

fix your phone's auto correct!

[south town ninja]

its my computer. I don't know how to fix it and i hunt and peck, and forget to edit. Darn it. Is this gonna keep me from getting into advanced forums?

[Squelchtone]

its my computer. I don't know how to fix it and i hunt and peck, and forget to edit. Darn it. Is this gonna keep me from getting into advanced forums?

spelling Medeco wrong? no. not having enough basic experience, yes.

[south town ninja]

GRRRRR. oh well. I'll just keep on practicing and reapplying every 60 days until i get in. Maybe once I can Pick a medeco. ha, spelt it right that time.

[Squelchtone]

GRRRRR. oh well. I'll just keep on practicing and reapplying every 60 days until i get in. Maybe once I can Pick a medeco. ha, spelt it right that time.

Here's the thing, I think the one and only time you've applied it was the day you got 50 posts under your belt.. and we don't want the Advanced area to be a game of 20 basic questions from the newbies every time someone is let in, it's sorta expected you know your stuff if you are hanging out in Advanced. Too many people think its a place *to go learn* the Advanced stuff..(example from a real PM I got this year: I wanna start a lock out service, I'm new have 1 post here and you need to let me into your Automotive area, so I can learn how) and yes you can learn stuff there, but its more a place to discuss it freely with like minded people of similar ability level if you already know it, or have a pretty solid understanding of most of it. Not everyone may agree with this explanation but that's how I have always seen it.

I also saw the Advanced areas as a destination after taking the time to learn everything else the forum has to offer. I think too many people sign up here, see they don't have access, get butt hurt about it and then do nothing but make it their mission to put in their minimum time and posts just to apply for the pure sake of having something they're not allowed access to, when instead they should enjoy the enormity of the regular forums, learn, make friends, be part of the community, and then reap the rewards of extra access a little down the road. Make it something to work for and look forward to.

When I was new I didn't dare apply until I actually knew what I was talking about and was a good enough picker. I think at least a year went by here and I had over 300 posts before I felt like I had a shot to get in and had put in enough time in the regular forums where I could actually add to the conversation over in Advanced. It was also a matter of respect for those who worked their way up before me in order to get access, I knew it wasn't something I deserved the first day or week or month of being here, nobody here owed me that.

hope this helps anyone who reads it,
Squelchtone

[south town ninja]

Well put. Well, i'm definitely going to do my do diligence. Honestly I may not be there yet, but i feel I am well on my way. I WILL get in eventually. and frankly it's more of a badge of honor for me to get let in the advanced forums, there's other places on the net and elsewhere to learn "advanced stuff" but i want in the advanced forums here. Once I am in the advanced forums, I will know that i have a high degree of proficiency with the lock picking arts. I certainly don't want to be like the people who go to karate studios and basically buy a black belt. I want to earn it. I want it to mean something, so props to you guys for keeping it exclusive. If they let just anyone in, it wouldn't mean a thing.

[GWiens2001]

It has nothing to do with being 'exclusive'. It is a place where those who have a fairly good idea of what they are doing to exchange ideas and tips.

Destructive entry and bypass techniques are there, and we don't want to be a school for criminals. So we restrict access. That way, people who would not want those tips to be broadly known may be willing to share info that they normally would not share.

Gaining access does not automatically mean you have a high degree of competency. It just means that we have had enough time to 'get to know' the members who apply via the questions they ask and answer in their posts.

The reason for meeting the requirements is not to have someone who simply says "hi" or "cool lock", but for us to try to gain insight to who the member is and why they are into lock picking. Most of us will never meet in person, so that is the best way we can find to estimate the character of the person.

That is all in addition to what Squelchtone has stated (numerous times) about why info is restricted, including not gaining access then asking a bunch of newbie questions like "what is a driver pin" or "do Medico pins really turn" (spelling intentionally incorrect).

Gordon

[south town ninja]

Thanks for the insight. Im just here because i'm addicted to locks. not when i started. it was just a curiosity then. I always thought it was cool how they could unlock stuff in spy movies. now the myths have been debunked, I now know that there is no short-cut (just a little know how and a lot of practice.) But it's too late now, i'm hooked. The first thing i do when i wake up is pick a lock, and it's the last thing i do before bed. There's the sum total of my interest in the subject. Oh yeah, sometimes i let neighbors in when they lock themselves out and i take my picks with me to work (i own a moving company). Sometimes the customer won't remember the key and we would have to go back 300 miles to get it, so i just bring my picks. but i'm way beyond picking your basic front door lock in terms of skill, so i guess i just want to be able to pick more and more advanced stuff.....ooops, i gotta get off here, it's been fifteen minutes since i've picked a lock, which is about three times too long if you ask me!

[south town ninja]

ok, so: I got my lock, it has six pins, and i am told that is a "biaxial," tho i'm not quite sure what that means. anyhow, I made a groove grabber and went about trying to rotate some pins with it. all i can say is "wow this is going to be a tougher venture then initially thought." So question, which direction do i need to turn the pug to get the side bar to set first, ccw or cw? and how do i use the groove grabber? i understand the theory, but i need a lil more practical advice. i can barely tell which pin i'm on and can't tell when I'm in a groove for sure, let alone when it is set to the right position (l,r or c). should i be trying to set the shoreline first or the sidebar? or is it just a matter of preference? maybe i should abandon the groove grabber and just use a pick with a cup cut into it to rotate the pins? also, how are there false gates? i don't know where a false gate would be, i inspected the pin and only see one gate for the side bar.

[south town ninja]

scratch that last, i found the false gate upon further inspection.

[Squelchtone]

scratch that last, i found the false gate upon further inspection.

Take the lock apart to learn how it works before you start sticking a Medecoder into it. Hold the plug with the key pins in it in your hand, insert the Medecoder, hook a pin and pull the tool in and out of the lock and you'll see exactly what happening.

The Biaxial system was made to help create massive master keyed systems, and instead of just having 5 or 6 pin spaces along the blade of the key you can have 10 or 12 (depending on 5 pin or 6 pin cylinder) It's a little more complicated than what I'm explaining, but a lot of people think Biaxial means the pins lift and twist, that's not what the name is for. It has to do with the chisel tipped key pins and where the cuts are on the blank. Search for more detail on this, I'm sure its written up around here somewhere.

Squelchtone

[south town ninja]

thanks squelch tone. I have only the first pinstack in right now, and i can't seem to get into the groove with the grabber. It seems to
be unable to get in there because of the warding. maybe i'm just doing it wrong? oh well, here we go with another attempt. again, thanks

[BSG_314159]

Open in Thirty Seconds, by Marc Weber Tobias.

Gordon

I just got it in the mail and can not put it down. Great read!!!

[south town ninja]

ah ha! my groove grabber was too long to get in the groove with the wards the way they were. i trimmed it down a tad, and voila! now i have to wonder if this will prevent me from getting at some pins further in. yay!