Spring somehow went through the core? And how to rekey.

[ladylock1994]

So I bought a very cheap doorknob set from the dollar store (they were out of padlocks) to practice single pin picking on a lock with no security pins. I took it apart so that I had the lock itself out of the doorknob and had successfully picked it about 50 times, when all of a sudden upon opening, the tension got terribly tight and I could not rotate the core any further in either direction. I decide to take the little piece that holds the springs and pins in place off to see what was going on. One of the springs had somehow made its way all the way past the pins and was caught in the shear line. I had to re-pin it with 4 pins instead of five, but did something wrong along the way and now the key doesn't work.
So.. two questions.
1) Is this a common problem with extremely cheap locks, or did I do something wrong?
2) Is there a simple way to make or adjust my key to fit, or would it be easier to take it apart again and try my best to match the pins to the key?
Thanks!

-LadyLock

[kwoswalt99-]

It sounds like one of the pin stacks' combined height was low enough to completely sit below the shearline. You normally wouldn't notice this when using a key. Don't do anything to the key if you can take it apart. I assume you took everything out of the pin stack you removed? I forgot to do that once, and it cost me.

[Squelchtone]

As an aside, this is a perfect example of why we tell folks not to practice on their front door, because sometimes stuff like this happens, and then you are either not able to get in the house, not able to lock up for the night, or you get to have an uncomfortable conversation with the landlord or building super.

Glad OP was wise enough to practice on a store bought lock, at least you can easily take it apart and figure out what happened as you have done.

Squelchtone

[ladylock1994]

Yes, I did remove everything out of the now incomplete pin stack. It still successfully picks. It does make sense that the pins could have been sitting below the shear line. When I removed all the pins and put it back together, I left out the super short key pin, so hopefully I won't have that issue again. And as far as having a key, I guess I will just pin it again if it bothers me. I guess I don't really need one, I just like to have the keys to show for my videos so people can see the bidding.

But yes, I am EXTREMELY glad this was not on my front door. I picked my garage door once, just to say I can in case of emergency, but it's definitely not something I practice on, and it still wasn't my front door.

Thanks guys for your help

[nick08037]

This also underscores the importance of learning about the internal workings of various locks while developing your picking skills.

The 3 pillars of locksport could be:
1. mechanical understanding
2. picking skill
3. tool making