New kid on the block... Help

[Skyshot16]

Hi I've wanted to learn lockpicking for a number of years now so I've finally bite the bullet and spent some money... I have the southord c801 and sparrow Gotham lock pick sets, I've order and waiting for the southord 1-5 pin lock training board and southord cut away spool pin lock to turn up. I've also have the practical lock picking book by deviant ollam, master no 3 padlock and the 13 set coffin keys by sparrow.


My first question is did I buy the right items for a person just starting out?

My next question is about the master no 3 padlock, I have done about 1 hour picking total since I've started and I can rake this lock open in 5sec flat and signal pin pick it in about 5-15sec... I was disappointed how easy I could get this lock with all most no experience. My question is what padlock/ lock should I move on to for a more Challenging lock?

my last question is any hints or tips to move me along faster?


Cheers for your help

[Squelchtone]

Hi I've wanted to learn lockpicking for a number of years now so I've finally bite the bullet and spent some money... I have the southord c801 and sparrow Gotham lock pick sets, I've order and waiting for the southord 1-5 pin lock training board and southord cut away spool pin lock to turn up. I've also have the practical lock picking book by deviant ollam, master no 3 padlock and the 13 set coffin keys by sparrow.


My first question is did I buy the right items for a person just starting out?

My next question is about the master no 3 padlock, I have done about 1 hour picking total since I've started and I can rake this lock open in 5sec flat and signal pin pick it in about 5-15sec... I was disappointed how easy I could get this lock with all most no experience. My question is what padlock/ lock should I move on to for a more Challenging lock?

my last question is any hints or tips to move me along faster?


Cheers for your help

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I have sent you a private message, please look for it on the LEFT side of this screen where it says 1 new messages.

That's probably too many tools for someone just starting out, should have probably asked us first before rushing to buy everything, but oh well.

You mentioned moving along faster, are you in a rush to open something? When I first started out I practiced 2 hours a night for the first year.. and I mean every night. That's the only way to get good.

For the next step, I'd buy a brass Master No.140D padlock http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-140D- ... 00004SQL7/ or a silver Master No. 570 http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-570DL ... 000CSIAAM/

or a Brinks or Defiant single cylinder deadbolt from Home Depot or Walmart. This way you can take the lock apart and learn how it all works and start with a couple pins and then a couple more pins until you have all 5 pins in the lock. This will build up your skill level much better than just trying to pick a 5 pin lock.

keep practicing,
Squelchtone

[Skyshot16]

Thank you for taking the time replying... I'm in no rush to open any thing I just like learning stuff the most efficient way possible. Once my southord training board comes I will do the single pin and work up to the 5 pin to better under stand how to find the binding pin. I am more then willing to put in time but I like some thing challenging, I was disappointed too say the least how easy a master no 3 padlock was seeing as it cost me £7. I will defo need to look up the locks you have said and pick one to move on to.

[Squelchtone]

Thank you for taking the time replying... I'm in no rush to open any thing I just like learning stuff the most efficient way possible. Once my southord training board comes I will do the single pin and work up to the 5 pin to better under stand how to find the binding pin. I am more then willing to put in time but I like some thing challenging, I was disappointed too say the least how easy a master no 3 padlock was seeing as it cost me £7. I will defo need to look up the locks you have said and pick one to move on to.

Sounds like you are not in the USA, if you fill in your profile with your city or country, we can probably offer lock models that are most commonly available at online stores and DIY stores in your area.

Also, I wrote you a message, please send me a reply to that today, so I can fix your account.

Thanks
Squelchtone

[Skyshot16]

I thought I did reply to your message... The answer was yes, if you could see if it's available that would be brilliant. I will look to update my location soon. I am uk based south west.

[Mighty]

I have to second Squelch on the Master 570. That was my second lock, and it was much more of a challenge than the Master no. 3, which sounds like what you are looking for. I also gives you really good feedback on the spool pins, and will help you learn how to pick those. As I said though, it will be much more of a challenge, so expect it to take a looooong time to get the first few times (if you get it at all). Eventually it will become the easiest thing in the world to open, but you'll have to be patient.

Good luck! Have fun!

[Skyshot16]

I have to second Squelch on the Master 570. That was my second lock, and it was much more of a challenge than the Master no. 3, which sounds like what you are looking for. I also gives you really good feedback on the spool pins, and will help you learn how to pick those. As I said though, it will be much more of a challenge, so expect it to take a looooong time to get the first few times (if you get it at all). Eventually it will become the easiest thing in the world to open, but you'll have to be patient.

Good luck! Have fun!

I take it the 570 master lock has spool pins? I'm still unsure about spool pins, hence why I payed for the southord cutaway spool pin lock, so I could see the workings of this pin and hopefully get a better understanding of how to pick this pin type.

I understand picking is a skill and takes a great deal of time to get good at... Could I ask are all 4-5 normal pin tumblers as easy to unlock as a no3 master lock?

[Squelchtone]

You may find this spool pin video handy



and this series of video lessons by Schuyler Towne as well: Here is video 19: spool pins


Here are all of the video lessons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVSL0li ... 3FBFDA27DE

Enjoy!
Squelchtone

[Mighty]

The 570 has 1 normal pin and 4 spools I believe. I found the spools in it gave me a lot more feedback than my Sparrows cutaway with spools, so it might be more useful to learn the feeling on (though the key you get always matters on the difficulty of a lock, so there is some randomness involved).

As far as difficulty of standard pin locks, I would have to say that they are not all that easy (though still fairly easy, and are susceptible to raking). There are a lot of factors that can make a lock difficult: number of pins, tolerance of the machining, differences in heights between adjacent pins, varying spring tension on each pin, difficult/wavy warding of the keyway, overall size of keyway, tension required to turn the cylinder itself, and on and on.

The 570 has no tension on the keyway at all, which I think is one of the reasons it's good to learn both spools and light tension on. It gives direct feedback when you get to a spool, and you will also learn quickly how to gently ease up on the tension bar to set a spool. My 570 has very deep false set as well, so it really let me know the first time when I got to the point when only spools were left.

I wouldn't be scared of spools. I personally find them easier than regular pins sometimes. Once you set all the standard pins, you get that false set because all the spools are set at their 'indents', allowing the core to turn a bit. At that point you can gently push on each pin, and the one that gives you counter-rotation (pushing the core against your tension) is an unset pin, so you know exactly which pins need to be set. Then you just push the pick/pin up gently, slowly ease up tension on your wrench, and voila! that satisfying little click as the pins sets. It's so much more satisfying to set a security pin than a standard one, haha.

[Skyshot16]

I will 100% be buying a 570 master lock in the coming weeks... Can I ask do spools have to be signal picked of can you rake them? Sorry if this is a silly question and been asked before, my other question would be... Do you have a video link to polishing down picks? My southord c801 could do with smoothing out.

Thank you so much for taking the time for replying and helping me out, this seems like a friendly group of people and I'm looking forward to learning this interesting skill.

[Mighty]

Security pins are there to defeat things like raking, because they get caught at the shear-line. However raking can still be useful when picking a lock with security pins. I`m not a competition picker, but I have heard that a common strategy for speed picking is to rake, until you get the false set (i.e. pick all the normal pins, and false set all the spools), and then finish picking the remaining spools. Some locks can be difficult to rake depending on the keying (a lot of high-low-high-low- etc pin keying), so it won`t always work, but its probably worth spending a few seconds trying for that false set.

[kwoswalt99-]

Here's some good ones.

[Squelchtone]

I just watched those videos and I have to say that I'm more a fan of wet sanding, but that's probably because I have experience doing it while restoring classic car bodies in a past life. For my picks I usually get the multi pack of wet or dry paper.

For deburring/removing square edges dry is fine, I suppose I wet sand for mirror finish polishing reasons.
Squelchtone

[kwoswalt99-]

I used to hand sand picks too, but then I discovered power tools. It just doesn't make sense for me anymore to use a dozen different grits of sandpaper when I can get the same results in a fraction of the time with power tools.

[Skyshot16]

Just a little up date I had my southord spool pin cutaway lock turn up, it is a 5 pin lock all the pins being spool. It took me about 30min to finally get it open... I was some what confused tho because a number of times it seem as tho all the pins were in long above the sheer line but the lock would not move. I will play around with it some more to night and see if I can get any better .