After a complete breakdown of the Medeco and a careful examination of the pins and side bar I finally got it open with two pins. Thanks to all you guys for the help! I feel the fully pinned lock is within reach. It really helped to see how that "nib" sticking out on each pin gives each pin only limited rotation in the pin shaft (prior I thought each pin could spin full 360 degrees). Also practicing rotating the key pin (no driver pins or springs) with a half diamond while the core was in my hand helped tremendously.
During reassembling of the lock I couldn't get these two crescent moon shaped pieces back in. I'm not sure their purpose or if there is a trick to get them back in. Maybe I just needed to try harder but here is a picture of them below.
G-lock wrote:Im sure everyone's learning curve is different but in my opinion once you get abus locks down you will know how to defeat regular spool pins. The American padlocks you got would be my next step. Im not sure how those 1100s are pinned but American is known for having serrated pins (both my American 5200s have all serrated key pins & driver pins)& they can be tricky if youve only delt with standard & spool pins. From there i might pick up a stanley 828145 padlock there cheap. But with the counter milling in the plug & special pins that hang up on them the feel is different. Its not to hard of a pick but definitely different. Going on advice from another member i gave a sargent mortise lock a try & to my surprise it took me a long time to pick it with all standard pins. I did not know it till then but all the other brands of locks that i had picked (Abus, stanley, American, Schlage, brinks) did not have tight tolerances. The sargent really opened my eyes on what a difference tighter tolerances can make & its the 1st lock that i had to use heavy tension to open. I have picked 2 mul t locks which can be tricky (i have one that i cant seem to get). Theres a member here (jimu57) that sells a assa practice lock & pinning kit for a good price. This lock is my current Kryptonite. Its just 6 pins no sidebar but it has tight tolerances, the plug & the housing are both milled to catch assa spool pins perfectly & its loaded with them. Ive picked it with 4 pins but ive been at it for 3 days & still cant pick it with 5 pins
i cant recomend this lock enough for a new picker that is going through locks quickly. It stopped me cold! Then i can always just rekey it when i get it picked. I have a schlage everest primus kik cylinder & i cant pick it. i dont even know how to get at the side bar pins. I can pick the regular pins but all 5 side bar pins need to be lifted & rotated (simular to a medeco)for now its beyond me. Im sure someone is going to read this & have a completely different opinion but this was my learning path. Every picker has there own unique style so some of these may be easier or harder for you.
Thank you for the advice,the 1100s have serrated and spools but I have not tried to pick anything with counter milling. I will be ordering the Stanley you recommended shortly. I don't have one yet and they are reasonably priced. The Sargents seem to very expensive but I'm always looking on ebay for one for a fair price, at least for the collection. I think Assa may be beyond my skill but I''ll check that out too.
Mudman wrote:I have no advice, but wanted to say you have an awesome collection!
Thank you! I just ordered this Kaba Dimple lock for what seemed like a fair price ($30). There is more available if anyone is interested.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/KABA-Aura-Elect ... Sw-FZXkXPE
