picking the American security locks.........HELP!

by **bond** » 23 Oct 2004 12:42

I was ask to open an american lock on a locker at work that had been closed by acident,and the guys wallet and keys were locked up.I tried raking,lifting,light tension,ect.,ect.,and couldn't crack it.The guy took bolt cutters,and you know the rest.My ego is crushed as well! How do you pick these locks? I heard there is a tool for picking these,is this true? THANKS for any help I can get!

by **CaptHook** » 23 Oct 2004 17:46

There are a couple different knife style tools that work the cam behind the cylinder on older americans. As far as picking, they always gave me fits (serrated pins, which I still dont care for), until I was given some advise. Flood it with WD40, I mean flood the sucker. It kinda fills in the serrations a little, and you can feel the real pin sets as opposed to the serrations.
Chuck

by **frollard** » 23 Oct 2004 19:00

look on the bright side - now you have a free american practise lock

by **randmguy** » 24 Oct 2004 7:07

As another option (since I have the devil's own time picking them too) work on your inpressioning skills. The keys are easy to come by and I've found that the serrated pins seem to make nicer marks than normal pins. You could also treat it like any other beginning lock and remove pins. Add them back as you get the feel for it and you can pick it without any tricks. I'd picked them before anyone brought up the WD-40 trick (A big THANKS to HeadHunterCEO for that one ) but they always took forever. Good Luck.

by **drv** » 24 Oct 2004 10:58

Besides of WD-40, I can really recommend a TEFLON based spray oil.
Works even better, imho.

by **begginerlockpicker** » 11 Nov 2004 13:25

I have used a teflon lock spry before and it works great. Altough it is alot more pricey than WD40

by **Cerberus** » 2 Dec 2004 9:00

i'm going to try that, cause i spent at least 10 hours (literally) trying to pick one and couldn't get it. then i realized it had a safely mechinism. so i quick. I'm going to retry it with WD40.

thanks to who ever brought that piece of advice in.

by **franko452000** » 4 Dec 2004 3:21

the ( am700 ) tool will open these locks in a flash.....but the manufacturer has recently developed a shield.. that prevents the tool..well u know..

by **Romstar** » 4 Dec 2004 16:13

Peterson's developed a lovely little set that gets around that shield.

Isn't R&D wonderful? :twisted:

Romstar

by **SFGOON** » 4 Dec 2004 17:53

I'm no lube-ologist but wouldn't powdered graphite do a real number on those itty bitty serrations?

by **Cerberus** » 4 Dec 2004 20:33

i'm guessing that that little set for getting around the shield is in the shop somewhere Romstar?

by **Romstar** » 5 Dec 2004 1:32

Yeah, I have a set actually.

You shouled be able to find them on Peterson's web site though.

Romstar

by **Cerberus** » 20 Dec 2004 15:21

Had to give that american lock back. i found another lying around the house. its really old, rusty, and whatnot. I flooded it with LPS (like WD-40) and tried it. managed only one pin out of 5. Its a Series 5530 American Lock company. body is solid brass, very tarnished, has a guard for the chamber so it can't be taken out.

here is the link for info
http://www.americanlocks.com/item1.asp?int_ID=56

here is a picture.

any suggestions?[/img][/url]

by **franko452000** » 20 Dec 2004 18:51

love to have a look at that peterson tool set. may i have the site!

by **Romstar** » 20 Dec 2004 18:54

franko452000 wrote:love to have a look at that peterson tool set. may i have the site!

www.peterson-international.com

Enjoy,
Romstar

picking the American security locks.........HELP!

picking the American security locks.........HELP!

american brand: non-key padlocks

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