medeco

[kodierer]

http://medeco.com has a great interactive video on how their locks work.
It shows a slider which lines up the pins, how could you figure out how far to push the slider.

[kodierer]

Oh yeah, I was recently informed that the next hope conference video will be up on to toool.nl site in the next week or 2, or at least thats what they are hoping

[Eschatos]

Very nice.

I'll admit that its tough to wrap your head around the whole concept behind Medeco's from just reading it (for a beginner, at least) and this actually helped a bit. You can see how the key interacts with the slider and pins in order to 'release' the sidebar. I never actually knew how this worked in the past. Thanks for showing me this video. I wish there was some way I could save flash snippets onto my computer, though. I like to have all my picking and lock resources in one consolidated location. Thanks again!

-Elijah

[HeadHunterCEO]

the slider does not line up the pins

[Eschatos]

Who said it did? =)

[MrB]

There does appear to be a sliding mechanism that engages with the bottom of the key and releases the sidebar though? Apparently if the key does not have the right shape cutout on the lower edge, the lock will not operate?

I am curious about that, because a Medeco key I hold has a perfectly smooth and normal lower edge.

[skold]

There are different kinds of medeco.

I really cannot wait until i get my medeco's from Raimundo.
Then i can see why and how barry gets these locks in 2 mins

[MrB]

According to the Toool results, Barry was the only one there to actually get the Medeco Biaxial, let alone get it in under 3 minutes. Maybe that time was exceptional?

http://www.toool.nl/competitie/

[Johnny P]

The blanks are made to conform with the side bars and vice versa.

[kodierer]

I think the slider has to be slid in the right amount. Perhaps if you picked the lock, and then slid the slider until the lock turned?

[stick]

Not sure about the slider, but the pins have to be rotated correctly, and simply picking each pin to the shear line and then pushing on the slider won't unlock the lock unless you get lucky.

At least I think so.

[Eschatos]

Yes, each pin has three different angles it can be rotated, thus multiplying the amount of possible combinations of key configurations exponentially (twice). The pins have to line up in order to allow the sidebar to be moved, AND the slider must be pushed up correctly by the key. Then the sidebar will raise, allowing the lock to be opened.

[MrB]

On the more recent locks, the pins have offset chisel tips, so there are actually six angles for each pin: three angles with the chisel tip forward, and three angles with the chisel tip rearward.

To pick the lock, I think you have to lift each pin to the shear line, move the slider so the sidebar presses on the pins, and rotate all of the pins correctly so the sidebar engages.

Could someone confirm if this is right?

[kodierer]

When you rotate the pins with the twisted diamond, do they have to be raised first, and then raised again?
Also do you have to use the slider before you pick the pins?

[MrB]

On older Medecos, there is a groove for the sidebar running the whole length of the bottom pins. This is obviously a weakness for picking/decoding the lock, so I believe newer locks have a shorter groove that doesn't run the whole length of the pin. This means you would have to lift the pin to about the right height before you can pick the sidebar.

I think the slider is intended mainly to provide more key variations rather than to be an anti-pick device. However, you still would have to position the slider correctly before you can pick the sidebar. It seems like you would need three hands, since you have to hold the slider in place, tension the lock and manipulate the pins all at once.