Interresting Problem

[LucidDr34m3r]

First off I would like to introduce myself. My name is Curt and I am a college freshman in Indiana. I am a computer science major with very high interest in Internet Security (hacking, cryptography etc.). I have always believed that having a good understanding of physical security would aid me in my overall understanding of security in general, which is why I developed an interest in things like, lockpicking, and security systems. Well thats my story... most of it anyhow, which leads me to my question. I was born with what is called a brachial plexus injury, meaning that I have little to no use of my right arm. I have zero fine motor skills in my right hand. No chance for me to be able to hold anything like say... a torque wrench. I also can't just sit around with a lock in one hand and a pick in the other, just sitting around going at it to get a feel for it. I have not really gotten started attempting my lockpicking efforts due to these complications. Any suggestions? On a lighter note, I previously worked in a hardware store, and one of my personal responsibilities was cutting keys and rekeying locks, so I have a devent understanding of how it all works. I have the conceptual part down pat, but no relevent experience. Another question I have is, I was curious how to become a certified locksmith. I have no interest in doing it for a living, but I have what I guess you could call a hobby, for collecting random lisences (doctor lisences, clergy lisences, etc) and would like to at least know if theres an easy was to become a 'certified locksmith' in the united states. I am a quick learner and am extremely self motivated. I hope I can eventually contribute to this community. Thank you all for your help.

Curt

[SFGOON]

Welocome to the forums, you sound like a young Matt Blaze in the making. HPC sells a "hands free" tension tool that would allow you to manipulate the pins one handed, if need be. HPC tends to be one of the more reputable companies around and makes some very high quality gear. There are a great deal of ways in which one can become a certified locksmith, and a quick search of this web site should give you all the information you need. I'd also advise you to check out www.crypto.com if you havn't already. The Prof who runs it discusses a wide variety of both computer and physical security and based on what you wrote in your first post I think you'll get a lot out of it.

[raimundo]

You are probably best off with some sort of custom made tools, I make a pick with a loop for the second finger that makes dropping it far less likely than with a popsicle handles, and a variable tensor could be an ordinary tensor, with a long blade in the keyway, and a loop on the end that can bring a rubberband to one of the smaller fingers of the useful hand. I have done this myself in the past, opening a padlock through a hole in and inspection door of a hugh box beam. I held the padlock steady with binding twine, it wanted to flop keyway down otherwise.

[kodierer]

http://www.pickmasters.net/tension/tens ... nches.html
Don't buy the picks, but the tension wrenches might be handy for you.
How much fine dexterity do you have in your right hand. Can you say use scissors, or flush a tiolet with it.
Using the tension wrench requires you do no more than push on it. So depending on your level of feel, and dexterity you might be able to do it. If not the link might help you.

[LucidDr34m3r]

Thanks for the help so far. I have zero use of fingers. I can pull up at the elbow but cannot push down. Doorknobs that have a lever that can be pulled up, I can sometimes open with my right arm. Other than that, I really can only prop things on it. I have no feeling from the elbow down, and little feeling from the elbow to my shoulder. Therefore I really cannot use any tools whatsoever with my right arm. The most I have used it for with a tool was to steady an electric drill. Also, thanks for the link about Matt Blaze. I have definitely been looking around.

[master in training]

you say you cannot push down, could you rest your right hand on something and use its own weight to press down on the tension wrench, it doesnt require a lot of force, so you wouldn't really need to press down as such.

[vector40]

Even if so, I doubt that he'd have the fine control needed to control his precise amount of torque. We're always talking about how important that is, right? Imagine doing it with a handicap...

May be worth trying, anyway.

[master in training]

very true, i was just trying to suggest something which could be a cheaper option. you could always buy some normal tools and go to a fishing tackle shop and get some weights and just get a friend to drill some hole in the tension wrenches and attach some hooks to the weights. it may work out cheaper than buying the specialist ones linked to above.

[kodierer]

In the easy pickings book there is a picture of a thumb tac on a wall, and rubber band from the thumb tac to the tension wrench. This would work in some cases. Other than that I cannot think of a way for him to apply tension to a lock beyond either weighted tension wrenches, or perhaps a circular tension wrench for door knobs that has a set able tension, and those are a small fortune.

[maty68]

I saw a tv programme once about a young lad with no arms or legs who was able to paint highly detailed beautiful pictures with a paint brush secured to the front of his forehead in a configuration much like a coal miners head light. Whats even more amazing is the fact that he was able to recreate the picture with just one look at the source. The condition of his handicap also provided him with a photographic memory. Perhaps some similar kind of setup could be applied with a tension wrench instead of a paint brush. The forehead is a highly sensitive area and could easily feedback information on plug rotation etc.
Also Curt if you're looking for certification you might want to check out Foley-Belsaw. The link escapes me now but i'm sure someone could post it.

[LucidDr34m3r]

I actually was considering a torque wrench with a cylindrical mouth piece. By moving my lower jaw I could rotate the wrench to apply more or less pressure. I attend a very good engineering school, I'm sure some of the students wouldnt mind creating some sort of thing for me... Students here are always looking for little projects.

[master in training]

im not certain if this is what you had in mind, but could you have a tension wrench that turns more if you squeeze two pieces together with your jaw, i could only imagine something with your head in front of the lock when you were saying it, this would allow you to be at the side of the lock.

im sorry if this is what you had in mine, but i didnt really understand your idea 100%.

[LucidDr34m3r]

just like holding a screwdriver in your mouth. if you slide your top jaw to the left and the bottom to the right, it twists the screwdriver. just create a handle that wouldnt hurt the teeth. although your idea about squeezing together sounds decent as well. heh however i imagine i would look pretty silly putting much of anything in my mouth to open a lock, not to mention wanting to be sanitary. i like the look of the weighted tension wrench so far the best i think. next time i am home from school I think I will pick up some basic deadbolt locks from the hardware store I used to work at. I also might mess with rekeying it. Where would I go about buying different length pins for my lock? The local locksmith? Also, I hear many people say to move from lock to lock while starting out so you dont just memorize what one lock feels like. If I rekey the lock, will I get the same effect as changing locks? Unfortunately I don't have picks yet, and I know a paperclip wont get me what I'm looking for... but in the meantime it will just have to do. I have fiddled around with my lock at school. The keys are designed to all open the front door to the dorm building, and one individual door. I compared several keys and found that the deepest 3 pins were the same on every key, so to gain entrance to the building is a lock relying on only three pins. Also, a few doors here open to several keys. I'm not sure if this is due to wear and tear of the keys and locks, or the fact that since three pins cant be used for the doors, theres more doors here than unique locks. I also know they have a master key that opens every door, so there are multiple pin positions that allow access to the rooms... these doors really shouldn't be hard to pick I imagine. Although actually turning the cylinder to unlock the door requires quite a bit of force. Thinking about how easy these doors should be to pick actually frightens me now that I think about it... In any case, I doubt I can do it without a real pick... Also, do many of you ever resort to paperclips in your picking? Is this even possible? If so, should I bend it at a right angle, or a general curve? Picking locks with a paperclip would sure make a good party trick... or a good skill to have anyhow... and everyone knows, girls only like guys with skills (a sorry excuse for a Napoleon Dynamite reference).

Thanks for all your help guys.

[LucidDr34m3r]

Something else I just thought of...

If any of you have read the DaVini Code, you have read about the interresting cypher described in the book. There is a cylinder full of acid, with a watertight class tube with a message in it. To open the cypher, you must twist several rotating portions with an alphabet inscripted on it until you change it to the secret password. Once the password it put in, pull on the ends and the acid spills out. You break the tube and obtain the paper. However if you use the wrong password, the cylinder opens, but a lever arm gets pushed across the middle of the tube shattering the glass chamber, releasing the acid onto the paper. I'd have to say, that seems like a pretty secure way to keep something out of the hands of the "bad guys" (or whomever). Rather then denying entrance, it merely destroys the contents. Hows that for security.

Just an interresting tidbit. A nice crypto/lock combination.

[master in training]

one idea for a cheap version of the weighted tension wrench is a small suction cup (like the ones you get to attach those kiddie's blinds to the windows of a car) then loop an elastic band over the suction cup and over the tension wench and stick it to the door that would give you some tension that you could adjust by moving the suction cup.

it would seem that your school does have a master keying system in place, its weird how they could get all the keys to open the front door then an individual door as well, as you said, the front door may rely on just the 3 pins to open it, that leaves 2 pins to make up combinations of pin settings for different rooms, so you'd only have something like 25 different keys for all of the rooms, so you will find many are the same (if my logic is correct of course, no doubt someone will correct me). this would explain why some keys open more than the doors they are supposed to.

paper clips arent they best picks you can get, there are lots of other things that are far better, hair grips (or bobby pins as they are known in the US), work bette than paperclips for picking with, they are a little bit stonger, but they do hurt your fingers a bit after a little while picking. i doubt many people resort to paperclips when they are picking, most have a set of picks, but for those who dont, as i said, there are better alternatives to paper clips.