How Do You Pick A Circular Lock?

[Retrovertigo]

A Bic pen and a Zippo! :lol:

[NKT]

You could have the center post as a carefully drawn male socket for the key, and turn it one that.

Anyone trying to pick it would be likely to wreck it, if they could grip it at all to torque it.

Not sure what the Bic would do?

[monkeE]

Haven't you people heard of the BIC impressioning technique? Tubular locks are really easy to unlock usually. The motion is kind of hard to describe in text, but with a new bic pen body (just the white part) you can *roll* the pen aroudn and impression a good plastic copy of the key within seconds.

[NKT]

Yes, we know about that. I just fail to see how you could get a Bic to unlock this new kind of lock?

It has a set of pins that go sideways like a star, not vertically, so pushing a bit of plastic tube in would do nothing at all.


For the original post, yes, it might be possible, but on a full size rotary lock, you will need a danmed big hand to use your danmed big Bic pen!

[monkeE]

SOrry, I was just trying to answer the first question... The "new" lock, um yeah... big BIC

[parameter69]

ha ha, yeah, the rotary pick isnt a good way to pick!

i had an idea of a lock that had pins flat as you look at the lock face, rather than sticking up at you, then have a sort of jagged key that fits it, then there is no way to tension it as all the pins simply turn, if you tried to apply tension to one pin while you picked the rest, it just wouldn't work. all the pins would have to be pressed upon together to unlock it. dont know if it would work though!

Some years back a lock as described here was made. I believe it was called a "VANLOCK". It has been some time since I have seen one in use. Here in Colorado they could be found on 7-up vending machines. I had the oppurtunity to open one and did so using a security screw screwdriver and a dental pick. The carbide tips on the screw driver will bite into the face of the lock and the rest of the method is common knowledge.

[barnzy]

As it says in the guide we all look to for help, you could try picking the tublar lock with normal picks and a tension wrench, it would take you about 45 mins though because every spin the lock would lock again and you would have to pick it...very slow. You can start anywhere, there just like the pins in a normal lock, just pick em'

[Mad Mick]

45 mins?

How many times are you rotating this plug? It doesn't screw out ya know...

[barnzy]

hey, i dunno. I never tried it before i just thought of a random number, having read some of the info on it in M.I.T guide i tried to think of a time estimate near it, now I know i was way off thanks

[NKT]

Well, some of them need a turn or two. Even just a 180 degree turn is four picks, which could take that long, especially since the free pin that gets to the driver space often jams badly.

Took me an hour the first time I did one, and then about the same to turn it back one station, and I had to hammer pretty hard with a screwdriver to free the stuck pin!

[n2oah]

I've been obsessed with making a tubular pick lately. I have yet to see a real tubular pick in action. I thought someone around here could post some detailed pics of a tubular pick.
As far as picking goes, I once picked a two-pinned tubular lock using an LED.

[QuietRiot]

I've been examining one on my safe at home and have no idea where to even begin if I wanted to pick this thing....I can padlocks without a problem but don't know where to begin on circular ones....thanks! :D

I'm not sure about how secure or precise your tubular lock is - or how many pins it contains. I have a number of HP machines however that came with tubular locks to which I received no keys. In order to insert a hard drive I had to pick the face - but did not feel like spending $60+ on a "real" tubular pick.

In about a half hour I had it open with a small blade screwdriver and a paperclip.

The toughest part I found was applying tension. Usually there is a little indentation in the part that spins. Finding a tool that fits into that little notch securely is the trick. You need to be able to apply a torque to the entire cylinder without getting bound up on the outter piece. A small Robertson screwdriver, come to think of it - maybe with some modification, would probably be perfect.

Anyway, once you can apply torque in a reliable manner, you need to start playing with the individual pins to see which ones are binding up and you can set, allowing the cylinder to turn just the slightest. Just start pushing down on each individual pin and try to learn the pattern that they pick in - just as in a regular pin tumbler.

Apply torque, find the pick order and you should be there after maybe 10-15 tries and 7 or so pins apiece, if not faster.

You might play with another before messing with your safe though - don't know if they can be damaged but I did mar up my "notch" I mentioned earlier with my screwdriver. A tight fit is best. If your turning tool removes just a bit of metal each time it will become harder and harder to maintain the tension you want and you'll have an ugly lock at the end of it all.

Once you get it turned is probably the time to try and make an impression on a BIC or another soft round piece of material for later.

Good luck!

[raimundo]

Q-riot mentions hp machines with hard drives, these are computers, and on computers, there is sometimes a very small diameter tubular lock, the word I have heard about these is that they are only four pins and the pins have only two or three depths, so the paper roll should be the first try.
Other tubular locks come in various types, diameters, etc. if its your first attempt, and it says ACE with the roman numeral II beneath it, consider drilling the core out. Ace II have very strong springs and some weaker springs to eliminate the picks that are made for common Ace locks that come in three diameters. Kryptonite bicycle locks had an even smaller diameter than the common 3 just before they went to abloy type locks. Common ace comes in 7 pin centered, the most common, and 7pin offsets to the right and to the left, and 8 pin, there are renegade locks made with 6 and even 5 pins, smith and wesson has a handcuff with four pin tubular keys. Some tubular locks do not have the pickup notch for the center core, and master streetcuff bike locks have a system that I have not examined but it is visibly different from any I know. There is a type of papermate pen called dynagrip, with a rubber grid grip, this grip has 8 evenly spaced grooves on the inside of it, that would hold 8 pin pushers and tension them if you needed to try an expedient lockpick. Also there are a number of manufactured picks for a large variety of tubular locks, Try a google search for Steve Arnolds gun room in dexter oregon, and on the second page of lockpick tools, there are a number of Ace picks, the super expensive one fits types of tubular locks I have never even seen, but you may be able to get a description of the various locks it fits by writing to the company, this description is a revelation in the number of types of tubular key locks that exist.

[QuietRiot]

Does anyone have any good ideas for tension tools, improvised or otherwise? Short of buying a circular pick tool, how can one apply tension with a paper roll? I can see how a plastic pen, or similar, could apply tension once impressioned a bit but getting a tool that can apply a torque hasn't yet come very naturally to me. My screwdriver worked ok, but something better that can be fashioned from house hold materials must exist.

Ideas?

[raimundo]

if there are strong springs in the lock or if there is some springback or tightness in the locks application, you may need a tension tool, but it is possible that you will not need a tension tool, A paper roll pushed in with a little bit of turning twist gently, can set pins. the resistance come from the springs under the pins, and the core of the lock may be willing to turn easily. If you look into a locked ace lock, often you will find that some of the pins are already picked, the key was removed without resetting them to the full spring tension. you can wiggle the corestem, and hear the pins snap down when the springs and top pins engage.
Try the paper roll, push in to the bottom with a slight twist, then allow the springs to push it straight back out, then repeat the pushin with slight twist. after three trys, if it is not open, pull the paper roll straight out and look for pins that are set, (not returned to the outer lip by spring tension or if they are at the outer lip, they may have been dragged out by removing the paper roll, so touch them with a light straight push in to see if the top pin is set on the step. you may find this enlightening.