Help with pin and tumbler

[betterthangod]

I have three pin and tumbler locks and I have trouble picking all of them. The first is a padlock, which was almost opened but I pushed down one of the pins way too low, almost bost pins (driver and other one) to the shier line. since then none of the pins will 'click' even though they are all 'up', any idea whats happened to this lock?
Second is a door lock I found on a kicked in door, I carefully removed it but this one doesn't want to open either, its old, rather small and I can make out the faint ingravings of what looks like "loo* master" * = too faint a letter. any idea why this doesn't want to open?
Third is a double glazing door lock, looks in good condition and fairly new and yet again this open open. To be honest im new to picking and have yet to open and pin and tumbler but I've learnt the theory and had alot of tries, what do you think I'm doing wrong, may it be the locks, the tools, or just me?

[MrB]

Many of us have been where you are. To be honest, the posts that say "I can just stick a pick in a lock and it falls open" are a bit unrealistic for the average newcomer.

The best plan is to find a regular door lock like a deadbolt that you can take apart, and reduce the number of pins down to 1, then 2, then 3, making sure each time that you can feel exactly why the lock opens when it does. If it just opens by accident, keep repeating until you can tell what happened.

Very often, a new lock is better to work with than an old lock, because it will behave in a smoother and more predictable way.

Door locks have another advantage that they usually have a bigger and more accessible keyway than padlocks. Having more room to move your picks around gives you more chance to feel what the pins are doing without having to contend with tight spaces.

[Geek142]

Well it could be the lock but i doubt it, it might be the tools but i dont know what you are using but if you are using a paper clip and a screw driver as tension wrench (Get better tools), and the last thing is that it most likely you, like someone said you can not just stick something in and wiggle it around and presto it opens (well maybe with a real bad lock ) you have to have patience and take the time to read and then apply it. Just keep at it and you will be picking in no time. It only took me a week or so after getting good tools and most of the learning since has been down hill.

Goodluck

Geek

[betterthangod]

I finally got one apart, I dont have the keys for any of the locks so I had to pick all five of the pins to take it apart which wasn't too hard when I picked it from the back as theres alot more room, lost a pin though and took about 20 mins to set the lock back up.
Anyway as I was picking the lock I found a dead spider in the way of the pins, do you think it was just crushed all the time when I was picking or do you think it caused a problem as I couldn't open it when it was inside it.

[matteo687]

Dead spider, GOOD!! Exoskeletons have been know to cause some resistance.. especially in the keyway!

MD

[betterthangod]

Ok, so I can do one of the pin and tumbler but all the other ones still give me problems, even ones that are the same make. What should I do now? I think where I'm going wrong might be that I dont pick them from back to front as the back wont always 'click' before some middle or front ones have been picked.
Could it be the pick or too much tention?

[betterthangod]

Sorry for the huge picture, didn't know it was that big, any way to change it?

[master in training]

As for the pic, change the file itself, on your pc resize it, save it, then upload it to your host again as the same filename so that it over-writes

Your technique could be the problem here, as could the pick (possibly), when you say you think its because you're not picking from back to front, its a good thing that you're not, since this is the wrong way to pick, what you should be doing is looking for the pin that is binding and lift that to the shear line, this could be any pin in the lock, not necessarily in any kind of order, they may bind 25143 for example. Read through the MIT guide again (assuming you have already) and take its advice on how to find binding pins and the exercises to help your feeling.

The pick may be causing the problem if it is too short (the useful part of the pick, not the handle), since it may not be able to reach the back pin in the lock properly, measure it against the key to see how long it is. You can also insert the pick all the way into the lock until it hits the back wall of the lock and see it you can still move it easily.

The most likely cause seems to be your technique though so check the pick quickly and concentrate more on practising as the MIT guide suggests (if the pick is too short, don't rush changing it though, you dont want to mess it up!!).

I hope this was useful to you, good luck with the picking!

~ Master in Training ~

[betterthangod]

In the book, Secrets of lock picking, it says that for pin and tumblers you should start at the back and work your way to the front but I've been doing it by the most binding one I can find and if thats not working then I do an up and down motion while slowly moving the pick back but only one pin and tumbler will open.

[master in training]

That sounds like one badly written book

I think if you read the MIT guide and use that as a basis you'll have more luck, its probably mostly down to feeling that you cant open the other locks. They may also have security pins but without makes/models I wouldn't be able to tell you if they did or not (and I'm not in US either, but I'm sure another American would be able to help )

As I said, look through the MIT guide and find the exercises it tells you to practice, they should help you feel whats going on inside locks better and be able to open more locks.

If you're still struggling you could try taking apart one of the locks you cant open and taking out some pins. If they're old they may just require a good lubing!