Master Lock #5 help

[FSSARD]

anyone have any tips on picking a masterlock #5 i'm having some trouble.

[Elijah]

Keep trying, that's all. Go ahead and buy a Master No. 3 if you can't get that No. 5

Also, make sure you are using the correct technique. It helps to have read a number of newbie guides many times. Before I truly understood how a lock worked, I read the MIT Guide at least three times. Finally, make sure that the lock isn't old and broken or rusty and worn down. For a beginner, it is highly suggested to use new, well lubricated locks. Good luck!

[FSSARD]

can't get a #3 at the moment, just got the #5 from a neighbor, it's old, no key, but it's well lubed.

[vector40]

An incidental point -- anyone know if either the #3 or #5 can be shimmed?

[Sabin37]

If the lock is old, it may require a heavy amount of tension. With proper tools and technique, which comes with practice, it will become easy.

[Elijah]

The only Master locks I've successfully shimmed are the combination locks. Never got shimming to work with the shackles on their hardened steel padlocks, I think it just requires a lot more strength than that SouthOrd shim stock can provide.

[raimundo]

I believe that the shackle on master padlocks has two places where locking dogs go into it, one is seen on the open end of the shackle, and the other is only barely seen if at all on the closed end, since the locking dog for the closed end does not need a cam surface to be reset, it sits right on the shackle leg when the lock is open, the lock cannot be shimmed because the second locking dog is not cam operated.

[berrymatt]

hey man its the easiest lock to pick use a regular tension bar with a three prong pick or the s pic and pick from back to front. pick the back down harder than the front its like down up down its to hard to explain. all the master number 5 are about the same just rock the rake a little bit and you dont need much tension. it will crack

[CaptHook]

hey man its the easiest lock to pick use a regular tension bar with a three prong pick or the s pic and pick from back to front. pick the back down harder than the front its like down up down its to hard to explain. all the master number 5 are about the same just rock the rake a little bit and you dont need much tension. it will crack

Not that great of advice...... but theres alot of confidence there......
Learn to pick single pin, find the binding pin first etc. Picking in back to front, or front to back order will hinder your ability greatly.
Chuck

[kodierer]

#3 doesn't require any actual picking just use your halfdiamond to pick the last pin, and lay the pick down across the pins, if you have the right tension it will pop. If you use the feeler, and pick back to front about 3 times, the #5 should pop. #5 is really easy.
You don't have to worry about front to back, or vica versa, but if your new it is sometimes easier than trying to find the binding pin. It just takes more repition(kinda like bubble sorting)

[CaptHook]

#3 doesn't require any actual picking just use your halfdiamond to pick the last pin, and lay the pick down across the pins, if you have the right tension it will pop. If you use the feeler, and pick back to front about 3 times, the #5 should pop. #5 is really easy.

This has got to be worse advice than the other post. Doesnt require any actual picking? Let me guess, you have 2 or 3 practice locks, and thats all you have ever picked?

You don't have to worry about front to back, or vica versa, but if your new it is sometimes easier than trying to find the binding pin. It just takes more repition(kinda like bubble sorting)

kodierer, Im not picking on you, but you really need to understand what you are talking about before you start instructing.
Chuck

[Mad Mick]

kodierer, Im not picking on you, but you really need to understand what you are talking about before you start instructing.
Chuck

I though he was taking the P,I, double S, but I could be wrong...

[kodierer]

Sorry I pick quite a bit actually, and the No 3 is exceptionally vulnerable to the ripping technique. I am not sure why exactly I wrote it that way.
I should have worded that it doesn't require a lot of skill to pick it, and that if you lay the pick down over the pins, and rip out quickly the lock will open providing that your tension is correct.

[Mad Mick]

I have a particularly badly pinned #3 which only requires a single back_to_front rake to open. Thankfully, it's not used to 'secure' anything other than it's place in my lock bucket. Differently pinned #3's can pose a bit more of a challenge though, but the reason why they are one of the preferred beginner locks should be obvious...