A twist of luck

[jedidiah]

Well,
It seems fortune has smiled upon me.

Upon my mother's recent visit to the hospital (to visit her mother- after a successful surgery), she encountered a doorknob and a deadbolt sitting in the parking lock for no discernable reason. Thinking of me, she brought these two home and I have been tinkering with them a great deal. I successfully dismantled both and consider myself familiar with their insides and workings.

My question is this: what are some tricks to use on these locks? Place just a front pin and a back pin? Work on picking a single pin? Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to mount one of these for practice?

Thanks,

Jedidiah

[omelet]

Read MIT guide and posts on this site to know how to pick this. there is likely no tricks or tips for some lock you found, though can't really tell because you ahven't stated the brand name.

some people like to work up from few pins to all, starting with one. This will give you a feel for what it's like to set the pins. It really doesn't matter where you put the pins, but you should put them next to each other as you work up the number (if you choose to do that). You can mount the lock as with a door on some wood or do soemthing like others have done with makeshift mounts such as cardboard etc.

[stick]

I personally feel it's best to start filling the stacks from the front so you start to get a feel for the pin spacing.

[Chucklz]

I like from the back, simply so that the learning balances. As the number of pins increase, they get closer to the front, thus a bit easier. Just my 2. Why not try it both ways?

[vector40]

Don't split them, though, because that won't resemble any sort of lock you'll ever encounter.

[raimundo]

I start in the middle, thats because the follower (a few inches of halfinch dowel from the hardware store,) is easier to use in the middle of the cylinder, and you work your way out, then push the follower through, turn the lock around and work the back end from the middle. easier to handle the tweezers and more light reaches the middle of the lock than all the way down to the far end.