ARCHIVE 2003-2013 Introduce yourself HERE if you are new. :)

[Protek]

Hey what's up? Glad to have found this site. I posted a note somewhere already, hope I'm not too outta line. Having a great time learning to pick! It's become quite a hobby for me. I really do enjoy it! Any info that would help would be great! Thanks, Craig

[DonLK]

Hey all. Longtime lurker just now registering! Great site btw...

[Lordfud13]

Hello all,
Been lurking and learning, took the Foley-Belsaw course in the early 80's, been picking on and off since then, truly enjoyed the videos on making your own picks. I now am starting to enlarge my pick set and also my knowledge.

[kickthebucket]

Hey guys/gals i just started actually trying to pick a few days ago and i just wanted to introduce myself names Cory.

[Varjeal]

Greetings and thanks for joining. Enjoy the site.

[Mr. X]

Hi. I am new here. Now i'm just begining to picks locks. Nice forum.

[leedslad]

At last after spending several months reading the post i have a question Great site!

[beetlegauss]

Heya, my names Arthur, and I'm a 16 year old here in NYC. I'm doing lockpicking as a hobby, and have gotten 3 locks so far. The first one was quite a small padlock made in China with two or three pins. The second was also made in China, but a larger padlock with 5 pins. Strangely, the larger one was way easier than the smaller. I've picked my third lock just today, since I began this entire hobby two days ago, which is a Masterlock No. 3, which I hear is good for beginners. What would my next lock be in degrees of difficulty?

I have another question about whether or not what I'm doing is right. I hear that consistently raking locks open is going to develop into a bad habit, and I would have much harder times with "real" locks. I currently do not rake, but I don't pick each pin as intricately and delicately as I think I should. This is because I can't really feel each and every pin crystal-clear-like. I use the pick shaped like a dental pick the most, and I just try lifting up the pins as individually as I can. Is this how the method -really- feels like, or am I still just inexperienced and can't feel the mechanisms as well as described? Thanks for all your help! I hope I'll be able to keep developing this hobby.

[Mad Mick]

Congrats on the successful picking.

Don't make the jump from the #3 too soon. Practice using different picks to open this lock. Get another #3 which has a different bitting - look through the package at the key and find one which has low & high cuts. The #3 you have right now could be something like a 2332, meaning the cuts are very close to each-other.

Raking has it's place. Some prefer to give the lock a few rakes first, then single pin pick the remaining pins. Others single pin pick only, and others rake only. Perfecting only one method can lead to problems further down the line when confronted with different locks.

General advice is to keep trying the single pin picking and learn to feel what is happening when a pin sets/false sets. This will help with the amount of tension you need to apply. Once you get the tension under more control, raking will become pretty easy to learn.

HTH, and a warm welcome to all our new members. Read the FAQ's and please try to make posts in the correct sections of the forum.

A little research on your behalf, before posting, will greatly help your experience here. Check out the magnifying glass at the top of the page. It has the word 'Search' next to it.

Happy picking.

[philjesson]

Just joined the site.

Been interested in locks/security for twenty years, fascinating subject.

It will take another twenty years to read all the stuff on here.

I hope I will have something meaningful to contribute.

[beetlegauss]

Hey Mad Mick, about the 2332, would you be referring to the numbers on the keys to the lock? Mine say 3753, if that helps. The cuts seem to be in this order: mid, high, low, mid. I can currently pick the Masterlock no. 3 in under 10 seconds. 6 seconds was my fastest time, but that might just be because I'm used to this specific order of raising the pins. Should I move on to a more difficult lock? If so, then what model?

[Ezer]

The number on the key is not the same as the bitting. What he was suggesting was to try to find one with a key that has alternating high and low cuts on it. You can use the sites search feature to find several threads on the different difficulties of locks and which are good ones for starting out.

[carloski]

New to site but been a locksmith for 15yrs, the site looks really good and i have been reading the posts for a while, but never got around to joining, i do domestic and commercial work, but specialise on the auto side, will post when i can and help anyone with positive info when i possible

[onameless1]

yo yo yo, hows everybody doin.....
this is my first time on this site, but i have a feeling im gunna be here a lot, cause i see a lot of needed resoure here

[stuck pickin]

just joined up and look forward to learning and possibly helpling some of you out