Tension first or later? :)

[Timmy321]

Ok, I have a couple of small questions -- I know that you have to find the binding pins and how to find them but does the tension wrench have to be in there adding a little tension before it you can find the stiffest (or binding) pin? or can you do it with out a tension wrench in there, just to find them, before you actually start picking?

[Eyes_Only]

yeah, you do have to have your wrench in there applying tension in order to find the stiff pin cos the pressure applied by the tension wrench is what causes the pins to bind

[rakemaster]

You apply torque and test the pins. After you set one, you have to test
all the pins again to find the next one, and so on.

The best explanation I've read of this is in Prof. Blaze's guide at http://www.crypto.com/papers/notes/picking/index.html

Rakemaster

[Chucklz]

The general problem with too much torque, is that you tend to elastically deform the pins (the spring back) so that you bind pins so tightly, you cannot pick them, or they appear false set. So not only is torque necessary to find a binding pin, too much torque tends to hamper the process as well.

[Timmy321]

thanks for the help!