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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:05 pm
by jrrdw
AMATURES! I've been picking locks for ten years now and half of you guys are blowing smoke and the other half are either getting lucky or something is wrong with the lock it's self! Don't even try to defend yourselfs! I'll tell you guys something else to, don't get caught carrying any type of lock tools, (picks/slimjims/home made or not). What are the cops going to do you may ask? Try to pin any local, Break ins/illeagle entrys, or thefts that they know of! Don't dout my word on this, we locksmiths back up the police on this kinda thing! AND THATS THAT!

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:39 am
by Pyrodogg
Another method i've heard about is bump keying

you can read up about it at www.toool.nl

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:58 am
by Pwnany
jrrdw... I have been trying to pick locks for... I dunno, maybe 2 months and I have made my own tools out of hack saw blades. (If you get the correct type of hack-saw blade they can make amazing picks!)

Anyway if the police were to catch you with them in your home would that matter? Like obviously if I have them in my pocket at the middle of the night acting suspiciously they would think somethings up but you know what I mean. (Not like I would have them with me, that was purely hypothetical)

Anyway I read somewhere that about 0.5% of all break-ins are via lock-picking. Most of them are through a unlocked door, then people making copies of other peoples keys and the rest are from brute force like drilling or just bashing in a door. Do you know if that is the case?

It just sounds so silly because a pity thief couldn't be bothered to learn how to pick locks when he gain access far more easily via a different method yet the police will still not believe you.

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:09 am
by Bluetooth
Oh you said it first I was about to say that 90 percent of break ins used something other than lock picking and bump keys. Anyways, I just made a snake rake out of a hacksaw blade and it looks very professional and clean.

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 11:23 am
by jrrdw
Yes, most all crimes are of oppertunity.

If you don't have locksmith afilleation(sp), you don't have lock picks, you have breaking and entering tools! I'm simply telling you, thats the way it is!

If a police officer where to be in your home for any given reason and placed site of "lock picks" that officer now has probraul(sp) cause to start investagation of any local illeagle entry crimes. Obulesly if the entry was made buy damageing anything to get in, it wasn't done by picking the lock, the officer wouldn't look at you for those type of entrys.

Some clairification-

B + E's = Breaking and Entering.
Smash and grab = bust/kick/pry a locked door open, smash a window.
Illeagle entry = open unlocked door, munipalate a locked lock open with out property owners permission.

I don't pay attention to statistics but yes most all B + E's are exactly that - B + E's!

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 3:53 pm
by CS
Well I did my 7th grade science project on 'lock picking'. [Mind you my science teacher was crazy, and promoted such projects.]

I used some scribing tools off my fathers jewelry bench [his second job was being a jeweler obviously] For putting tension on the pins, via rotating the cylinder I used a tool with a end that fanned out into a thin, flat shank. The other I used was also a small tool that had if you will a '90 degree hook at the end, which was at 45 degrees on the tool itself'. Id always 'rake' the pins so as to get a good 2-3 out of the way, doing such until I got a good number of them. You fiddle with each of the pins if you here a little click, which is I believe play in the cylinder itself, or the pins obviously loose there activation pressure. I believe that is because the above set of pins are spring loaded, and when they catch on the slight rotated edge, they don't push on the other pin.

Although I don't plan to any time soon to stand outside of some location, and pick a lock for illegal purposes. When ever I do something illegal it alone is nerve racking at the thought of being caught, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to combine that with having to fiddle with very small pins.

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:06 pm
by Bluetooth
For each pin it is actually two pins on top of each other and a spring on top of that. The part that you turn is called the cylinder and the bigger oustide part around it is the hull. The bottom pins are different heights and the top ones are all the same so when you push the pin up to the right height the top pin is completely in the hull and the bottom one is completely in the cylinder which enables the cylinder to spin if all the pins are "set". The line between the cylinder and the hull is called the "sheer line". When you are "raking" you put enough tension on the cylinder that it could spin it but not enough to overcome the springs power and you run the pick past the pins quickly while pushing up. When the pins are being forced back down by the spring when they get to the right place the cylinder can slide and it does because you have some tension on the tension wrench. In theory one rake should set all of the pins.

I typed all of this and I'm not just copying.

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:11 pm
by jrrdw
AMATURES!!! Thats all i can say because the first rule of locksmithing is don't give away trade secrets!!! Thats all you guys are getten out of me! AMATURES!!!

P.S. -- I'm not trying to offend anybody by calling you "AMATURES" you just don't have the experance that i have. I wish i could share some secrets of picking locks with you guys, but it is of sensative nature.

P.S.S. -- Now you know how i feel when you's break out the hybrds/bolt actions and last but certinly not least, semi-auto's!

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:16 pm
by Bluetooth
Who said we weren't? I think most of us just use it in case we forget a key or something.

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 11:45 pm
by Pwnany
I think I know how to properly lock pick. Its just that I can't :D.

You use the tension tool to apply tension then you use your pick to slowly lift each pin. The binding pin is the pin that most; if not all of the tension is on. (That is because of manufacturing errors because it is almost impossible for every pin to be EXACTLY the same and almost impossible for every hole to be EXACTLY the same and every hole in a EXACT line) When you lift the binding pin it will sorda click in place, you then repeat the process until there are no pins left to click in place and at that time the plug will turn from the tension tool and walla!

Obviously it gets ALOT harder when your picking quality locks which are manufactured a lot more precisely and they have security pins. BTW I have picked a lock 3 times which apparently has 4 security pins but it was through raking (If you don't know what security-pins are, google it)

Obviously jrrdw you know more about locks, lock picking, security pins, bump-keying and all that mumbo-jumbo. This message wasn't aimed at teaching you anything, I am just testing if I have the idea correct. And maybe some other people might learn off what I said.

Ohh and jrrdw, as a locksmith do you ever rake other-peoples locks? Because if I'm not mistaken raking locks is what leaves marks on the pins so if that house were to get robbed the police might find the marks on the pins and they might think it was caused by lock-picking when it really wasn't.

EDIT: btw if anyone can shoot a projectile straight through a padlock I would be unbelievably amazed! Padlocks are frikken solid!

-Pwnany

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:31 am
by jrrdw
Far as shooting the pad lock, it's a old Masterlock tee vee comercel(sp), and the lock they shoot is a laminated lock. This type of lock is fairly easy to bust up, even easier when your breaking tool is a high powered rifle at 6 foot away.

Rakeing is just one of many motions used in the process.

As far as marks on pins, well the key goes in and out so often there is to many marks to accuritly determin what caused them.

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:53 am
by Pwnany
Ohh ok. Thanks.

Also regarding shooting the padlock I ment with a marbal or anything else you shoot from a combustion/pnumatic/hybrid cannon.