Disclaimer: I am not pursuing knowledge to vacilitate a life of petty crime.
Ok, disclaimer over and done with (i’ve had a few threads shutdown due to my negligence), I was just curious as to how easy it is to use lockpicks. Now, I know the mechanics of it, but have never really tried it myself.
What I can’t grasp is this: when you put in the tension wrench and then turn it to simulate the turning of the actual key, it won’t open because the pins are blocking the movement of the tumbler. That’s why you have the actual picking tools. But what I’m proposing is that you just enter something similar to a lockpick and just lift all of the pins at once, which can be done because i’ve tried it with a paperclip. Once the pins are lifted they cannot fall back into place because the tension wrench has turned the tumbler a fraction of millimeter. Would this work?
I hope I clearly stated my question, if not, please comment and I’ll try to clarify =)
You need to raise the tumbler (which, for a pin tumbler lock, is a two part pin) to their shear line (which varies for each tumbler), otherwise they stick outside the cylinder and bind when you try to turn. I won’t make a specific reference in deference to Board policy (though I think it’s unfair to equate lock hacking to criminal activity) but you can find plenty of information online that explains with diagrams and images.
No. As mentioned, each “pin” is actually two pins, an upper one of a common length for each pinhole, and a lower one of a length that corresponds to the peak or valley of the key for that pinhole. With the key in place, the splits between each upper/lower pair are all at the same height in the right place. With your method, at least some of the splits will not be in the right place, meaning some pin(s) will block rotation of the lock. And the tension wrench will keep them there.
Here is the article on Lock Picking from Howstuffworks.com. It gives a good explanation with diagrams and animations, and certainly shouldn’t violate any policies here at the SDMB.
It is actually a ‘torsion wrench’ of sorts but without a tension scale. If it had one you would use one of the lower settings!
That is what the picks undo. And it is a “plug” in the “shell” that turns.
And that is the short short course in Lock Picking 1o1.1
OR “Get a Bump Key” :rolleyes:
I just read that article about bumping. How is a bump key a technique that was just rediscovered in 2004? Isn’t that pretty much the same as raking, a fairly standard technique, as far as I understand, for quick & dirty picking? Seems to work on exactly the same principle. Or am I missing something?
After having a locksmith come out and open my front door for me a few years back, I was amazed at how easily it was done, with little sign of needing a great deal of skill. I have been interested in gaining that skill myself (since he charged $25.00 for the few minutes of work) to save a buck and perhapse help out friends as well. Still haven’t gotten round to learning it though.
If your just raking or bumping, there really is not much skill to it.
If you are actually picking each individual tumbler then, yes, it does take some manual dexterity and lots of practice. I never got good on anything but 3-cylinder pin tumbler locks (and warded locks, which are pretty easy). You don’t just have to raise the pins to the shear level, but you also have to figure out in which order you have to raise the pins. If you don’t raise them in the right order, the pins won’t stick about the shear line or you won’t be able to move additional pins without loosening the tension, causing other pins to drop below the shear line.
It’s a skill just like any other and requires the same dedication, patience, and practice.
Too true. But I like acquiring weird skills, and that one didn’t appear beyonde my capabilities. (unlike Tennis or the Japanese language, which are both clearly impossible)