Anyone a locksmith or lock picker?

masraum · 06-07-2019, 07:14 AM

Anyone pick locks as a hobby or intellectual pursuit challenge or profession?

It's always one of those things that's interested me, I'm sure from watching so many cop/spy/etc... movies and shows over the years.

I've read on it and understand the process and details.

I just found this which seems like a good write up.

The MIT Guide to Lock Picking (pdf)

Amazon has a ton of pick kits, but they all look like they are cheap Chinese stuff and therefore many/most/possibly all are junk.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

It is a bit of knowledge that seems to have a level of secret society secret handshake mystique about it. Knowing TV and Hollywood I feel certain that 99.99% of lock-picking as shown is as accurate as guns and especially silencers. And every single knife just waved around does not make the schwing noise, and guns don't usually rattle just waving them around.

dad911 · 06-07-2019, 07:23 AM

I don't think anyone really picks locks anymore.

If I need a keyed lock opened, 1/4" drill bit in a cordless drill takes seconds.

Once a bank left a lockbox on a property we bought. Rather than toss it, I challenged my son to open it and change it to our combo. Took him a few minutes, with the help of a YouTube video.

Locks are to keep honest people honest.

Jolly Amaranto · 06-07-2019, 07:34 AM

I learned to pic simple locks back in high school. I had a set of picks that I had fabricated myself. I was quite popular in the science labs when kids forgot the keys to their assigned drawers. I would discreetly open them for the forgetful students. Then the biology teacher caught me and confiscated my picks. "Let them suffer the consequences." He gave them back to me when I graduated but I had already made some more.
Now I guess I am more of a lock smith. I have quite a collection of hardware that I use to re-key locks for friends just for fun. There are some pretty sophisticated locks out there now but there is always someone determined to defeat them and they usually do.

id10t · 06-07-2019, 07:38 AM

Yup, learned how from a "real" locksmith. Have taught someone in Europe how to do it to unlock the glove box of their new-to-them 356 via email conversation.

Have used the skill to get a bar tab paid by a vendor sales rep on a bet too

herr_oberst · 06-07-2019, 07:57 AM

Check out the "Lock Picking Lawyer" (LPL) or "Bosnian Bill" on YouTube. It's a real rabbit hole.

herr_oberst · 06-07-2019, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dad911

Locks are to keep honest people honest.

Yep.

masraum · 06-07-2019, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

It is a bit of knowledge that seems to have a level of secret society secret handshake mystique about it. Knowing TV and Hollywood I feel certain that 99.99% of lock-picking as shown is as accurate as guns and especially silencers. And every single knife just waved around does not make the schwing noise, and guns don't usually rattle just waving them around.

You'd be surprised, I think it is about like they usually show it on TV (although I think most folks unless they've had lots of practice would be slower than some of the folks on TV that do it in a few secs).

Quote:

Originally Posted by dad911

I don't think anyone really picks locks anymore.

If I need a keyed lock opened, 1/4" drill bit in a cordless drill takes seconds.

Once a bank left a lockbox on a property we bought. Rather than toss it, I challenged my son to open it and change it to our combo. Took him a few minutes, with the help of a YouTube video.

Locks are to keep honest people honest.

Yeah, I doubt that any/many thieves or even most locksmiths use it these days. I'd assume that most of the time, there are much, much faster destructive ways and even some that aren't destructive (bump key) to get the job done, and speed is the name of the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jolly Amaranto

I learned to pic simple locks back in high school. I had a set of picks that I had fabricated myself. I was quite popular in the science labs when kids forgot the keys to their assigned drawers. I would discreetly open them for the forgetful students. Then the biology teacher caught me and confiscated my picks. "Let them suffer the consequences." He gave them back to me when I graduated but I had already made some more.
Now I guess I am more of a lock smith. I have quite a collection of hardware that I use to re-key locks for friends just for fun. There are some pretty sophisticated locks out there now but there is always someone determined to defeat them and they usually do.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing what people manage. Kudos to your teacher for returning them when you graduated. Most teachers are not that on the ball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by id10t

Yup, learned how from a "real" locksmith. Have taught someone in Europe how to do it to unlock the glove box of their new-to-them 356 via email conversation.

Have used the skill to get a bar tab paid by a vendor sales rep on a bet too

Cool.

masraum · 06-07-2019, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Check out the "Lock Picking Lawyer" (LPL) or "Bosnian Bill" on YouTube. It's a real rabbit hole.

On it!

Well, you know, later when I'm not "working"

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I always loved the story of Feynman cracking the atomic secrets safes. Mostly just for fun.

Learn How Richard Feynman Cracked the Safes with Atomic Secrets at Los Alamos | Open Culture

masraum · 06-07-2019, 09:50 AM

Safe Cracking is another skill that would be fun to develop.

I just saw this yesterday.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/06/museum-visitor-cracks-code-to-unlock-secrets-of-mystery-safe

rockfan4 · 06-07-2019, 10:13 AM

As a kid I was fascinated with locks. They were like puzzles, but easier to solve sometimes.

I've replaced and re-keyed several of the locks at my house, of course the builder put the cheapest ones he could find, and I'll admit the ones I replaced them with aren't any more secure but at least the finish is nicer. I put a storeroom lock on the side door of the garage, the outside lock is always locked so as long as you remember to close the door it is secure. Somebody in my house, and it's not me and it's not the dog, has an issue with remembering to lock doors, so that will solve that.

I needed a couple different size pins for the re-key job, went to a local locksmith and he said he couldn't sell them to me, I had to bring the lock in. Went to Menards and the guy gave them to me, no charge.

I have a couple more locks that I want to change out, bought a set of 3 locks with no keys off eBay for next to nothing, but I've lost my touch for picking or bumping them. I need to turn the cylinder to remove it. I can get 3 pins lifted, but I can't get the last two. Only 5 pin locks.

New locks, the inside lever will turn and on some they will unlock the door, others it will just open., I had to replace the new lock on the back door because the dog figured out she could paw at the lever and get the door open. Which would be fine if she closed the door behind her, but she's a dog, so she doesn't. She can't turn the button on the old lock I replaced it with because she doesn't have thumbs.

masraum · 06-07-2019, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfan4

As a kid I was fascinated with locks. They were like puzzles, but easier to solve sometimes.

I've replaced and re-keyed several of the locks at my house, of course the builder put the cheapest ones he could find, and I'll admit the ones I replaced them with aren't any more secure but at least the finish is nicer. I put a storeroom lock on the side door of the garage, the outside lock is always locked so as long as you remember to close the door it is secure. Somebody in my house, and it's not me and it's not the dog, has an issue with remembering to lock doors, so that will solve that.

I needed a couple different size pins for the re-key job, went to a local locksmith and he said he couldn't sell them to me, I had to bring the lock in. Went to Menards and the guy gave them to me, no charge.

I have a couple more locks that I want to change out, bought a set of 3 locks with no keys off eBay for next to nothing, but I've lost my touch for picking or bumping them. I need to turn the cylinder to remove it. I can get 3 pins lifted, but I can't get the last two. Only 5 pin locks.

New locks, the inside lever will turn and on some they will unlock the door, others it will just open., I had to replace the new lock on the back door because the dog figured out she could paw at the lever and get the door open. Which would be fine if she closed the door behind her, but she's a dog, so she doesn't. She can't turn the button on the old lock I replaced it with because she doesn't have thumbs.

Back when we had our home, we had 4 or 5 keys for our home, Front door with 2 locks, back door with two locks, side door with a lock and garage to home with 2 locks. It was a huge PITA, so I bought a kit online similar to the photo below except it didn't come with the tweezers. It included several keys and enough pins to rekey all of the locks in the house to use the same key. It was pretty easy to do.

I have a door with keyed lock inside the house for "practice" and some tools. In just a min or two I was able to rake the lock open, but I'd like to work with it more one pin at a time to get a feel for working each pin individually. I haven't tried a deadbolt or padlock, but those will be next.

rockfan4 · 06-07-2019, 10:44 AM

Yep, I bought basically the same kit. I keyed the new locks to match the existing ones in the house, keyed the old locks to use the keys from the new locks and then donated them to Habitat for Humanity.

I just needed a couple more pins than the kit provided, I could have bought a pack of 50 or 100 off eBay but thought I'd try the local locksmith first, but he wanted the big bucks to re-key it himself.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

I bought a set of picks and learned when I was selling RE after having a client get locked out of a house we had just closed on. Never had that happen again but have used them to open a few padlocks with lost keys. I used to keep a few pics and locks in my desk drawer for something to fiddle with. Once you know the tricks it’s all about getting the feel down and that just takes practice.

gtc · gtc's Garage

+1 for Lock Pick Lawyer.

I also found this interesting. Who needs to pick a lock when you can just buy the key on amazon for a few bucks?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnmcRTnTNC8

Cop cars using a standard fleet key is a little scary.

Zeke · 06-07-2019, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfan4

As a kid I was fascinated with locks. They were like puzzles, but easier to solve sometimes.

I've replaced and re-keyed several of the locks at my house, of course the builder put the cheapest ones he could find, and I'll admit the ones I replaced them with aren't any more secure but at least the finish is nicer. I put a storeroom lock on the side door of the garage, the outside lock is always locked so as long as you remember to close the door it is secure. Somebody in my house, and it's not me and it's not the dog, has an issue with remembering to lock doors, so that will solve that.

I needed a couple different size pins for the re-key job, went to a local locksmith and he said he couldn't sell them to me, I had to bring the lock in. Went to Menards and the guy gave them to me, no charge.

I have a couple more locks that I want to change out, bought a set of 3 locks with no keys off eBay for next to nothing, but I've lost my touch for picking or bumping them. I need to turn the cylinder to remove it. I can get 3 pins lifted, but I can't get the last two. Only 5 pin locks.

New locks, the inside lever will turn and on some they will unlock the door, others it will just open., I had to replace the new lock on the back door because the dog figured out she could paw at the lever and get the door open. Which would be fine if she closed the door behind her, but she's a dog, so she doesn't. She can't turn the button on the old lock I replaced it with because she doesn't have thumbs.

That's because he's bonded. The Menards dude most likely isn't.

On the subject, yes I have made a set of picks. Some locks of the same brand, same series are easy and some not so. "Raking" with just the right amount of torque tension is the go to method. If one rake doesn't line up the pins, try another with a different layout.