Re: learning to pick

Speaking only for myself, my policy is that I don't teach picking techniques unless I've personally known the person for two years.

You can find many forums on the web, but that's out of my control.

When I was new at locksmithing, I was completely fascinated by picking. Now, after 20+ years in the trade, it's an important part of the job, but not totally fascinating. There is so much more to the job.

Generally to pick individual pins use a hook. They have varying dimensions. In general use the tallest one that will fit under the pins. You can also mix the raking and individual pin picking techniques. Give the lock a quick rake and then try setting any pins that weren't set by lifting them individually.

As someone else said create an upside down T shaped holder for the lock. The simplest way to make the T joint is to place the upright portion perpendicular to the base, just as you plan to permanently mount it. Now tightly sandwhich the base of the upright between two other pieces of wood screwed to the base. Then just mount the lock in the upright. You'll need a hole saw and a drill.

Hello,

Hook, and your patience, for individual pins; half diamond for cheap padlocks and furniture; s wave rake for cheap Kwikset door locks and tough furniture; ball, double ball and s wave rake for auto locks; specialized double-sided picks for double sided locks-yep you WILL break them experimenting so buy an extra set; HPC peanut for Ace 7 pin locks; a tungsten drill bit and bolt cutters for the tough stuff!

practice, practice, and more practice. I have a tree of 12 padlocks of very different types, sizes and styles that I pick for practice regularly.

Uhhh, use the force Megan, you must feel what is happening within the lock.

There is a joke that the more picks you have, the more practice you need. Experienced pickers generally have 3 favorites for various types of locks. Each of us has a favorite few, it depends on the feel and action received, which can be different for each of us.

Good luck, David