Lockpicking

[Sionyx]

Was wondering if there is anyone out there that can give me some advice as to how to make a good/decent lockpicking set.

Currently they are illegal in my province (for any non-locksmiths) and I am tired of using the usual makeshift ones that I made out of paperclips and modified keys. Tried to google it, but there is jack shit on making your own, just a billion sites on how to do it and places to buy lockpicking sets online.

[itismesaj]

First thing came up on Google under "making lockpicks" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB_tYW9pCMY

[Sionyx]

wow, i feel like a moron. forgot to to "making" into my search.

[LNT-5265F]

hahahaha atleast you admitted mistake.

[Oldschool Hippie]

To make decent lockpicks you'll need a grinder(bench or hand-held) and some metal strapping like crates are wrapped in. Find templates online. My personal favorite is the diamond pick. BTW, I've been a locksmith for 15yrs so I speak from experience.

[Sionyx]

the metal strapping that I have seen does not look *****d enough or thick enough to be used for the torsion wrench. The guy in the video suggested you use hacksaw blades instead of the metal strapping, what do you think of that?

[Oldschool Hippie]

That sounds good but the real problem is the hardened steel is really brittle in shaping and using. they would'nt last very long in other words. The quest is to find a flat metal that is easy to work with but durable to use. You'll find that at first you'll break a lot of picks practicing.

[itismesaj]

The double circle bit is my favorite. It makes it really easy to scrub.

[gtard]

get an old windshield wiper and bend one of the ends into an L shape long enough to fit in a keyhole.

[Oldschool Hippie]

Thats good but you'll want to cut down your pieces to around 3"

[pokeasmacks]

best material to use that is both sturdy and easy to work is the metal from street cleaners brushes. if you live in a community where street sweepers come through, just walk around and you'll find tons of them, especially when they turn on new streets through gutters. Diamond pick has always served me well.

[retlix]

I've played around with lock picking and here are a couple things I've learned that might be useful. I learned the hard way so you don't have to.

1. picks are usually made of spring steel - WTF-ever that is. I guess it would be anything that is not hardened.

2. lock pins are usually brass - which is softer than steel. So if you are going to spend some time raking a lock, don't over do it because you will eventually grind down at least some of the pins. Then even the key won't work on it.

3. High security locks are virtually unpickable unless you are very skilled or you go the electronic-pick route. An HS lock is one where there are deep grooves in the key profile. Get a key for an HS lock and look at it from the side. You will see that from one peak to the neigh*****g valley there may be a vertical distance of 5mm or more. Raking back and forth isn't going to cut it. Also, since an HS tumbler is usually drilled to higher tolerances, there won't be an exploitable difference in which pins hang up first under mild torsion. Oh, and the springs are usually stronger too.

Of course if you don't mind destroying the lock, the old LN2 (liq. nitrogen) trick should still work.

The only fool proof tool for the casual user that will handle even an HS lock is an electronic pick that vibrates up and down thousands of time per minute but these puppies start at over $100. You might be able to find one cheap on an online auction site or something like Craigs list (which IMHO is scam central, so be forewarned). Also the seller probably isn't going to care much if something happens to be illegal where you are. I'm sure that ebay would never let them be listed, but there are probably other sites that aren't so scrupulous.

[ripmeidc]

try youtube

[spangecore]

i've been making lockpicks for over a year now and picking for about 3 and i find that the best metal you can use are hacksaw blades. they are pretty much the same and if all you have is a hand held grinder or even files the metal is fairly easy to work with. the metal from windsheild wipers and street sweepers work the best for tension wrenches. and to bend them right you need to heat the metaland bend it or else it will crack and break. you can find templates online and there is one that when you print it is already sized. then when you have those you cut them out and use a glue stick to glue it to the blade and trace it with a pencil you just have to make the part where you traced smaller when you grind them down to compensate for the small gap. just compare it to the template.

i think the small hook, half diamond and sometimes a rake are the best to have . a small hook is best if you want to get good at it and be able to feel every pin.

hope that helps.

[ravenscar]

The only fool proof tool for the casual user that will handle even an HS lock is an electronic pick that vibrates up and down thousands of time per minute but these puppies start at over $100.

or you can go to http://www.budk.com and get an AUTOMATIC lockpick (still got to squeeze a trigger) for 40 bucks

[retlix]

pick guns are ok, but for the tough locks, you're better off trying to do it with manual picks IMHO. I have a pick gun and it just doesn't work on the couple high security padlocks I've tried it on.

You can adjust the strength of the bounce you get from the pick end, but I tried it on high, low and a few in between.

I think that's because of the big differences in the amount of pin travel from one pin to the next and probably because those types of locks have stronger springs.

[spangecore]

pick guns are kinda sketchy and if you dont know what your doing or how locks work and what kind of lock your using it on then your going to get nowhere fast.

[chefbrowneye]

yes, the windshield wiper blade metal inserts.check it out. random models/sizes.
sometimes it only takes 1 to open a tough masterLock. google.