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How do you pick locks?
The art of lock picking requires lots of practice and patience and even after adopting those two things you still may not be able to grasp it. Locksmiths define lock-picking as the manipulation of a lock’s components to open a lock without a key. To understand lock-picking, then, you first have to know how locks and keys work.
The methods used to pick locks varies from lock to lock but each will require a set of picks or a specific pick for the chosen lock. Specialized Safe locks will require specialized picks which can cost a small fortune as many have been hand custom made.
‘Raking’ is a term used when a pick is operated in a back to forward motion, raking the waffers or pins of a lock.
Rake picks
These picks, such as the common snake rake, are designed to ‘rake’ pins by rapidly sliding the pick past all the pins, repeatedly, in order to bounce the pins until they reach the shear line. This method requires much less skill than picking pins individually, and generally works well on cheaper locks.
When the pins are excited they bounce all around the shear line and with the skillful application of a torsion tool this is the easiest way to pick a lock. This is also how beginners begin. Advance rakes are available which are shaped to mimic various different pin height key positions and are considerably easier to use than traditional rakes.
Manipulation is when pressure is applied to a lock by using a tension tool which binds the lock pins up so you have some guidence of what pins to manipulate first. Usually The pin that is most ‘stiff’ is the pin you would manipulate first bringing it inline with the sheer line of the cylinder.
Half-diamond pick
Perhaps the most basic and common pick, this versatile pick is included in all kits and is mainly used for picking individual pins, but can also be used for raking and for wafer and disk locks. Each of the ends of triangular ‘half diamond’ of this pick can be either steep or shallow in angle, depending on the need for picking without neighboring pins, or raking as appropriate. A normal set would comprise around three half diamond picks and a double half diamond pick.
Torsion wrench
A traditional pickset. Torsion wrench, “twist-flex” torsion wrench, offset diamond pick, ball pick, half-diamond pick, short hook, medium hook, saw (or “L”) rake, snake (or “C”) rake.Often called a torque wrench or a tension wrench, a torsion wrench is a tool used in picking locks. Typically shaped like a letter “L” (although the vertical part of the letter is elongated in comparison to the horizontal part), it is used to apply torsion to the inner cylinder of a lock, in order to hold any picked pins in place, while the other pins are shifted. The tension wrench is then used to turn the inner cylinder and open the lock.
Despite its popular name, the tool provides torsion, not tension. A tension wrench would be, by definition, a tool that stretches something. A torsion wrench would be a tool that twists.
Some torsion wrenches (called “Feather Touch” wrenches, among other names) are coiled into a spring at the bend in the “L”, which helps the user apply constant torque. Some users, however, maintain that such wrenches reduce torsion control and the feedback available to the user.
Other torsion tools, especially those for use with cars resemble a pair of tweezers and allow the user to apply torsion to both the top and the bottom of the lock. These would commonly be used with double sided wafer locks.
Also, high tech torsion tools exist which sit over the lock face allowing the user to see a display of the amount of torsion applied. This aids with the process of feeling when a pin has set.
The torsion tool is just as important, if not more so, as other tools in the set, but is often neglected and is rarely represented in fiction.
For avoidance of doubt, it is not possible to pick a pin/tumbler or wafer lock without a torsion tool, even with the use of a pick gun.
Picking with a pick gun.
A manual pick gun (or Snap gun) is used in a similar way but usually has a “trigger” that creates an upward movement that must be repeated rapidly to bounce the pins to engage in the sheer line of the lock. only when the pick gun has engaged all 5 or 6 pins in the sheer line will the lock open.
Pick gun
A traditional manual pick gun that is used by pulling the trigger.Often seen in movies and in the tool box of locksmiths, manual and electronic pick guns are a popular method used today for quick and easy ways of opening doors. The higher-end electric pick guns are usually made of aircraft aluminum and hard steel. The pick is operated by simply pressing a button that vibrates while the normal tension wrench is being used. A manual pick gun (or Snap gun) is used in a similar way but usually has a “trigger” that creates an upward movement that must be repeated rapidly to bounce the pins to engage in the sheer line of the lock. only when the pick gun has engaged all 5 or 6 pins in the sheer line will the lock open.
These operate on the same principle as Newton’s Cradle. They transfer sudden upwards energy to the bottom pins which communicate this to the top pins causing those pins only simultaneously to jump. A pick gun is used in conjunction with a torsion tool and the only skill required here is learning the timing.
Wiki- Lock picking
Lock picking is the skill of unlocking a lock by analyzing and manipulating the components of the lock device, without the original key. Although lock picking can be associated with criminal intent, it is an essential skill for a locksmith. Lock picking is the ideal way of opening a lock without the correct key, while not damaging the lock, allowing it to be rekeyed for later use, which is especially important with antique locks that would be impossible to replace if destructive entry methods were used.
Lock picking is only made possible by unavoidable mechanical machining errors in the fabrication of locks.
The move towards combination locks for high security items such as safes was intended to remove the weakest part of the lock: its keyhole.
In normal situations it is almost always easier to gain access by some means other than lock picking; most common locks can be quickly and easily opened using a drill, bolt cutters, padlock shim, a bump key or a hydraulic jack. The hasp, door, or fixture they are attached to can be cut, broken, unscrewed or otherwise removed, windows can be broken etc. Therefore a lock that offers high resistance to picking does not necessarily make unauthorized access more difficult, but will make surreptitious unauthorized access more difficult. Locks are often used in combination with alarms to provide layered security.
Some people enjoy picking locks recreationally. This may also be referred to as Locksport.
Locksmith Local
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