Top 10 Reasons Why You Can’t Pick a Lock

hello again it's Locke newb and this video is all about the top 10 reasons why you can't pick that lock so we've all been there we can't pick that lock we just get really frustrated with it and this video is meant to be a reference guide to the top reasons as far as I'm concerned as to why you might not be picking that lock right no particular order let's crack on you're using too much or too little tension so let's go with too much tension this is very common for new Pickers because increasing the tension means that you are more likely to feel a pin binding as it binds more strongly you're pushing more force onto the pin laterally so it's sticking against the the core and the Bible a lot harder what that can mean though if I put if instead of just holding normal tension I push that tension bar really far down is that the pins do give you better feedback in terms of than binding but it also means that when you do press on them you risk damaging your tool by having to push so hard on it your pick tool but also when you do finally get that pin to be pushed up you can push it way too far because you're putting a lot of force on the pin meaning that it actually picks all the way up into the Bible and takes the key pin with it which will actually over set that key pin and stop that core from turning any way using too little tension conversely you can see how much tension I was putting on there look how my fingers are indented too little tension means that you may not actually be binding any of the pins at all and therefore you don't get any feedback in terms of a binding pin so you can't really pick any of them every time that you touch one of the pins it just falls back into position a type of lock which can exacerbate these issues are locked with a strong call spring what that tends to mean and it's more difficult for newer Pickers is that when you are tensioning a lot like this you either don't tension it enough against that core spring so you're not turning the core around enough with your tension tool to bind the pins or you are over tensioning it to try and combat that core spring it's that subtle balance so in which only really practicing experience can combat your binding the core when you're tensioning the lock think of the core of the lock being a tube which is cut nearly all the way through vertically and all the way along to the back if you put too much tension on the lock especially Boston the key way you can end up splaying the two sides of the core especially in Cheaper locks under force and that can mean that even if you pick the lock the call won't turn it's jammed against the body of the lock another way in which this happens and this is the one which captures me out is sometimes use a wrong tension tool and what can happen is that you can dig into the body of the lock instead of the core itself so what we're doing is we're not turning the core here we're tensioning against the core and the body of the lock it's essentially just jammed in there and this means that if you've got the wrong tension tool in you're not tensioning the core you're tensioning really the body of the lock you made the wrong choice of picking tool for the lock you have right so this is one of those things which is really part and parcels a lock picking is finding the right combination of tension tool of course and lock pick for your lock and there are probably too many examples to go through here but I'll choose again some of the more common examples where the right pick make all the difference between being able to pick your lock and not be able to pick your lock so take for example a high-security block like this with a very Peres centric ugly-looking key way if you were to try to use a big thick short hook like this in twenty five thousandths you're going to struggle to get anywhere near up through that warding to hit the pins it's just too thick and it's too shallow so what can you do well you could try a deeper hook but again this isn't twenty five thousand that might get you so far but again you're going to be deflected off this warding so there are other options you can buy picks now in 15 thousandths of an inch and even twelve thousand an inch and beyond and these will allow you to wiggle past some of the warding they go and access those pins in ways which thicker picks just wouldn't then we have lots of very small key ways now it could be that you're used to using quite deep hooks when you're picking something like this and you might come across this lock and just use the same hook of course you know this is a very small key way this hook is very deep and already you can see the problem in that I can't really pick up those pins at the right angle to pick them all the way to the top because the pick is too big to get round that warding I can't work this pick round the warding to pick any of these pins it's just too big so what you need is a shallow hook thing like this and then I might even be able to pick off the warding here just insert and rig it round like that that gives you much better access to the pins and I could cross and pick all the way up to the top of the lock by just choosing the right short hook for a small key way sometimes though you might have a relatively small key way and try to use your short hook but still not be successful in pickin this lock why well have a look at this key for example I see that it's got very extreme bitung pins one two and three are in this V configuration which means if I use a short hook try to pick pin3 there I'd be over setting pin to that is pushing the keeping up into the Bible of the lock and stopping the lot from opening well how would I get around that well I might have to revert to a deeper hook and as long as the keyway is wide enough I might be able to actually work this round the warding like that to pick up on the pins again it's just another picked Royce where a shallow hook just wouldn't work a deep hook might save the day then of course I got rating techniques so I have a lot here where I'm going to try and rake it using this double peak pick I'm just going to go in and we're going to just try and break this lock open and there we go opens very easily now if I try that we're saying like the city rate which might may work on numerous other locks I find that I could be there for minutes days hours weeks even try to open this and getting very frustrated with myself but why is it that one of those rates works one of them doesn't again it's down to that fitting if you look here a double peak rake like this we'll be able to just get in behind this deep cut here that low set pin and rake those pins open without disturbing this pin over setting it well if I use this city rake you can already see that if I'm trying to access these pins at the back I'm going to be pushing this keeping up into the Bible over setting it and I won't get that open so again it's all about that importance of the picture always spending the time to decide what is the best pick for that lock it can be a lot more difficult if you don't have the key to read from in that case then it's just feel practice and experience which will determine how to pick the lock misidentification of the locking mechanism this happens in too broadly different ways the first of which is more common amongst newer Pickers who pick up locks without keys and are making assumptions based on the key way alone for example it's very common to see a lock like this and assume because it has a vertical key way broadly similar to standard pin tumblers that it is indeed a pin tumbler when actually especially if you have the key you can see that this is a warded lock and therefore doesn't have any pins in this at all new Pickers fighting Glocks like this for the first time may assume that this is also a standard pin tumbler especially if holding it with the key weight vertically but of course if you just inspect you can see there we have a horizontal pin if itís better to view this lock horizontally it's a dimple lock and again if you didn't have the key it's perfectly normal to assume for a new picker that it is a standard pin tumbler locks like this which are a little bit rarer to find to a new picker you might have seen this is a standard way for lock or maybe a pin tumbler if you didn't have the key with the key though you can see that this is sewing a little bit different and it is a wave lock but it is a slider wait for lock a slightly different mechanism and again to a new picker trying to pick these locks in the same way they pick a standard pin tumbler will lead to failure the best way you can combat that is just by researching the lock on the Internet and of course experience the second reason why misidentification of a locking mechanism can lead to lots not being pickable is largely based around assumptions and lack of a research of the lock you are actually picking which is compounded sometimes by not having the key to that lock this is a which can trip up even the most experienced of pickers including myself from time to time here are 4 quite common examples of where an assumption could lead to you never picking a lock or at least struggling first up is a rather innocuous looking handbag lock this looks like a standard four pin padlock and in some ways it is however away from the pins at the top you might be able to see a small check pin down at the bottom which also needs to pick be picked before the lock will open if you didn't know that you could be pickin this lock for days and never realized a lot like this you can see the standard pins at the top you might see that there are its thing going on here with a double row of pins but again if you weren't experienced he didn't know what's going on you may be under the assumption that this is just a standard 6 pin cylinder if you have the key however you will see there is a double row of pins and again if you didn't know that you may never find that out on your own and you'd be stuck maybe sewing which is more of an annoyance than so it will truly stop you picking the lock but worth mentioning anyway our locks with really nice beveled pins these trip up even most experience of Pickers if you don't know they're in the lock because a lock will feel picked but be hung up on a beveled pin and be very tricky to open if you don't know they're there you may not know how to compact them and last but no means least is a lock which by the name many experienced because we'll know has a special mechanism inside which requires you to not only lift the pins to shear but also rotate them at the same time and you can see that the cuts on the key are angled again if you didn't know that you may get an open eventually but it'll be random rather than calculated this would be even more common if you have been picking others locks which look very similar and maybe is something that this one would be the same it's broken so this actually happens again more commonly than you might expect if you are buying and trying to pick used locks there's no guarantee especially if you don't have a key that the lock is actually working on the inside and you can be spending a lot of time trying to pick locks which will never be opened so here is one example there is I have a lock which operates perfectly well but the other side is completely broken if a toccata you put the key in if I had bought this lot of secondhand now I didn't have the key I started picking the broken side I could be there for hours and hours thinking that I didn't have the skill to open a lock when the lock could never be opened quite common with lots which have been outside and are rusted they can be so rusted that the internals can be completely seized up to a point where they can never be recovered again you may be trying to pick one of these locks and not quite realize with older locks you may have completely broken Springs you may have jammed pins you may even find that somebody has snapped off a key in the back of the lock or try to stick a tool or a screwdriver or something inside a lock sometimes they even bought with glue inside and when you buy them secondhand how do you combat this well sometimes you'd have to take a chance on one that I could bargain and sometimes you have to accept that you will buy a lock which is broken but for a new picker who may not be able to discern when a lock is broken all of their skills aren't actually up to picking it yet well I always say try try try to make sure that you always buy locks with a key and check that they are actually working first because if it doesn't work it's likely you won't be able to pick it it's too dirty yep this one's really common and can really frustrate experienced Pickers as well as new Pickers if you're picking old or vintage or just well use locks it's likely they have worn internals they're full of dirt old grease metal filings and shavings from the internals of the lock and the key from years of use all combined together inside what does that do well it robs the picker from feedback it can make it very hard to discern when a pin is binding when it's when it's setting when it has been set or whether it's over set all of those states can be very hard to discern when a lock is Kate full of grease and dust and age and wear now that doesn't matter so much because you can still pick these locks but the feedback is very subtle sometimes increasing the tension can help what can you do well you can clean the locks up with degreaser ultrasonic baths and all sort of oil baths there's lots of different ways you can clean up certain locks but go careful with them especially if they're old one common thing you find in old locks is people miss lubricating them so out of the factory this would have been lubricated with a graphite powder and over the years this one has been oiled or greased and if you look at the key you'll see exactly what problem that has and that creates this kind of black gunky paste with the graphite powder and the oil you still pick these locks as I say but it does help to give them a clean first and at least be aware that one of the reasons you might not be able to pick one of these locks is they're just not giving very strong feedback and again that is something which with a little bit of practice and experience you get slightly better at reading these older locks you made the wrong tension tool choice now there are so many different types of locks and so many different ways to to tension them that going through every example would be well impossible so I choose two really common examples of where the wrong tension tool choice can mean that you won't pick your lock first one is small key ways now if like me to pick locks using Boston the keyway tension like this you may look at a small key way and find a slimmed-down tension tool and think that that'll be adequate but when you actually look how much room you have to insert your pick even a short hook like this you'll see that you've got very little space here and what you're more likely to do is over set these pins when inserting the pick that better choice would be to use something like this cut-down wiper blade tension tool to use top of the key wave gives you access to this whole half of the key way to insert your pick and rotate round to pick those pins a second example are where you have locks which just require a really really high amount of tension to bind the pins and get the right amount of feedback using something like a twisted tension tool will not allow you to get that amount of tension because these are designed to flex really heavily grates and some locks have been on lots like this so you may want to swap over to a tension tool which is a lot sturdier and doesn't have that degree of flex the choice of tension tool is absolutely critical when picking any lock and it's definitely worth spending good time trying to find the right tension tool for that lock so you don't end up wasting minutes and hours picking a lock unsuccessfully when if only you chosen the right tension tool you may picked it straight away you're second-guessing the lock now this is related to the misidentification of the locking mechanism but in a slightly different and very subtle way in which you yourself are not relying on your skills and feedback to pick a lock you are just trying to pick the lock based on your assumptions that you've made about it so here are some great examples of where a lock made completely throw you because you just tried to pick it in a way which this lock can't be picked or is very hard to pick in that way so here we have for example a master lock you're thinking mass lock laminated standard pins easy actually this must lock 19 I believe how serrated pins there are six of them and have extremely strong Springs and it's a very tough pick so if you go in with the mindset it's just an easy math lock with standard pins you're not going to die on the feedback which it's telling you which will allow you to get that open so it's a mind-set issue more than misidentification at the mechanism issue saying with saying about this little 40 mil brass padlock really easy actually no not so much these are really tricky locks to pick and I believe have beveled pins inside which I mentioned earlier which can really throw you again if you're not listening to the lock and you've made an assumption it's going to be real easy based on the fact that it's a little for small brass padlock it will throw you and you're going to struggle to pick it same with this which has serrated pins and then sometimes and this is actually quite common especially we don't have the keys you just find a no brand euro that you made an assumption it just has a few spools in and again you could be picking for ages and what you're doing is not just some misidentification of the mechanism which which is fine we all do that but like I said it's about that mindset you've already made up your mind what's inside the lock so you're not allowing yourself to get any feedback not allowing you sort to read the feedback it's telling you through the pick through the tension tool to discern what it is and this actually is am a GT Europa with some really cool pins inside not so much a lot bigger couldn't pick relatively easily it's just that if you're in that mindset that it is a standard euro cylinder lock you will probably not allow your mind to dis tile in to that feedback it's giving you so it's not like a direct misidentification of the locking mechanism it's not allowing yourself to identify it through feel the lock is just beyond your current skill level and that is nothing I mean nothing to be ashamed of or worried about we all have a lock which will just defeat our current skills and that's why lock-picking is so much fun because there is always that lock we can't pick so it's quite common for new Pickers to have practice on say plastic padlocks move through some must locks with standard pins and then sometimes just stumble upon a lock those lent to them are they bought on eBay like a medical biaxial thing like that and then struggle to pick it and that's because these locks are a world apart from these locks and it will just take experience and practice to be able to pick some of these harder locks for example I've not managed to yet pick an asset win but I don't feel any shame because of that it just means that I have another challenge to look forward to and that's what we need to do we need to look forward to the challenges keep practicing don't give up and more importantly don't give up on a lock that you can't pick the best way to ensure you never pick a lock is never trying to pick the lock but we also have to be humble enough to realize that sometimes there are just locks which will defeat a current skill level and I don't mean that you will never pick it I just mean you can't pick it right this second but just to reiterate the point don't put it in a cupboard don't lock it away don't give it to a friend keep it practice one day you'll pick it and you'll feel fantastic for having done so it's because it's already picked now this happens again even to experienced Pickers sometimes you're picking a lock like this American locking 11-hundred and you've set all the pins you're going back through it you just don't understand why it's not opening I've got no feedback everything feels picked it hasn't opened yet the shackles still locked why why why can't I pick this lock and actually this happened to me the first time I ever picked one of these American lock 1100 s and because I didn't realize how strong the course spring wasn't if I'd only just turned it a little bit harder I would have opened the lock so sometimes the reason you can't pick the lock is because it's already picked open another great example and I've got one here already set up is that I've been pickin this lock I think that I'm in a really deep full set I don't know how to get out of it everything's dead I don't get any feedback is it is it just my like a skill how can I even get into this well what about if we just release it from the vise draws and you realized that the tailpiece of the lock is pushing against the drawers of the vise meaning that the lock was open it wasn't in a false set it's just that it was binding in the vise drawers and it wasn't allowing that tail piece to come round and out like it's doing now so if he really really gets stuck check the lock actually isn't already picked because it's very hard to pick open a lock that is already open bonus reason do you know what you could just be tired you just might have picking fatigue you could have picked too long you might be physically tired from a long day at work it could be that you're upset about so your mindset isn't on the job it could be that you're just frustrated with that lock they just can't pick and it's really getting to you sometimes you just need to step away from the locks go do something else maybe just leave the locks for a few days and then come back to them and it's amazing what's a little bit of rest and a little bit of space can do for your lock picking genuinely you know if you're not in the right mindset and you gain tired you getting frustrated with a lock it's very unlikely you're going to get a quick open so there we are that's my top 10 reasons why you might not be able to pick that lock be really interested to know what you think in the comments are there any other reasons that I've missed which ones have you fallen foul off I can tell you I pretty much fell foul of all of those at some points in my picking career so yeah do let me know what you think in the comments give me like if you liked this video subscribe if you're not subscribed and I'll see you all next time

Channel: Lock Noob

Views: 478,124

Keywords: Lock, locksport, lock pick, lock picking, locks, Padlock, open, pick, picked, picking, lockpicking, locksmith, fun, cool, spp, single pin picking, gutting, gutted, how to, guide, tutorial

Id: YnW7dilY1I8

Length: 26min 57sec (1617 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 04 2020