The Breakdown...

Before you dive into a lock and hammer away at the pins, you should develop a general understand of what happens inside the lock as it is opened by a key, or what happens when it doesn't open and why. A largely important skill that lock picking calls upon frequently is the ability to visualize something as it is happening. You then use that visualization to make predictions and decisions about what to do next to successfully pick the lock. So here it goes, listen closely.

A pin tumbler lock contains pins that when not raised to the correct levels by a key, bind inside the lock between the plug and the hull (the locks body). In a four pin lock, there are 8 pins in total, separated into four sets of two pins. In these sets of two pins, the pins are stacked on top of each other. The pin on the bottom is called the key pin, and the pin on top is the driver pin. When the correct key is used, the gaps between all the pins line up with the shear line, the plug will be free to rotate and unlock. When the wrong key is used, the pins will jam and bind at the shear line and the plug will not turn.

Here is a front view of the lock for better understanding.

Try to visualize the corresponding parts of the lock in both of the views presented. What does it look like when the a key is inserted into this lock from both of the views? When the correct key is inserted into this lock, the springs compress under the upward force of the key and driver pins being raised for the key and the gap between the key and driver pin will align with the shear line, allowing the locks plug to turn and open the lock. For a better grasp on what happens to the pins when the correct key is inserted and turned, see the 3D image below. It shows the driver pins resting on top of the plug at the shear line and the key pins resting on the key at their correct levels. Note: When you pick a lock open, the key picks rest on what would be the wards (the teeth like protrusions in the key way, directly under the key pin in the diagram to the right)

As you can see on the left, when the correct key is inserted, the driver pins (blue) are able to clear the shear line, free of any bind, and allow the plug to rotate to the unlocked position.

Another Pin Tumbler Example

Here's another video example of a pin tumbler with a security pin or two being picked open. Enjoy and stay tuned for an in depth look at the inner workings of a pin tumbler lock and its flaws.

The Basics

In this post, we will be getting right into the basic concepts and viewing some of the tools used to pick locks.

When it comes to picking the most common type of lock, the pin tumbler, you essentially only need two tools: An appropriately sized tension wrench and a pick. The variance in size of the keyway can be quite large, thus the need for different sizes of tension wrench's. There are many types of picks, such as the hook, diamond, halfball and so forth, but for the purpose of this post (being post number two and trying to keep it simple) we will use one of my personal favourites, the hook pic.

It is my belief that if you are just begin to learn the art of lock picking, you should first learn how to single pin pick (spp) rather than raking, a popular technique that we will discuss in the near future. Single pin picking is the type of picking most people picture in their minds when they think of what they saw in the movies, whether or not they actually know whats going on in there or not. When single pin picking, you set each pin inside the lock individually while apply pressure on the tension wrench in the direction that you would turn the locks key to open it. For a demonstration of SPP and a sneak peak at beating spool pins. Watch this video!



So, now that I have you ahead of yourself, my next lesson will be about how a pin tumbler lock actually works and why it's flaws allow them to be picked...

Stay Tuned!

Open Sesame

When I was 13 years old, I witnessed a local locksmith enter the front door of a friends home using lock picks with ease. To a 13 year old boy, this was very intriguing. So, what do I do? I try to make my very own 'set' of lock picks with my fathers tin snips and a scrap piece of soft aluminum. Anyone reading this with experience in lock picking of any kind has already predicted that my first attempt at picking open a lock failed miserably (true). However, my first failure was more of a step forward than it was a failure. I became, to my mothers description, obsessed with picking locks in more than just my spare time. I made time for picking locks.

Before I could pick the few locks that my household contained however, I had to step up the level of my equipment. So what does a now nearly 14 year old boy do? He turns to the internet, Google search engine rather. With about as much research as an excited kid can handle in a few days, I dismantled one of my fathers hacksaws (much to his dismay) and began grinding away on our Dewalt bench top grinder. With an hour or so of carbon grindings on my hands, I had what I thought to be a hook pick, an S-Rake, and a tension wrench made from an allen key. After a few returns to the grinder to make the tension wrench small enough to fit into the key way, I began to pick away, with semi decent tools.

At 14, with very little (none at all) experience, minimal research of technique and a drive to succeed, I picked open my first lock in what felt like half an hour. It popped open close to the time I had set to give up and come back later, though thankfully I didn't have to put it down. This blog will describe, teach, demonstrate and illustrate everything that I am capable of at this moment and hopefully more than that in the near future.

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