Ok... I have been picking locks for about 3 months and have worked my way up from old file cabnet type locks to masterlocks. I am stuck on Schlage deadbolt and Best locks. Why am I having such a difficult time? I like to take a break from the cards and sit down to conqure a lock. Don't lecture me... I am not doing this for malicious behavior I just have a facination for lock picking. Basically, during an IBM meeting 5 months ago a key was lost for a drawing box and the chairman stood up and asked a room full of magicians if they could pick a lock. Well... In a room full of magicians no one stood up. So... I now have a new destination. It is better than video games. So. Why are deadbolt locks giving me such a hard time. I have tried raking and picking. Should I stick to one or another?

Thanks,
J

Dear unsigned. Most of your locks might have been wafer tumbler which have greater clearances, hence are easier to unlock. The Schlage and Best are pin tumber and have tighter clearances and tolerance. The Best may also be a removeable core which means you have two shearlines for the last three pins to contend with.

If you have mastered the feel of lock picking, then go with picking, raking has little control.

Make sure you are not using a flexible turning tool but a rigid one which is a snug fit in the keyhole for a more accurate feel.

Ian

Just to add, with a deadbolt it is easier (for me) if my turning tool is a large sized one.

I am guessing you have a standard set of picking tools, they usually come with a large tension tool and a small, use the large as you need a little more torque. There are multiple styles of tension tools out there that can help but a large size should do the trick.

Man, it's great having Trunk8 here. I love reading your posts. Even wore one of your works in my Avatar.

Cheers

I have found a light touch on the tension wrench to be a great help.

Good luck & keep practicing... it will come!

Locking depends on your ability to feel when a pin reaches the shearline through both the ever so slight movement felt in the motion transfered down the turning tool and the halting of the movement of the bottom pin being raised by the pick at the shearline. Depending on how much clearance there is in the cylinder chamber/galleries and the bottom pins and also the force applied to the top pins (drivers) by the springs. [each manufacturer used different springs and each individual spring is slighty different] will depend on how much turning torque is required.

Throughout the picking of one cylinder, the pressure may need to be varied for every pin because of it's spring. It is all a matter of experience, practice, practice and more practice.

Ian

Also for the Best I have seen a special tension wrench for this type of padlock. Don,