Lever Lock Cutaways | Locksmith Blog
Topic: Lock picking
Not much of a post really...

I has nothing on today and saw a video on youtube of a guy demonstrating some lever lock cutaways he had made.

Thought I would have a shot while I had nothing to do.

One standard 5 lever lock, One curtained lever lock with H style levers.

Could probably cut a lot more out of the cases if you wanted but all I did was mark around the important fixings with a sharpie marker and then chop out the unessessary metal and finish each section differently using a dremel tool.

Lock opening vids - Locksmith Blog
Topic: Lock picking

Was browsing through my photobucket account this morning and stumbled on a few interesting lock opening vids i made but probably never posted for whatever reason.

Cyberlock magnetic bump attack

This is the magnetic attack used to bump open the older generation of videx cyberlock.

Millenco Magnum Wafer Overlift

Method i discovered to quickly defeat the Millenco Magnums wafers.

 Era BS Thumbturn Bypass

Simple bypass of the new BS ERA thumbturns that can cause so much trouble when drilling.

Lever lock bumping

Local locksmith demonstrating the bumping of worn lever locks

Random Experiments - Locksmith Blog
Topic: Lock picking

I have always struggled with the picking of the 7 pin Garrison locks so have been experimenting with various new ideas to open them.

Im pretty sure after my last post its fair to say they will be shimmable like the mt5 was.

Secondly was impressioning.
I had a crude attempt at making up an impressioning key that used a plasticine face in which to sink the pins. I made this by sinking each cut to full depth (and a bit more).

I then filled the rest of the key with soft plasticine and carved the profile back in.

The main problem would be getting the key in the lock unscathed. My method was to stick the key in the freezer for 10 minutes although in a real situation it would be better to use a gas aerosol or similar.

Anyhow once the key was in the lock i left a few minutes to thaw and began the self impressioning wiggling.

I managed to get the lock to false set on 3 attempts meaning there were pins oversetting. The problem with garrisons is there always seems to be high and low pins situated alongside one another making impressioning tough. (this is why i didnt go for foil)

Although i didn't get a 100% result here it displayed some positive results and with a few modifications i think il be able to get this to work.

and Thirdly the rake key.

Using a Garrison bump key i machined away a mm of the edge of the key so that i could insert a tension wrench in with the bump key. The idea being you can hold light tension while concentrating on the raking as oppose to trying both with one hand movement.

Again some success. I managed yet again the false set, however it was then impossible to remove the key to pick the remaning pins by hand. So all in all not much use... just like the bump key 

 Rick | West Midlands locksmiths

Securefast Decoder - Locksmith Blog
Topic: Lock picking

If you deal with any particulat lever lock on a regular basis it may be worth investing some money in a decoder / make up key kit for that lock.

They are fairly exspensive but can save a lot of time when compared to picking or drilling open the locks.

These decoder kits can read the levers in the lock.

The decoder for the securefast locks reads the levers by the height which they are lifted which then corresponds to a cut depth.

Here is a demonstration by a local locksmith in Middlesbrough that encounters securefast 5 lever locks on a regular basis.

 Important things to note:

- Make sure to place the pins in the correct slots in the blank.

- When no pin is required remember to leave that part of your blank empty and not insert the next pin into that hole.

- When cutting a key from the make up key remember to reverse the cuts for the rest of the key.

Picking telescopic pins - Locksmith Blog
Topic: Lock picking

The telescopic pin system has been around a while and mainly used by the mul-t-lock brand although there are others such as the avocet abs that use the same design combined with a magnetic pin element.

They are generally considered high security locks and require special tools to open, however i have found that these locks with a little practice will open just as easilly with the correct half diamond pick.

My weapon of choice is the larger half diamond found in the southord pick set.

Resting the flat edge of the pick in the narrowest corner of the keyway should place the tip of your hook directly above the pinstacks and all thats needed to set them is a slight rotation of the pick ensuring the flat edge remains in that corner of the keyway.

Combined with featherlight tension you can open these locks in a few minutes.

Note: the avocet abs requires a small section of fridge magnet to lift the magnetic pin, although the same can be achieved by magnetising the pick blade itself.

Here a few i did earlier:

 

 Rick - Walsall Locksmiths

 

Eurospec BS mortise locks - Locksmith Blog
Topic: Lock picking
Eurospec BS locks are becoming quite common and are a relatively easy pick.



As you can see they use a different lever pack to most mortice locks and move on a semi pivoting/sliding type fulcrum.






The 20mm bolt throw is achieved using an interesting slider mechanism which extends/retracts the talon of the bolt as the key is turned. This allows the extra 4mm bolt throw for the BS rating. These tracks can cause a considerable headache if you have to drill this lock from the back side (ie:bolt facing right), as the drill will damage the tram line and cause the bolt to jam solid.

However this can be overcome by lining up the levers and then hammering the bolt across with a screwdriver. (Not easy with one pair of hands lol)

All being well you shouldnt really need to drill this lock though as they are relatively easy to pick due to the lack of anti-pick notches on the levers.

Iv seen a lot of eurospec locks and have only ever seen one anti-pick lever per lever pack. This is great news for picking, and even more so when i tell you that it can be easilly be lifted out of the false gate anyway.



The false gate is always above the real one (iv never seen one below anyway)

Before picking this lock id suggest that you make a pick a few mm longer than usual. This is because the newest version of this lock incorporates a new extra high and extra low lift lever to overcome the jiggler key attack that the older model suffered from whereby a flat jiggler key could be used to overlift all the levers and gently turned whilst lowering.

So, new longer pick in hand, pick as per usual nudging binding levers until something happens.
Now either you get lucky and lock opens, or the lock will fall into the false gate. Either way is a win situation although i find that sometimes this lock can take a while to get all the levers in place as the binding pattern shifts around quite a bit. Slow but steady...

When the lock is set in the false gate you will feel the bolt throw slightly.
Now apply more tension and feel each lever in the lock
Correctly set levers will have a tiny amount of movement.
The falsely set one will feel rock solid as is taking the entire force on the bolt.

So apply a bit of upwards pressure on the lever and slowly release tension. Get it right and the lever will lift into the correct gate and lock open. Release too much and the other levers reset. start again...

Not a difficult lock but certainly one worth mentioning in a bit of detail.
I recommend training on one if your unfamiliar with feeling for false setting levers.