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Found yourself in front of the locked door of your apartment without keys in the middle of the night? Or lost the key to the barn's padlock? Before spending money on a locksmith, try to open the lock yourself. The most common type of home and office locks is a pin-type cylinder lock, which can be opened relatively easily with a lock pick (hook and tensioner) that can be made from available tools.
While the process is straightforward and gets easier with experience, picking a lock requires a lot of patience. To open the lock, you need to insert a thick metal rod or needle into the keyhole and rotate it until you hear a click or turn of the mechanism. In this article, we'll show you how to do this.
Image titled Pick a Lock Step 1
Image titled Pick a Lock Step 2
2. Buy a set of lock picks (hook and tensioner). Each lock pick serves a different purpose. The tensioner is used to apply pressure to the cylinder when turning. Professional grade lockpicks and tensioners can be purchased in a set (see illustration), but many people for whom picking locks is a hobby make quality lockpicks on their own. Refer to the “What You Will Need” section below for information on how to make your own lockpicks and tensioners.
3. Place the tensioner on the bottom of the keyhole.
4. Determine in which direction the cylinder must rotate to open. If you use a lock often, you should know in which direction it rotates. If you don't know, first try pulling the pick clockwise and then counterclockwise. At first, the cylinder will turn literally a few millimeters until it stops. Try to feel how steadily the cylinder has stopped. If the cylinder is turned in the wrong direction, it will abruptly and firmly abut, but if the cylinder is turned in the right direction, you will feel free space to wobble. Some locks, especially padlocks, open regardless of the direction of rotation of the cylinder.
5. Tighten the tensioner slightly in the correct direction and hold. The torque voltage may vary from one lock to another, or multiple attempts may be required when working with different pins. Start with a little pressure.
6. Insert the pick-hook into the top of the keyhole and feel the pins. After inserting the pick into the hole, you should be able to feel and press the individual pins with the tip of the hook. You should be able to push the pins up and feel the pressure of the springs as you pull the pick down. Try to lift each pin all the way up. Determine which of the pins is the hardest to lift. If they all lend themselves easily to pressure, then tighten the tension on the lower pick (tensioner). If one of the pins does not move at all, release the tension until the pin begins to move. Alternatively, you can comb the pins before starting the above process (see Tips below).
7. Press down on the stubborn pin until it snaps into place. Press down on the rested pin with enough pressure to exceed the spring pressure. Remember that the pin is in two parts. The pick presses on the lower part of the pin, which in turn presses on the upper part. Your task is to push the top half of the pin completely out of the cylinder. After you stop pressing on the pin, the lower part should return down to its original position, and the upper part, thanks to the tension with the second master key, and a small odor between the holes in the body and cylinder, should snap into place and remain in the body. You should hear a slight click as the top pin hits the surface of the cylinder as it falls.
8. While continuing to hold the tensioner, repeat the last two steps with the remaining pins. Holding the tensioner is very important, otherwise the “put in place” upper pins will fall into the cylinder and you have to start over. You will need to adjust the tension to each specific pin (increase / decrease pressure).
9.Turn the cylinder with the tensioner all the way and open the lock. Once all of the top pins are in place, you can turn the cylinder and open the lock. This is given that all this time you have been pulling the cylinder in the right direction. If it turns out that you were working in the wrong direction, then you will have to return all the pins to their original position and start over.
While the process is straightforward and gets easier with experience, picking a lock requires a lot of patience. To open the lock, you need to insert a thick metal rod or needle into the keyhole and rotate it until you hear a click or turn of the mechanism. In this article, we'll show you how to do this.
Steps
Image titled Pick a Lock Step 1
- Find out how your castle works. A pin cylinder lock consists of a cylinder that rotates in its housing (see illustration below). When the lock is closed, the cylinder is locked in place with a series of pins split in two. The top of the pin in each pair goes through the cylinder and through the body, preventing the cylinder from turning. When the correct key is inserted, the pins move upward to the exact position where the top of the pins no longer hinders the cylinder from turning and the lock can be opened. Note the five two-piece pins. The yellow pins go through the cylinder and the silver housing around it. Springs hold the pins in place. When the correct key is inserted, the grooves and teeth on the key push the pins into the correct position, whereby the yellow pins are completely outside the cylinder,
Image titled Pick a Lock Step 2
2. Buy a set of lock picks (hook and tensioner). Each lock pick serves a different purpose. The tensioner is used to apply pressure to the cylinder when turning. Professional grade lockpicks and tensioners can be purchased in a set (see illustration), but many people for whom picking locks is a hobby make quality lockpicks on their own. Refer to the “What You Will Need” section below for information on how to make your own lockpicks and tensioners.
3. Place the tensioner on the bottom of the keyhole.
4. Determine in which direction the cylinder must rotate to open. If you use a lock often, you should know in which direction it rotates. If you don't know, first try pulling the pick clockwise and then counterclockwise. At first, the cylinder will turn literally a few millimeters until it stops. Try to feel how steadily the cylinder has stopped. If the cylinder is turned in the wrong direction, it will abruptly and firmly abut, but if the cylinder is turned in the right direction, you will feel free space to wobble. Some locks, especially padlocks, open regardless of the direction of rotation of the cylinder.
5. Tighten the tensioner slightly in the correct direction and hold. The torque voltage may vary from one lock to another, or multiple attempts may be required when working with different pins. Start with a little pressure.
6. Insert the pick-hook into the top of the keyhole and feel the pins. After inserting the pick into the hole, you should be able to feel and press the individual pins with the tip of the hook. You should be able to push the pins up and feel the pressure of the springs as you pull the pick down. Try to lift each pin all the way up. Determine which of the pins is the hardest to lift. If they all lend themselves easily to pressure, then tighten the tension on the lower pick (tensioner). If one of the pins does not move at all, release the tension until the pin begins to move. Alternatively, you can comb the pins before starting the above process (see Tips below).
7. Press down on the stubborn pin until it snaps into place. Press down on the rested pin with enough pressure to exceed the spring pressure. Remember that the pin is in two parts. The pick presses on the lower part of the pin, which in turn presses on the upper part. Your task is to push the top half of the pin completely out of the cylinder. After you stop pressing on the pin, the lower part should return down to its original position, and the upper part, thanks to the tension with the second master key, and a small odor between the holes in the body and cylinder, should snap into place and remain in the body. You should hear a slight click as the top pin hits the surface of the cylinder as it falls.
8. While continuing to hold the tensioner, repeat the last two steps with the remaining pins. Holding the tensioner is very important, otherwise the “put in place” upper pins will fall into the cylinder and you have to start over. You will need to adjust the tension to each specific pin (increase / decrease pressure).
9.Turn the cylinder with the tensioner all the way and open the lock. Once all of the top pins are in place, you can turn the cylinder and open the lock. This is given that all this time you have been pulling the cylinder in the right direction. If it turns out that you were working in the wrong direction, then you will have to return all the pins to their original position and start over.
Advice
- If you are very lazy, you can simply order a ready-made set of lock picks on the Internet.
- Sometimes locks are installed upside down (especially in Europe). The pins in these locks are at the bottom, not at the top of the cylinder. The process of opening such locks is identical, with one difference: the pins will need to be pressed from top to bottom and not from bottom to top. If the key is inserted into the lock with the teeth down, then the pins will be at the bottom of the cylinder. Once you insert the pick into the keyhole, you can easily tell if the pins are at the top or bottom.
- If you are dealing with a simple lock, such as a cash drawer, then you most likely do not even need a lock pick. Just push in something flat, metal all the way, and move the pick up and down to turn it. If you're lucky, the lock will open in a few seconds.
- Smoothly polished picks are easier to insert into the keyhole and maneuver inside.
- A technique called "combing" or "combing" a lock is a simplified picking technique. To do this, insert the pick (preferably a pick-comb or a paper clip bent in several places) all the way into the keyhole without tension on the cylinder. Then, with a quick motion, remove the pick by applying pressure towards the pins while turning the cylinder lightly. Theoretically, you can open the lock by “combing” the pins once or twice, but usually this method will put several pins in place, and you will have to manually put the rest.
- Lovers of picking locks generally discourage the use of paper clips, pins and hairpins in this business. Basically, because it is more difficult to open the lock with these improvised means than with special master keys. Although this is so, with special diligence and patience, you can adapt to effectively open locks with them.
- Picking locks has become a popular hobby among puzzle enthusiasts. If you want to try this hobby, then it is better to train with simple, cheap locks, or even locks with only one of the pins removed. Look for old locks on the internet or antique stores.
- Different locks have a different number of pins. Padlocks usually have 3-4, and door locks usually have 5 to 8 pins.
- You cannot look inside the castle, so use your hearing and touch to understand what is going on inside. Be patient and methodical, listen for faint clicks and the resistance you feel. With the help of the information obtained in this way, you can visually imagine the internal structure of the castle.
- The pins usually snap into place in order from first to last, or vice versa; you will need to experiment to find the right direction in the castle. Although most locks open from the last pin to the first pin, sometimes you will need to try the reverse order.
Warnings
- If you open the lock correctly, it will not be damaged, but if the cylinder is pulled too tightly or the pins are pressed too much, there is a risk of damage to the lock mechanism.
- If the pin does not budge when you push down on it with the pick, then you may be pulling the cylinder too tight and the holes in it and the body are diverging. Try to loosen the twist on the cylinder. In doing so, there is a risk that the pins, when put in place, will fall into the cylinder. Unfortunately, there is no other way out. Try changing the order of the pins you are working with next time you try.
- There are many different laws on picking locks, on the possession of lockpicks, on the use of improvised tools. In Russia, master keys (devices that allow you to open a lock without physically destroying it) are regarded as technical means intended for secretly obtaining information, the manufacture, acquisition and sale of which is subject to licensing. Trafficking (ie making, purchasing or selling without a license) of such products is a criminal offense, punishable by up to 4 years in prison. Well, besides that, there is no need to say that only open your own locks!
What do you need
- Latch-pick (tension): many objects can serve as a tensioner for you. They should be strong and not break when pulled on the cylinder and thin enough to fit slightly into the keyhole. The end of the tensioner should not be too thin and fall into the keyhole to the very end. It should also be small enough to leave enough room for the second pick to maneuver when both tools are inside. You can use a small hex wrench that tapers off at the end, or a flathead screwdriver.
- Hook-and-key: You can use a pin or paper clip. To make a lock pick from a paper clip, straighten it and bend one of the ends 90 degrees. You can also fold one end into a small loop. Sharp nose pliers will make the process much easier. Choose items made from sturdy metal for the lockpicks, otherwise they will bend under pressure on the pins. Lockpicks made from a hacksaw blade work best. Hair locks are also a good pick material. Cut off the rounded ends of the invisibility and make a right angle out of it, and then bend one of the edges 90 degrees.
