I’ve picked a master lock (3 I believe). I also picked all the little cylinders that came with the lockpicks I ordered. Sparrow progressive. I even respinned one… Mostly due to accident.
Where do I get more locks? I think I just need the cylinders. What are these called? Where do I buy them from? I’m mostly looking for cheap and they don’t have to have a practical purpose. I’m just wanting to pick them for kicks.
Check Goodwill, Salvation Army, Savers, and other thrift stores for deadbolts and doorknobs to take apart. I think I got 6 or 7 for like $20.
The cylinders can easily fit held in your curled index finger of non-dominate hand, tension with the thumb.
Try not to get any Kwiksets(look for the slot on the face, Google it), you will beat your head against them fecklessly.
If they come with keys, write numbers on the key and cylinder so you don’t mix them up; just in case.
I actually quite like qwicksets (edit: classic, not smartkey) for practice (specifically home Depot defiant brand). I swapped a few doorknobs in my last apartment to match the styles, so I took the extra cylinders and re-pinned them with randomly generated bittings and assorted security pin configuration. Also used a label maker to print a hint on which pins were what security type into the tailpieces or pin chamber covers.
They are starting out, no need to introduce them to 3rd Gen kwiksets god mode. They need a solid foundation with realistic locks to better understand the art and science. You only need one kwikset to emulate countless security tumblers so long as you have a key to clone.
I thought kwiksets were supposed to be easy? I have no idea what 3rd Gen means, and I don’t have any smart key ones. I also like being able to switch quickly if I get bored trying to get one of the ones with security pins open, the one I pinned with standard pins is very easy, no God mode needed. I’m just starting out too and I find it to be a great collection of difficulties from easy to moderate.
The Kwiksets are basically only destructive defeat locks. They have every permutation of pin available and will only turn if exactly picked or are broken.
The first gens are “easiest”, the 3rd Gen Kwiksets are only reasonably defeated by destruction.
Ah well I’m definitely not talking about 3rd Gen then, some of mine rake open and most will open with a snap gun. I just picked up the cheapest kwiksets in home Depot so I could get rid of the mismatched handles in my apartment. They’re easy to re-pin and pick (most of them, I still struggle with one of the 2 spooled ones) and as a beginner it’s nice to have a few I can become familiar with.
Edit: it looks like first Gen is still smartkey so I guess I’m talking about before even that. Just a regular non-smartkey lock. Maybe it’s easier to find non-smartkey kwikset keyways in the budget brands - all the landlords buy home Depot’s defiant brand so that’s what I was looking at to get matching knobs for my place. I don’t think I’ve seen a defiant with smartkey.
How would one get a solid foundation with realistic locks? I’d like to learn, what equipment do I need?
Buy a basic set of lockpicks, buy some practice locks, watch a few YouTube videos on picking theory/technique, practice until you are competent. Southern Ordinance 14 piece set(pxs-14) is everything you should need for standard locks and then some. The rubber handles in that set are more comfortable for longer practice sessions while you are learning and using entirely too much force that will hurt your hand(with bare metal picks) until you learn what tension is appropriate.
Knowing how to single pin pick is foundational, knowing how to rake is handy. Once you know what you are doing then you can play with other pick profiles to suit your personal preference or style, but a hook and tension tool will defeat most standard locks.
The fun part, aside from feeling competent and helping people, is watching movies and TV while WTFing about how the hell they portray lock-picking.