Lock Picking: A Comprehensive Guide book excerpts (2000)

Hello Everyone !!

Lock Picking: A Comprehensive Guide by Berserker Books (2000) is a detailed instructional book that explores the art and techniques of lock picking. It provides insights into the mechanics of various types of locks and offers practical guidance on how to manipulate them. 

The book is aimed at hobbyists, locksmiths, and security professionals who want to understand lock mechanisms and improve their skills.

The guide emphasizes the importance of ethical practices, highlighting that lock picking should only be used for legal purposes, such as improving security systems or gaining access to one's own property. It also includes illustrations and step-by-step instructions to make the learning process accessible.

Lock Pick Design Principles (Pg #5)

# The 6 main lock mechanism types -- lever tumbler, warded, pin tumbler, disc tumbler, cylinder (ACE) tumbler, sidebar tumbler.

# Lock pick design decisions have just one goal: adjusting the range of motion or action of the part of the pick that enters the keyway. The goal is to apply pressure exactly where it is needed while avoiding tool contact with parts in the lock you wish to leave undisturbed. 

# These two design limitations of the lock pick dictate opposite goals, namely that the pick be as strong as necessary, yet be as small as possible.

# The more working slack in the keyway, the easier to work the lock, but a too-small tool will fold under lifting pressure. The “parts you want to avoid” are of course all the tumblers you are not trying to presently lift or manipulate. 

# Working with the design process will also add to your physical picking skill in an ongoing way. If you have verified that your design will move and act in a certain way inside the lock, then you have a mental goal that can be transferred into positive “feel” feedback when working the lock. You have a target to work for.

# Thicknesses in the .025 to .031” range seem to be the most practical balance between strength and thinness, and a shank width of .045-.050” with a thickness of .025-.031” is my usual starting point in design of lock-pick.

Wafer Tumbler Tools (Pg #91)

# A wafer tumbler lock is a type of lock that uses a set of flat wafers to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. 

# Wafer tumbler lock configurations vary with manufacturer. The most common is the single-bitted, five-wafer configuration most commonly found on desk drawers, cabinets, key switches, lockers, cash boxes and electrical panels. They can use single-bitted or double-bitted keys. 

# Most wafer tumbler locks with poor tolerances can be opened with a set of Jigglers/ try-out keys. These sets of keys are designed with the most common patterns of key available. The key is inserted into the lock like a normal key, and a turning force is applied whilst the key is raked back and forth until the lock opens.

# There are 3 variations of keyway profile-- Master, A, B. The 2 common keyways each require a tool that is fitted to them, and each of the keyways has an “A” or a “B” flavor that is due to an item called the "master wafer". The master wafer is the furthest tumbler inside the lock, and at rest it protrudes out from the cylinder. It is pushed in to align at shear by the absence of a cut on the far end of the key. The master wafer may also be reversed or flipped in the lock, and the lack of cut will then have to be on the reverse side of the key, hence the “A” or “B” flavor of the lock. The side opposite this uncut portion of the key must, however, be cut to allow the key to be fully inserted in the lock. The key can only be inserted one way and cannot be turned and inserted 180 degrees. This is due to the keyway warding. Consequently, you cannot flip your tool over if the master wafer cut is on the wrong side. 

The master wafer (the farthest from the keyway opening) is followed by a random selection of 2 other wafer types: series wafers and combination wafers. These fill up all the rest of the slots available. The series wafers function just like the master wafer; they require an uncut portion of key to push or retract them into the cylinder and align them at shear, but they cannot be flipped. The combination wafers are normally inside the cylinder, and any uncut portion of key will cause them to protrude and misalign with the shear line. Consequently, the combination wafers require key cuts to keep from being forced out of shear, and the series wafers require no cuts since a cut will unaligned shear. When a lock is set up to a given keycode, the locksmith proceeds by putting a combination wafer into each of the 14 position/orientation slots remaining which are designated in the coding system and then filling the remainder of the slots with series wafers. All together there are 8 slots with tumblers either inserted up or down, so there are 16 possibles.

A combination tumbler may protrude from either side of the cylinder, a series only from one side.

# All that is required to fox this lock is to identify mechanically which are the Combination wafers and leave them alone, while raising all the Series and Master wafers to shear while exerting torque on the cylinder to create the usual “lip.” When all the series and the correct master wafer are at shear the lock snaps open.

# You will need two tools, an “A” and a “B,” for each of the two keyway variations, or 4 tools in all. (2 tools, one for master up, and one for master inverted & there are 2 types of keyway, so those are your 4 key tools in all.). 

Identify whether your particular key is a type-1 or type-2. If the hollowed-out side of the key is away from you and the extreme tip cut is on the bottom half of the key, it is a type-1. If on top, it’s a type-2.

Tubular Locks (Pg #97)

# A tubular pin tumbler lock/ circle pin tumbler lock/ radial lock/ "Ace lock" popularized by manufacturer Chicago Lock Company since 1933.

# These locks are the kind with circular keyholes that show up on vending machines. Here, pin tumbler principle is used, but the pins are placed end-forward in a circle. The outer portion is fixed, and holds the top pins in the bottom. The inner portion is movable, rotates around a center fastened to the outer portion (at the bottom), and holds the bottom pins whose ends we see in the keyway.

In operation, the tubular key is inserted to fit over the inner portion, and a lug protruding from the key fits into a slot cut in both inner and outer portions of the lock.

The key is then pressed in, and while the outer lug clears the slot, the inner one stays bearing on the groove cut for it in the movable portion. Simultaneously, different depth cuts on the edge of the key (corresponding to bitting on a regular key) push in the bottom pins to their respective shearlines. Once shear is reached, the inner portion can be turned, and it is the inner lug of the key riding on the slot that does the turning. 

# When using a Tubular lock-pick, the operator puts tension on the core via the lug protruding from the inner face of the tube. Once tension is applied, the operator begins to exert a wiggling downward push on the tool, and its eight fingers begin to push each pin end simultaneously, driving them all to the shear line. The amount of pressure each feeler exerts on the pin stacks is adjusted by adding or removing turns from the rubber band around the feelers and rod. It must be enough to counteract the opposite push of the pin springs.

 # Tubular locks are commonly seen on bicycle locks, Kensington computer locks, elevators, and a variety of coin-operated devices such as vending machines etc.

# They are often considered to be safer and more resistant to picking than standard locks. The primary reason this type of lock is used in these applications is that it can be made physically shorter than other locks.

# Such locks can be picked by a special Tubular lock pick or by drilling with a hole-saw drill bit. Standard tubular-lock drill bit diameters are 0.375" and 0.394". 

To prevent drilling, many tubular locks have a middle pin made from hardened steel or contain a ball bearing in the middle pin.

Some old tubular locks can also be opened with the back end of a ballpoint pen.

# Also, Hole saws are available for standard and oversize keyways. Saws will fit any 1/4" electric drill.

The Plug Spinner Tool (Pg #99-100)

# A plug spinner applies a sudden forceful rotation to the plug and, by applying a centrifugal force to the pins, bypasses the locked position and unlocks the plug.

# L- 4.5"

Car Opening Tools (Pg #101-103)

# Snake pick (L- 4.5"), Slim jim tool (spring steel; L- 24"), Auto jigglers/ specially cut keys, tension wrench (flat, Z-wrench, BOK, TOK, wiper-insert, twist flex), hook picks, rake picks, 

Other Misc Tools (Pg #113-114)

# The Snapper tool (1/16th" o.d. music wire of L- 18", start bending with the hook end and proceed back)

# J-tool (A tool useful for opening office equipment locks; made by bending a 0.030” music wire in a “J” shape)

# Spring-latch shim tool (a half-moon shim cut from 1/16th" thick stock steel)

# Z-wire tool for dead-locking latch (1/16th" o.d. music wire with two right angle bends, inserted and pivoted)

Traditional Pick Set

Half-diamond pick (0.098"), torsion wrench, "twist-flex" torsion wrench, offset diamond pick, ball pick, short hook, medium hook, saw/L-rake, snake/C-rake

15 Must have lock-picks : [Modern High-security Locks How To Open Them book (By Steven Hampton · 2002)] (Pg #18-20)

Standard diamond pick, small diamond pick, tiger dual tension wrench, piano wire pick, rim cylinder pick, road-runner rim tension wrench, needle pick, katana straight pick, snake rake pick, scorpion hook pick, monkey twisted wedge diamond pick, white crane feather touch tension wrench, looped feather touch tension wrench, dragon tension wrench, TuBar tension wrench.

Handcuff lock-picking tools

Shim, pick, cuff key, pen cuff-key (6"), assorted keys (flat & pipe type), improvised (bobby pin, paper clip, hairpin, safety pin, wire)

HPC & ESP Co. Deluxe Lock-pick Set

10 picks (rakes, diamond picks, ball picks, hook picks), 4 tension tools, extractor tools (saw balde, 3 spiral blades)

List of Lock-picking Tools [Practical Lock Picking book by Deviant Ollam, 2012] (Pg #245-255)

# Picks [(plain, thin), hook (short, medium, Gonzo, long, gem), diamond (small half, medium half, large half, diamond head), rake (snake, three-quarter snake, half snake, double snake, stretched, S-rake, wedge, long, falle slope, falle valley, falle hump), jiggler picks (Bogota, wave, Raimundo single hump, Raimundo double hump, Raimundo quad hump, Sabana, Monserate), ball (Snowman/double ball, half ball, half snowman), curve (deep, hybrid), offset (diamond, ball, snake), king, queen.

Ancient Japan Silent Door Entry Tools

Nobekagi extendable key (64.4"), Hamagari angled saw-key (28.6"), Irekokagi retractable key (9.5"), Toihazushi tool (7.15")

Key Firearms & Tools

• Key gun (iron; L- 4.37"; 0.32 cal; 1700), 
• Germany Jailer key gun (L- 8"; 0.38 cal; 1701)
• Jailer's key (brass; L- 8.25"; 0.22 cal; 1820)
• Bechtler key gun (L- 4.87"; 0.18 cal; 1830)
• Jailer key pistol (L- 5"; 0.32 cal; 1831)
• R. Kern Jailer key gun (L- 8.5"; 0.32 cal; 1850)
• SOE concealment key (L- 5"; 1940)

Thank you for Reading !!