Sun May 01, 2016 9:21 pm
tumbl3r's manipulations
TL;DR: I'm a big dummy who installed a loose spline key and did not check for slop in the cam.
Well, my second manipulation did NOT go as well as my first. I started by making an incredibly noisy graph #1 that looked like I was drunk... I was not drunk but I have terrible allergies and had taken a Benadryl earlier -- I chalked it up to that and went to bed. This morning, my second graph was SLIGHTLY less noisy, but still very much a mess. I could however, see that there was a very clear gate signature at 50. Amplification showed either 50 or 51, and H/L testing tagged it at W3. YAY!
Moving on, I proceeded to run through the entire dial and create another super noisy graph #2 that showed nothing conclusive. I made another. Again, nothing conclusive, but it was really really noisy. I did not know the combination, so I took the back off to see if I had screwed up in identifying W3 @50. Nope... It was there... Or at least almost there, but not quite. The center of the gate was NOT at 50,. but rather 52. Well it kinda explained my useless pair of graph #2's, but didn't explain all the noise. Furthermore, I re-evaluated my amplification and it REALLY did seem as if the gate was at 50. I ran the amplification again, and just as before it showed at 50, or maybe 50.5, but not 52. I moved on, chalking it up to my status as a complete and total beginner. I ran another super noisy graph #2 and showed some interestingness around 0 and 40, but the signatures were entirely on the RCP, and almost nothing indicated on the LCP. I amplified both the 0 and 40 areas and did find a HEAVILY weighed RCP signature at 99, but just a lot of noise around 40. Since 99 is in my drop in area, I reasoned it had to be W2, so I skipped the H/L tests.
Since I was not seeing a classic gate signature, I opened the lock again and checked. Indeed, there was a gate W2 @0. Again, my gate centering was off. I corrected my amplification notes and moved on to graph #3.
Since I had seen some interestingness around 40, and Oldfast had recently suggested looking out for things like this, I started up graph #3 at 50. The lock popped at 37.5. Clearly what I was seeing in the noise was a gate, but I'll be dammed if I could do it again and be even the least bit confident of it. I had to remove the back twice to find my mistakes, both of which involved an incorrectly identified gate center and a complete lack of confidence in the data I was interpreting. I do not consider this a successful manipulation, but I do feel like I was ultimately able to get to the bottom of (at least some) of my problems:
I had installed a new spline key in this lock when I mounted it. It went in a little easy which I thought was a good thing -- "I would be able to easily get it back out again", I reasoned. It was NOT a good thing! It was creating slop of up to 1/2 an increment in my readings. I would take a RCP reading, then go to the LCP for its reading. Returning to the RCP reliably indicated 1/4 - 1/2 increment difference from first reading. I simply attributed this to my lack of experience in touch and readings. While I have miles and miles to go in those areas, I'm relieved that there was something else at play. I removed the spline key, put a slight bend into it and re-installed it. I have verified that doing this eliminated all slop in the cam, and my regression tests show that it accounted for a good deal of the noise in my graphs. I have had my wife change the combination to one that does not include an annoying "0" and plan to try again with this lock next weekend.
I have not posted my graphs, since they are a mess, and the margins are filled with notes of things that either didn't pan out, or just indicate a pile of circles with "?" next to them. I will post them if there is interest, but honestly, I'm just happy to call most of that data junk and move on. I should also note that I have completely failed to pick my ASSA Twin with anything more than 5 sidebar pins and three top pins in it... A fun weekend of learning, but with little progress. That's just sometimes how it goes with learning
Manipulation #1.5
Combination: 37.5 - 0 - 52
Well, my second manipulation did NOT go as well as my first. I started by making an incredibly noisy graph #1 that looked like I was drunk... I was not drunk but I have terrible allergies and had taken a Benadryl earlier -- I chalked it up to that and went to bed. This morning, my second graph was SLIGHTLY less noisy, but still very much a mess. I could however, see that there was a very clear gate signature at 50. Amplification showed either 50 or 51, and H/L testing tagged it at W3. YAY!
Moving on, I proceeded to run through the entire dial and create another super noisy graph #2 that showed nothing conclusive. I made another. Again, nothing conclusive, but it was really really noisy. I did not know the combination, so I took the back off to see if I had screwed up in identifying W3 @50. Nope... It was there... Or at least almost there, but not quite. The center of the gate was NOT at 50,. but rather 52. Well it kinda explained my useless pair of graph #2's, but didn't explain all the noise. Furthermore, I re-evaluated my amplification and it REALLY did seem as if the gate was at 50. I ran the amplification again, and just as before it showed at 50, or maybe 50.5, but not 52. I moved on, chalking it up to my status as a complete and total beginner. I ran another super noisy graph #2 and showed some interestingness around 0 and 40, but the signatures were entirely on the RCP, and almost nothing indicated on the LCP. I amplified both the 0 and 40 areas and did find a HEAVILY weighed RCP signature at 99, but just a lot of noise around 40. Since 99 is in my drop in area, I reasoned it had to be W2, so I skipped the H/L tests.
Since I was not seeing a classic gate signature, I opened the lock again and checked. Indeed, there was a gate W2 @0. Again, my gate centering was off. I corrected my amplification notes and moved on to graph #3.
Since I had seen some interestingness around 40, and Oldfast had recently suggested looking out for things like this, I started up graph #3 at 50. The lock popped at 37.5. Clearly what I was seeing in the noise was a gate, but I'll be dammed if I could do it again and be even the least bit confident of it. I had to remove the back twice to find my mistakes, both of which involved an incorrectly identified gate center and a complete lack of confidence in the data I was interpreting. I do not consider this a successful manipulation, but I do feel like I was ultimately able to get to the bottom of (at least some) of my problems:
I had installed a new spline key in this lock when I mounted it. It went in a little easy which I thought was a good thing -- "I would be able to easily get it back out again", I reasoned. It was NOT a good thing! It was creating slop of up to 1/2 an increment in my readings. I would take a RCP reading, then go to the LCP for its reading. Returning to the RCP reliably indicated 1/4 - 1/2 increment difference from first reading. I simply attributed this to my lack of experience in touch and readings. While I have miles and miles to go in those areas, I'm relieved that there was something else at play. I removed the spline key, put a slight bend into it and re-installed it. I have verified that doing this eliminated all slop in the cam, and my regression tests show that it accounted for a good deal of the noise in my graphs. I have had my wife change the combination to one that does not include an annoying "0" and plan to try again with this lock next weekend.
I have not posted my graphs, since they are a mess, and the margins are filled with notes of things that either didn't pan out, or just indicate a pile of circles with "?" next to them. I will post them if there is interest, but honestly, I'm just happy to call most of that data junk and move on. I should also note that I have completely failed to pick my ASSA Twin with anything more than 5 sidebar pins and three top pins in it... A fun weekend of learning, but with little progress. That's just sometimes how it goes with learning
Manipulation #1.5
Combination: 37.5 - 0 - 52
lol