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A couple of questions and such (warning, drunken christmas post):

I've recently started to experiment with repinning practice locks. Sometimes a setup seems to reset set pins after a second or so even when you''re not poking around in the lock. Is this because of a combination of the bottom/top pinns or the springs that I chose? I had the same colour pins so I don't think it's about the circumference of the pins.

Are there any special rules when combining different bottom/top pins?

Also the spool pins behave different in this (rim cylinder) practice lock than in the euro cutaways, here all the pins get frozen really bad with any tension torque unless you set one pin right, really troublesome when you try extreme bittings.

Assa springs is pretty horrible too - pick wrecking style (tried to put the innards of a non-security-pin Assa lock too "troubleshoot", apparently my trouble was a combination of the master pinning and the hard springs).

I was a bit disappointed when i gutted the ASSA and found no special pins, just the mastering pins (which i was aware of as i only have the master key) and those hard springs. I hope things will get better when I get a vise (any day now) and stop handheld picking

I have an old ASSA that has no security pins, still in original packaging, but it is not common for me to see an ASSA without security pins.

Also have one ASSA that for drivers each stack are several thicker master wafers. That said, it was still a tough pick because the countermilling would catch the wafers, and if a lower one was at the countermilling, the wafers above it would be blocking the sheer line.

All in all, I feel that the ASSA locks, especially within the last couple of decades, do not like to play nice.

Gordon

The needle and the bound smurf have me wondering. Are you so frustrated that you're using vodo to push the designer of the lock?

I have a few questions. First, what is the smurf doing and why is he blindfolded? Second, the smurf there, I'm curious as to the nature of the blindfold and its purpose. Thirstly, the juicy ASSA. I don't understand your question about the lock resetting?

Sorry about the kind of cluttered post. The main question was about pins dropping actually. I'm trying different pinning setups in a practise lock and with some combinations of regular pins the binding pin will drop right after you set it. Sometimes you can set two binding pins, keep the tension and remove the pick and wait and the pins will drop.

The smurf is a speak no evil, see no evil, don't walk away ordeal (i e don't put the lock down until it's open or your fingers are numb).
I didn't have a plug follower at hand so i used the needle to keep the springs and pins from running amok when pulling the plug.

The ASSA hardware transferred to a practise lock is horror, probably (speculating) due to a difference in pin chamber depth. Even without tension it felt like you would need a fulcrum to move them.

edit:
What could cause the same pins in the same lock to drop pins after setting, but after repinning not dropping set pins?

A binding pin should never drop back down by its own after setting it if it was the real binding pin. You must be doing something to make them fall down or they are not the real binding pin. Without knowing exactly what you're doing that is all I can really say. Maybe you should try isolating that pinstack and see if you can repeat the behavior with as little pinstacks pinned as possible.

Will do! It certainly was mindboggling and i never recall reading about this kind of behaviour anywhere and wondered if I had missed something.

Had me wondering about damaged/enlarged chambers creating some kind of tolerance that wasn't compatible with longer springs or if the bottom pin could be too short so it only got the upper pin just a tiny bit above the shearline so it snagged and created a sort of false set.

Assa locks are made with very tight tolerance. This makes the pins drop with even the slightest drop in tension. So if you don't have focus on the tension, you might be reducing the tension even with out realising it. Therefore dropping pins...

Bottom/keypins should not effect this. Regardless of hight.
One thing I think og is the dropping of pins when you pin the lock up with extreme high/low combination. This makes it easy to oversee a low cut pin when trying to set a high cut behind it. This may be a reason for the pins dropping. If you haven't thought about it.

As a tip, assa usually requires heavier tension then normal US locks. Due to stronger springs, and tighter tolerance.

Good luck with your practice and enjoy