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The idea for this post came from a recent Chat conversation. We're quick to point out our triumphs and conquests. Seldom do we hear of the goof-ups or mistakes of our peers. A lot can be gained from the sharing of the stuff that makes us human (and keeps us humble).

I had an incident about 20 years ago, that sticks so strongly in my memory, that it has influenced the way I troubleshoot a problem today.

I was locksmithing for a school district. At the end of a particularly difficult day, as I was going to my truck to return home, I was dispatched to one of my intermediate schools. One of the main doors wouldn't latch, and they couldn't chain it ovenight, so it was called in as an emergency.

Frustrated, I got back into my work truck and fought traffic to "rush" to the school. I found the door in question and began to test it to see why it wouldn't latch. I tried adjusting the strike for the panic bar in and out, and even drilled new holes to reposition it. No go.

I began to look at the door closer, thinking the arm assembly was contacting itself to prevent a thorough closing. No adjusting of the closer would help.

After about 20 minutes of tweaking and adjusting, I was out of ideas. I stood in the door frame, wondering what the problem could be, when my eyes fell on a small stone in the threshold. Picked up the stone and the door clacked to a close.

I was none too happy at the time; but this totally changed my troubleshooting process. Three guesses as to what's the FIRST thing I look for, now, when a door won't close (and the first two don't count!).

funny story magician !!!lol

Some guy had me go to his house to unlock his car, it was very cold outside and I feared sticking tools into the car, it was a frameless door the kind where just the glass closes against the top, I struggled to pick the lock but to no avail. I went to the other door and noticed that the door was not locked, only froze shut. OOPS just because you have the tools don't get too carried away to try to show them how it's done.

Funny story for me.. I was called out to make a key for a 2000 mitsubishi. The customer was a lifeguard at the beach and said that he gave his keys to a friend to get something from his car. This was a far away service call so the price went up and extra $20 just for travel and time.. I arrive to make the key and pull up to the passenger side of the car.. Low and behold the customers lost key was sitting in the lock on the passenger side door.. Got a little laugh outta it and since I was already there and it was costing him I convinced him to let me make 2 more keys for him. Funny stuff.. I know that this really wasn't an error on my part or anything but that might save somebody 15-20 mins in the future.

I once was called to open up a mailbox for a vacated home. I got there and tried picking it but it just wouldn't open, almost felt like there was a security pin in there or something. So after several minutes of that I ended up drilling the lock. After replacing it I realized that I was applying tension in the wrong direction.

LOL! That's a great story.

I've spent 10 minutes picking a lock to the locked position - I hadn't checked if it was locked or not, and ended up locking it.

I've also picked a lock on a padlock that didn't have spring loaded clasp, went to pull up the clasp and let go of the tension wrench, it snapped back into the locked position.

When I was learning to pick my Medeco m3 I had taken the C-Clip off the back, I got it picked and when removing the Peterson Pry-Bar it pulled out the core and all the guts went everywhere. Spent 20 minutes finding everything.

some good stories in here! got a good laugh out of all

Been there man...

havnt we all... i still shudder over the 5 hours i spend hunting pieces of my miracle magnetic... you know... the pieces you cant replace cause the lock hasnt been made in over 40 years.

whats even worse is when your removing your tensor and the lock slips forward 1 pin... u cant even insert the key cause the first pin is blocked by the houseing and wont go up... granted you have 1 less pin to pick... but its still no picknick...
and sometimes with balanced drivers (after the plug slips forward) if you end up with a tall driver on a tall pin itll never open... ull have to pull the top off

I love it! What a great idea for a thread. I've an ego that completely shuts down my brain from outside input. I also have a humble side that (when embraced) allows me to learn at an astounding rate. When I do something so stupid that I never want ANYONE to know...lol... I'll be sure to share it here.

I remember a lock in iraq... it was a master lock like i had never seen... a 532 in fact. it was on a tool box onthe back of a generator. no telling how long it had been there and they wanted it off, no rush just get it off when you get the time.

so day one i open it rather quickly but the spring on this thing is super strong. as soon as i opened it my finger slipped and the tensor went flying accross the deasert.
After finding my tensor i try again... to no avail (i got put on another task...)
day 2... i open it again... but this time i hold the tensor firm
the lock does not open... i pull... no luck... the shackle is still locked tight...

after about 5 days of this i finally got pissed and slammed the lock down on the hasp when it was in the picked position... this broke the CARC paint that was keeping the shackle locked up and the lock opened...

damn... a seel of work chalked up to some freakin thick paint....
the lock had been on there soo long that they painted the trailer with the lock still on it...idiots...

Late night call out , key snapped in the door (fully inserted ) so i try to apply tension to rotate the plug , no joy couldn't get the key out and was really tired and getting
more and more pissed by the second , grabbed my drill , and the battery died after about 10 seconds Feckinfeck feckfecker er the vibration of the drill had rotated the
plug so i just used a small screwdriver to complete the rotation and the door is open , client paid , i went home and threw zzzzzzz's

Tried to pick a lock. Plug turned quite far (a little bit too far for a false set). All pins felt properly set. Wasn't able to turn the plug any further. Reset it and tried again. Same result. After a few more tries I found out that the tail piece hit the vice which prevented rotation.