Everyones' technique will be different.... here's my thoughts on serrated pins (
specific to AmericanLock Series 1100 & 1105)
I would suggest breakin' it down. Start with say, 3 serrated drivers. Get to where you know EXACTLY how many
'clicks' each one takes to set. You've now created a controlled environment to begin experimenting in.
1. Purposely overset a pin and feel the "mushyness" you referred to. Also note how easily you can let off the tension slightly
and drop ONLY the pin you just overset without losing previously set pins. American locks are very forgiving in this way.
2. Although I wouldn't spend too much time dwelling on this... if you choose to... there's several 'indicators' you can tryin' acclimate yourself to.
There's certainly a difference that can be felt & heard when passing a serration as opposed to hitting the shearline. Obviously, the heavier the tension,
the more pronounced these differences will become. Also, (
something that's helped me anyway) is the fact that the core sets in these locks fairly loose.
Vertical movement of the core within the body while lifting a pin can reveal a great deal as well.
3. This, to me, is the most important & has given me the most success with these locks. I would gear most of your experimenting towards finding
what I call the
'perfect threshold'. I'm referring to your pick & the force you use to lift a pin. Kinda what Xeo eluded to. The perfect threshold is this:
A lifting force sufficient enough to overcome serrations, yet not so great as to push the pin beyond the shearline (overset). Finding this perfect
pressure can be a bit tricky. But just experiment with overlifting. Note JUST how much pressure it took to do so.... then tryin' avoid using that
much next time. Once you've honed in on this, you'll know when it's time to leave a pin alone because it'll feel too hard to push any further.
In big technical, scientific wording, it'll all play out something like this - click... click... click... HARD. lol
4. TENSION:
How much tension you use is not nearly as important as maintaining a consistant tension WHILE lifting each pin. Feel free to vary the tension
when searching for the binding pin and what not... but when you actually go to lift a pin, tryin' revert back to the same amount you used when lifting the last
pin. If your tension is different, so too, will be that perfect lifting pressure you came to know so well.
I tend to complicate the livin' shit outta things...lol... but I hope that helped somehow.
http://youtu.be/LkjMioA6F9sDunno if watchin' this will help.... but you can see how the cores dance around in the locks.
You might also be able to get an idea of the kind of tension I prefer to use with Americans.
You can see (especially on the 2nd to last lock) the entire tensor vibrating. If I had to put it
into words, I'd say medium,light tension. NOT to be confused with light,medium tension. lol