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Southord pin tumbler jigglers

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Neilau

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Post Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:28 pm

Southord pin tumbler jigglers

I was going to start off by saying I’m a sucker for a new tool but knowing you lot :twisted: , I’ll just say

I’m curious.

IMG_5723.jpg


I recently bought a set of Southord pin tumbler Jigglers (SDJ-13 Jigglers).

There are 13 different shapes and about 6 of them can be used inverted. They are made of “tempered stainless steel” and are 25 thou (0.65 mm) thick.

The first thing to note is that they will not fit into paracentric keyways.

The next thing is that, jiggling, raking and applying torsion all at the same time is (for me) impossible.

You WILL need to use a torsion tool.

To use them you first have to insert them all the way in then jiggle and rake (about 1 pin for and aft) while applying a bit of torsion with a separate tool.

So, do they work?

Yes, sometimes. I first tried them out on locks that I have the keys for and selecting a jiggler that was close to the key. The locks they worked on were ones that were fairly easy to pick anyway.

Next I set up Mr Wizards lock with various different bitting and had about a 20-30% success rate (sample size = 10). They don’t work very well on hi-low bittings.

The one surprise that I did get was an old, made in Australia (when we actually made things here), Lockwood padlock. This lock was on an old fence post I was cutting for firewood and had been out in the elements for many years. I don’t have a key for it.

I have been trying for about nine months to crack it – with no success. Even Bogota style picks that usually open Lockwoods failed. Someone else commented, in another thread, how difficult they are. I was beginning to think that the lock was broken. I had cleaned and lubed it.

Well, on about the fifth jiggler I tried the bugger opened !!!!

Should you get them?

I suppose that if you want another tool to try opening a lock before drilling it, it might be worth it on the off chance that they work.

If you are into picking for the sport, you won’t be interested.

Overall, it’s up to you. They will open some locks sometimes but don’t expect miracles (though they can happen) and you don’t get that “feeling” when you finally defeat that lock that has been defying you for ages. More of a "I'll be dammed".

I would not recommend or advise against getting a set. The success rate might improve with peactice.

Look at the picture and see what you think. I left the file fairly large so that you can enlarge it to get a better look as the shapes. The Bogota style one could be trimmed down and the peaks smoothed off a bit as the peak to peak distances are spot on. As they are, they act more like a saw and are far too fat.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone else that has tried them or your opinions in general.

Cheers.
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norwoodgolf

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Post Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:51 pm

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

Here is a YouTube video of the guy who designed these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXSAXcYZLZ4

He seems to be a jiggle key genius. I bought them some time ago and tried them on some of my locks. I found that if they are going to open a lock, they usually do it pretty quick.
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Neilau

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Post Sun Aug 03, 2014 11:23 pm

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

Hi Norwoodgolf.

I've seen that vid. I don't know that I'd call the guy a "jiggle key genius" he has just picked out a couple of locks that they open easily.

You say that you have had a set for some time and have tried them on some of your locks. I agree that if they work they work quite quickly.

What would you say was their success rate overall and do you use a tension tool when using them?

They remind me of the "computer picks" from a while back. They didn't exactly "set the world on fire".

I'm not bagging them (the jigglers).

I'm interested in hearing your overall impression.

Cheers.
Clark's Law (Arthur C)

For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert.
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escher7

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Post Mon Aug 04, 2014 1:35 am

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

The Southord people were kind enough to give me a set for evaluation awhile back when they first came out. As I am a great fan of Southord products, I reluctantly concluded that these jigglers were not very effective except for locks that would also give in to Bogota style picks. The concept is good; there are only so many combinations of pin profiles, especially on 5 and even 6 pin locks, but neither these nor the so called "computer designed" picks seems to catch the generalized profiles efficiently. For those familiar with Marc Tobias'' "averaged" Medico keys this is a similar idea. It is not necessary to capture the precise pin heights, (or in the case of Medico, the precise angle),only to try and find the average patterns of high low combinations that occur most frequently and then manipulate the pick to adjust for height.

Conclusion: the full line of Bogota picks, (or Southord's similar Pagoda line) are still the best choice for trying to luck onto the pin patterns. With careful analysis the jigglers could be improved, but as they are Neilau is correct - they are OK as a last ditch tryout, but not reliable enough to be a standard tool.
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norwoodgolf

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Location: Arizona

Post Mon Aug 04, 2014 11:10 am

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

Hey, I just noticed something. Neilau's set has two more jigglers than mine. I looked at my order from February 2013 and the set I ordered was the SDJ-11 and SouthOrd now sells the SDJ-13. For a moment, I thought I was losing my mind!

numbajigs.jpg


I have added numbers to Neilau's pic for reference--1 through 13 from left to right:

#2 and #10 are not in my set.

#4 I moved to my SouthOrd auto jiggler set.

#1 and #13 I think of as saws. I've had no luck with #1, but #13 has rocked/raked open some flat bitted locks.

#3 and #12 remind me of the king and queen picks. I have had some success with these on hi/lo bitted Schlage and Kwikset door locks.

#5 through #11 work quickly or not at all. I have had the same experience as Neilau where I have had a difficult lock open easily with one of these.

I have about a 25% success rate opening locks with these, but it takes quite a while to go through the tools. I have about the same success with or without a tension tool. escher7 captured my feelings about these exactly--they are a good "hail Mary" to try just before you give up, but the Bogotas are still the go to tools for jiggling/raking/rocking.
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WolfSpring

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Post Mon Aug 04, 2014 3:05 pm

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

They look just like my auto jigglers I use them all the time they work great on foreign (non-us) cars without any kind of tension wrench you just twist and jiggle. Not sure why they are labled pin tumbler, my understanding is they were made for wafer locks, like car doors, and they do wonders on desk drawer and cabinet locks as well.
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What you call intelligence, I call common sense.
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escher7

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Post Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:29 pm

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

WolfSpring wrote:They look just like my auto jigglers I use them all the time they work great on foreign (non-us) cars without any kind of tension wrench you just twist and jiggle. Not sure why they are labled pin tumbler, my understanding is they were made for wafer locks, like car doors, and they do wonders on desk drawer and cabinet locks as well.



These particular jigglers are marketed by Southord as pin tumbler tools and were presumably designed for that purpose, although the principle is clearly the same as that for the auto jigglers. I think the auto tools are more successful because they are often sold specifically for certain manufacturers and therefore are made with a knowledge of the variations of those keys. Also, most disk tumblers have fewer possible key combinations than pin tumblers. I really have not had much success with them at all.
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WolfSpring

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Post Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:02 am

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

That is interesting. From my experience any lock you could "jiggle" with pins it as opposed to wafers I could do a 2 second rake. I guess the idea would be able to rake without a tension wrench. I do have a couple starter locks these would work on if they were small enough but at the same time I could unlock them with a single paper clip and some wiggling so it is "possible" but are they at all practical? I'd love to see them in use with a clear lock or cutaway and high speed/slow motion camera vs. using a rake or snap pick/pick gun.
http://www.youtube.com/wolfspring


What you call intelligence, I call common sense.
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escher7

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Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:20 am

Location: Canada

Post Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:24 pm

Re: Southord pin tumbler jigglers

WolfSpring wrote:That is interesting. From my experience any lock you could "jiggle" with pins it as opposed to wafers I could do a 2 second rake. I guess the idea would be able to rake without a tension wrench. I do have a couple starter locks these would work on if they were small enough but at the same time I could unlock them with a single paper clip and some wiggling so it is "possible" but are they at all practical? I'd love to see them in use with a clear lock or cutaway and high speed/slow motion camera vs. using a rake or snap pick/pick gun.


Agreed. As mentioned, I have not had success with them except on simple locks that could be easily raked. I do think the concept has merit based on there being only so many high/low combinations if you ignore height (which is compensated for by rocking etc.). Maybe some math/stats guy out there can come up with a more efficient set of keys.

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