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Hey guys!

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greengrowlocks

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Posts: 76

Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 5:51 am

Post Sun Aug 06, 2017 6:23 am

Hey guys!

I have referenced this site on a few occasions but just joined as a new member. I have been picking for nearly 6 months and have been very dedicated to the hobby. The thing I enjoy the most is finding and picking increasingly more difficult locks. My goal has been to pick the "flagship" type locks from the larger manufacturers from around the world. The last few weeks I have knocked a few off the list including the Primus, MT5+, 3KS and ICS. Still working on the Medeco, Bilock and Assa Twins (V10 & 6000) . I'm happy to help share advice with other members regarding picking high security locks or locks in general. I have been a member at LP101 since I started but look forward to seeing what this site has to offer.
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mdc5150

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Posts: 1113

Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:35 pm

Post Sun Aug 06, 2017 10:12 am

Re: Hey guys!

Welcome! Six months huh? That kind of skill usually takes more like years to develope. It should be interesting to see more progress.
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Deadlock

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Posts: 371

Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2014 8:37 am

Location: England

Post Sun Aug 06, 2017 11:08 am

Re: Hey guys!

You've only been doing this six months? I don't even know what to say. You must be some kind of superhuman - you've become a top-tier lockpicker in a very short time. I'm sure you'll pick the locks you mentioned in the next six months.
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greengrowlocks

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Posts: 76

Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 5:51 am

Post Sun Aug 06, 2017 9:42 pm

Re: Hey guys!

Deadlock wrote:You've only been doing this six months?


I ordered my first pick set in February but prior to that I was watching youtube videos and browsing the forums. Since then I've been pretty much addicted to it and have spent a small fortune on locks and picks. I don't really feel that gifted at it because it has been many many hours of picking and researching but I appreciate the kind words. There are locks I've been working on every day for months (Twins and Medeco) and haven't made any real progress on.

I wish I would have joined here sooner. I've been reading through the write ups under high security locks and they are really well done. I've spent some more time on the Biaxial today and the write up on Medeco locks by NEO has been a great help already. Much of that type of info on LP101 is restricted and it's nice that fellow pickers can speak openly about that here.

GGL
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Patrick Star

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Posts: 293

Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:40 pm

Location: Sweden

Post Thu Aug 10, 2017 11:18 am

Re: Hey guys!

It's interesting that you have more trouble with the Medeco than the 3KS. I haven't done the 3KS personally (only Desmo), but I feel that slider locks are significantly harder, atleast when it comes to learning the technique so you get to the point of first open.
Though maybe I should shut my cocky starfish mouth since I just got my hands on a Medeco Biaxial (as a Scandinavian oval cylinder... not common) that I'm not having much luck with... Though I suspect the sidebar springs are acting up in that one.

PS. This forum might not have tons of activity, but the average quality both when it comes to questions and answers certainly is excellent!
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greengrowlocks

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Posts: 76

Joined: Sun Aug 06, 2017 5:51 am

Post Thu Aug 10, 2017 1:39 pm

Re: Hey guys!

Patrick Star wrote:It's interesting that you have more trouble with the Medeco than the 3KS. I haven't done the 3KS personally (only Desmo), but I feel that slider locks are significantly harder, atleast when it comes to learning the technique so you get to the point of first open.
Though maybe I should shut my cocky starfish mouth since I just got my hands on a Medeco Biaxial (as a Scandinavian oval cylinder... not common) that I'm not having much luck with... Though I suspect the sidebar springs are acting up in that one.

PS. This forum might not have tons of activity, but the average quality both when it comes to questions and answers certainly is excellent!


It's funny you bring that up, I have been thinking it would be interesting to see a poll on what locks people find most difficult (slider,medeco,twin etc.). I do feel I'm bad at Medecos and slider locks have came easier. But in my experience slider-type locks are not necessarily easier but they can be approached in a more strategic way. For example when I find a binding slider, and then raise it up to the top of the keyway, you generally only encounter 2-4 gates. Knowing now that there are only those few positions I can generally find the true gate by the jiggle test and or plug rotation. Once I can confirm a single slider is in its true gate I put my pick on it and take a mental note of what it feels like, and visually look to see how far it will move up and down (Within its true gate). Then I find the next binding slider and match it to that mental note. It wont usually open on the first go, but through trial and error it will open eventually (3KS took me a couple days).


I have been working on Medeco's exclusively the last 4 days (10+ hours) and still haven't opened a fully pinned one. Over that period I have gotten a 5/6 pin M3 open a few times though. I just don't feel that I can pick them in a strategic way like the slider locks. I probably need much more practice, but at this point I think they are/will be one of the hardest locks to pick consistently.

I have been using this method with some success, but since I haven't opened a fully pinned one I can't say it works that well..
1.) Rotate the pins with little to no tension
2.) With very little tension, rub my pick over the tip of each pin feeling/listening for a slight clicky sound (Indicating it's in a true gate.)
3.) Raise pin to shearline while using clockwise tension
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Patrick Star

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Posts: 293

Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:40 pm

Location: Sweden

Post Thu Aug 10, 2017 3:48 pm

Re: Hey guys!

See xeo's guide to picking Medecos if you haven't already: viewtopic.php?f=90&t=4077
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adi_picker

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Posts: 128

Joined: Wed May 18, 2016 5:13 am

Location: Australia

Post Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:52 pm

Re: Hey guys!

As I mentioned in other posts, Im with you greengrow.

I've also picked a quite a few of the high sec locks, including the BiLock, MT5+, 3KS and some Twins, and yet I definately still find Medecos.. well, confusing. I have opened them a couple of times, but its more a stroke of luck than a show of skill at this stage. Like you mentioned, whereas the above locks seemed very black and white to me, ie I always had a good idea what was going on, and what everything was doing in the lock at any one time during picking, the Medeco to me feels mushy and I can never be sure what the pins are doing. I originally figured it must be my particular Medeco, but I got some more and they are all the same! Perhaps its just that the Medeco is different enough in feel that my skills with the other locks are just not transferable and its just going to be a matter of spending extra time with it.

GWiens is also one of us, hes also picked a lot of high-sec and still has trouble with Medeco.

adi_picker
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Patrick Star

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Posts: 293

Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:40 pm

Location: Sweden

Post Fri Aug 11, 2017 8:47 am

Re: Hey guys!

Practice rotating the individual pins. Then pick CCW so you set the rotation first. Don't set any of the pins at the shear line until you have set the rotation of all of them... otherwise that's when the feedback gets really strange. Use heavy tension when moving the pick around so you don't disturb the already set rotations.
Then once all pins are rotated properly it's not particularly hard to set the pins at shear. Standard high-precision pin tumbler with some mushroom pins.

Also, check that the sidebar springs are properly springy and haven't fallen out of their slots. The lock still opens with a key when this happens (with just slight difficulty/resistance when starting to turn it), but it really screws up setting the rotations since you need a lot of tension (wrench-breaking level, literally in my case). Maybe they do this in the wild all the time and this explains some of the difficulties people experience?

They are atleast easier than Twin in the sense that the mechanisms always(?) set in the same order and don't interact.
Also, with Twin it seems that you actually have to find the proper order and not just pick a random pin that's binding, since the damn thing really likes to jam up.


Slider locks are just ... weird for me. The lack of springs really screws with my head, both when it comes to (lack of) feedback and the fact that you actually have to move the damn things down manually after a overset even if you've completely dropped tension.

(PS. I picked up (hah!) picking again not that much longer ago than OP and while I can get most locks open given tools and time, I most certainly still can't just sit down and pick a random higher-security lock within a reasonable time even if I have picked the same mechanism before... still more stubborn than good, I suppose)

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