Wed Jan 28, 2015 2:40 pm by MBI
Old 5-pin Schlage deadbolt from my front door when I was a kid.
I was around 9, I think. The lock broke on our front door and talked my Dad into buying a new one at the hardware store and letting me install it instead of calling a locksmith. I saved the old lock, rebuilt it and got it working again. We didn't have much in the way of tools so making picks was a very long and tedious process I won't bore you with here. Suffice it to say I did finally manage to make some horrible picks which were of no use in picking it.
This was a LONG time before the internet or even the easy availability of lockpicks or picking books. A year or two later I lucked out and was able to catch a glimpse of some real lockpicks so I could see the size they were supposed to be. Turns out the main problem was that my first picks were scaled too big for a household pin tumbler lock. I also learned about tension wrenches. I made some better ones, which I eventually used to pick the cylinder from that old deadbolt. By then I'd also cannibalized and fixed some more locks and found I rather enjoyed working with them.