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Picking Dimples

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HT4

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Post Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:54 am

Picking Dimples

I started my dimple lock journey last night… I had ordered two sets of Chinese dimple picks that came in a week or so ago. They were cheap, so I figured that I would get some variety as I starting forming my tool preferences. Both sets were worthless out of the box (seriously, who thinks that square is a good shape for a shaft intended to rotate in tight warding!?!?). After 15 minutes of filing and shaping, I had one pick in halfway usable condition and dug into an Abus euro profile dimple cylinder that I got from Rerun12 (the one without the passive pins. Rerun, do you remember what model that is?). At first, I got no love at all. After 5-10 minutes I had an “ah ha” moment, and gained a lesson that I am a bit surprised that I have never previously seen in any “how to” videos or explanations.

This is the issue: The Abus lock I was picking is full of spools. No big deal… we all know how to deal with them: (i) reduce tension, (ii) increase pick pressure, (iii) allow counter rotation, (iv) set the pin. But dimple locks are different. I had arbitrarily chosen the picking direction of clockwise when I started. I did not realize that in the clockwise direction, the “(ii) increase pick pressure” step was counteracting the “(i) reduce tension” step. Thus, my rotation of the pick was locking the core in place. Once I realized what was happening, I switched picking direction and opened the lock in less than a minute… over and over again. It was shockingly easy. I spent close to an hour picking the lock over and over again, just to start getting the feel for working with dimple locks.

Then I switched back to clockwise picking. Back to frustration. Eventually I got to the point where I could pick it regularly, but it took about three times longer and required light use of the tension wrench to counteract some of the picking torsion.

In any case, I just wanted to share my experience for two reasons. First, hopefully others with find helpful my experience with the interaction between dimple lock tension and pick rotation. Second, I’m soliciting the experience of others who have trod this trail before me. What were your little discoveries along the way?

Thanks!
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Papa Gleb

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Post Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:02 pm

Re: Picking Dimples

Awesome write up mate. I also realized that same issue when I started my dimple journey but didnt think it was worth discussing and now that you mention it, there isnt much about this although it is a pretty important point. The abus dimple lock I have was to easy so I put it aside and moved to MulTlock which is a completely different dimple game. With enough practice you can use this for your benefit as I personally feel it gives much more control to deal with counter rotation.
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rerun12

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Post Tue Jul 21, 2015 7:25 pm

Re: Picking Dimples

Great write up HT, I'm glad you're journey is going well. I could never understand why dimple picks all have a square shaft either. Even Souber, the top shelf dimple picks as far as I can tell, use a flat square shaft instead of a round one. Better feedback maybe? I wouldn't know..

As for the lock I believe it's an EC550. I know for certain it's part of the EC series but the exact number I can't remember.
Image

You're process seems spot on as far as my standards go, perhaps some of the pros can chime in with more useful info. Thanks for sharing, I got plenty more locks for trade when you're ready ;)
Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.
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HT4

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Post Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:48 pm

Re: Picking Dimples

Thanks rerun. Any chance it's an Abus D6? So far, it's the only Abus lock I can find online with this key way and no passive pins. There's a few things (like location of drill protection and passive pins) that don't seem to line up with any EC I can find.. I'm going to do a video, and I really want to make sure I get the model right.

Thanks.

http://www.abus.com/fr/Securite-chez-so ... e-porte/D6
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rerun12

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Post Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:47 am

Re: Picking Dimples

I'll message the guy who I traded with although I haven't seen him on in quite awhile and he always seems to disappear during the summer. That picture does looks more accurate though lol... sorry, I had a long day :loony:
Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.
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HT4

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Post Wed Jul 22, 2015 7:19 am

Re: Picking Dimples

Thanks for checking. FWIW, I just took the lock apart and see that it has steel pins in the #2 slot, like the pictured D6.

On a related note, I dove into the other dimple lock you sent me (d10, I think)... Opened on my first try! The passive pins make it slightly harder to get at the active pins once you have a false set, because the rotation forces the passive pins up. Other than that, it was just like picking the first one. I'm starting to wonder why I was ever afraid of these things. Thanks for pushing me to get started.
Check out my "LockPickingLawyer" YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9K6rby98W8JigLoZOh6FQ/videos

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