Picking Dimples
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:54 amI 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!
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!
