What have you picked today

[Patrick Star]

Sargent Keso

Is this the one with pin-in-pin a la MTL ?

[adi_picker]

No, the Keso I have isnt PiP Patrick, AFAIK there are no PiP Kesos. This one has 3 rows of pins all protruding onto one another in the Top Left, Top Right, and along the top of the key. Like This -'- at the top of the keyway. I'm lead to believe its a rebranded or licenced Kaba design of some sort, perhaps the Star?

adi_picker

[insatiableOne]

I had bought this Abus as almost all my locks, brand new!
It had rode around in my pocket with my two pair of cuffs, until finally picked now three times.

[adi_picker]

ALC Galaxy

Finally got my hands on one of these. Sans key, but do we really need one?



The circular ring you can see in the plug is the tool I made to tension it. You cannot tension this lock from the part you see, this is only a cap, and this is why the tool is nessacery. Also, like most other tubular locks, to fully open it, it requires several pickings at each pin position around the plug. This is why the tool is in the photo, as it becomes trapped during picking, due to the fact that only the topmost groove on the facecap is large enough to accept the tensioning key.



As you can see, I made a couple of tools for this lock. The tensioning tool, which tensions what the ALC literature refer to as the 'rotor', and an alingment tool to set the codebar in position either Left, Centre or Right. Was fun making the tools, but the lock itself is not much of a challenge. Once you have the tension in the correct spot, they are really no harder than a regular tubular lock, once you get the feel of the pins, or 'carriage bars' as ALC call them. You can see the patent and get more info on this lock here.

adi_picker

[MartinHewitt]

Mauer President A 71111. Open in 88 minutes.

[jeffmoss26]

7 pin Best D keyway picked to operating

[Oldfast]

Sargent Mossberg STRIKES AGAIN

Damn, I should really get a hold of ya sometime. Still have a drawer full of yours locks.
I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get back around to the last of 'em. If not, I should at
least see about gettin' 'em back to ya. I know you're never worried... I'll keep in touch.

Martin... you got some hell-a-sophisticated stuff goin' on there, lol.
Beyond me for sure. But it certainly looks pretty exciting!

[MHM]

Mauer President A 71111. Open in 88 minutes.

Martin - which company makes this pick, and where did you get it? I've been looking for something that will open a President for a while but the Safeventures one is way out of my price range.

Thanks,

Michael.

[MartinHewitt]

I use the cheap pick from Banggood and modify it for the lock. With this I don't need the expensive picks anymore.

[jeffmoss26]

Sargent Mossberg STRIKES AGAIN

Damn, I should really get a hold of ya sometime. Still have a drawer full of yours locks.
I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get back around to the last of 'em. If not, I should at
least see about gettin' 'em back to ya. I know you're never worried... I'll keep in touch.

Martin... you got some hell-a-sophisticated stuff goin' on there, lol.
Beyond me for sure. But it certainly looks pretty exciting!

Sent you a PM

[Patrick Star]

I use the cheap pick from Banggood and modify it for the lock. With this I don't need the expensive picks anymore.

What's your technique like? Are you reading out possible gates as you pick and then basically enumerating the possibilities?

[MartinHewitt]

Yes, I start normally from lowest lever positions and work my way up as it binds. The pointer helps to check and reset positions .

[Patrick Star]

Yes, I start normally from lowest lever positions and work my way up as it binds. The pointer helps to check and reset positions .

Some gutshots of these locks would be nice, to know what you're up against!

[MHM]

I use the cheap pick from Banggood and modify it for the lock. With this I don't need the expensive picks anymore.

Did you drill out the rod to fit it over the post, or sit the pick on top of the post and shorten the upstand accordingly to tension?

For those guys who aren't familiar with this lock, Martin has done something really fucking major here. The Mauer President is the lever equivalent of the S&G 6700 series locks - pretty much the industry standard lever safelock and used worldwide by most of the major container manufacturers. Even qualified safe engineers treat this lock with respect and this is properly good picking.

[MHM]

Yes, I start normally from lowest lever positions and work my way up as it binds. The pointer helps to check and reset positions .

Some gutshots of these locks would be nice, to know what you're up against!

Patrick - here's the innards.

Eight levers, seven unsprung and one closest to the bolt sprung that serves a slightly different function. Massive notchy false gates galore. Beautiful manufacturing tolerances and as smooth as butter with the correct key.

It's VERY difficult to get the locksmithing community to talk even off the record about this lock and to be honest, I've never seen a service manual for one and don't even know the correct terminology for some of the parts.

Gorgeous, gorgeous lock.