HP's Picked Locks

[10ringo10]

great picking...how many pins does it have hp & any tips on opening this buddy

[huxleypig]

great picking...how many pins does it have hp & any tips on opening this buddy

It's got 10 dimple-like pins which are shaped to a point and a little ball bearing near the tip of the key. It also has up to 5 side pins and up to 5 top pins but these are both passive.

http://www.dom.co.za/pdf/dom_%20ix_systems.pdf

It's not such an easy lock to pick. The main troubles I had was 1) pick selection because my pick kept getting stuck in there (normally resulting in me having to 'rescue' it with another pick) and 2) the pins getting VERY sticky and tough to push up the nearer it got to opening. The low pins are also a pain because they are so low it's tough to keep squeezing your pick under them. You get big rotations after setting a few pins too with this lock. I'd also add that I found it REALLY easy to overset pins when you just start picking it. It gets nigh on impossible later on once the pins are really binding up but early doors I used tiny movements.

In the end I got used to using my Souber dimple pick (but the big end of the 2 ended pick). It took a while to get to grips with just where I could put it in the keyway so as not to get it stuck but once I learned to work within its limits it was a pleasure to use. Oh, and I used just a short hook to get the ball bearing. It didn't bind last as I expected though, it was more like 75% way through picking it.

[huxleypig]

Millenco Magnum (9 pin version!):

[Oldfast]

... HE"S ON FIRE!!! Nice job man!

Little outta my reach yet I think. There's always something more to
look forward to in this hobby. One of many reasons I love it so much.

[huxleypig]

Medeco Classic:

[femurat]

Congrats mate you've picked many difficult locks.

Cheers

[huxleypig]

... HE"S ON FIRE!!! Nice job man!

Little outta my reach yet I think. There's always something more to
look forward to in this hobby. One of many reasons I love it so much.

Congrats mate you've picked many difficult locks.

Cheers

Thanks guys. It's certainly a very rewarding hobby when that plug turns without its key!
I'm working on this KABA Gemini that I've managed to fix up but it's proving somewhat of a shit.

Oldfast, your point about always looking forward to more with this hobby - I wonder if anyone has ever been in a position where they could confidently say that they'd picked every high security lock that there is to pick out there? What would that make you - a master locksmith? A grandmaster locksmith? God? Or just obsessive?!

[xeo]

I wonder if anyone has ever been in a position where they could confidently say that they'd picked every high security lock that there is to pick out there? What would that make you - a master locksmith? A grandmaster locksmith? God? Or just obsessive?!

That is what keeps me going really... picking new locks and new challenges. You even get new challenges from lock makes and models you've already picked before. Out of 100 Medecos there could be 1 that proves to be the most insane challenge you've come across.

I have tried to pick every high security pin tumbler out there, but some of them are just hard to find, impossible to find or far too expensive. Part of the fun I suppose. There are still quite a few pin tumblers I'd like to get my hands on that I can't seem to find for a reasonable price.

[huxleypig]

Tried to edit previous post but couldn't so put it here instead:

[Libertyclicks]

Hahaha awesome picking Huxley. I could take some lessons from you. I'm still back struggling with my Schlage.

[10ringo10]

TOP CLASS !! keep em coming hp

[rai]

I read you that your pick keeps getting stuck in there, and needs another pick to rescue it.

let me assume you are using a hook, you could reshape the tip and shaft, perhaps thinning the shaft a little bit, and the tip could taper just a bit, rather than be of uniform width throughout its curve,

then sand the edges til they are rounded where they probably are 90 degrees edges.

this could make a pick tip that will not get stuck.

I also could be seeing your problem all wrong, but its a suggestion, think about it.

Rai

[uklockpicker]

Great vids impressive stuff huxly pig

[huxleypig]

I read you that your pick keeps getting stuck in there, and needs another pick to rescue it.

let me assume you are using a hook, you could reshape the tip and shaft, perhaps thinning the shaft a little bit, and the tip could taper just a bit, rather than be of uniform width throughout its curve,

then sand the edges til they are rounded where they probably are 90 degrees edges.

this could make a pick tip that will not get stuck.

I also could be seeing your problem all wrong, but its a suggestion, think about it.

Rai

That's a nice idea for tight keyways and such if my pick were getting stuck in pin tumbler keyways. I meant that my pick was getting stuck in the DOM IX 10 KG. It was a square flag-type dimple pick. The fat end off the double ended pick from the Souber Mul-T-Lock pick set to be precise! That DOM is particularly infamous for getting picks stuck in it, it's horrible for it.

[femurat]

There are some locks that like to keep my picks inside them. The DOM is one of them. I insert the half diamond flat on top of the pins and then rotate it to push them down. The shaft get trapped when I rotate it more than 90 degrees, so the pins are no longer kept down by it and go up, preventing me from rotating the pick up again to remove it.
When this happens I release tension, insert another pick to push down the pins and extract the trapped pick.
To prevent this situation I try to rotate the pick less than 90 degrees until all the pins are set, doesn't matter if true or false set. Then I finish my picking without worrying to get trapped.

Reading Rai suggestion make me wonder if a cylindrical shaft could be the ultimate solution to this annoying problem.

Cheers