Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:33 am by Solomon
I've only picked one standard schlage lock that was sent to me, cos I'm not in the US. Tolerances are pretty tight, so I find more tension is actually better. You don't really get any feedback if you focus on using the lightest tension known to man, whereas if you pile it on a bit, the binding pin will jump out at you and the sets are super crisp. Don't go overboard with it or anything, just use enough that you can feel that binding pin and it moves without having to force it. You should be able to feel the binding pin easily, and the sets will both feel and sound very noticeable.
Stroke gently towards yourself from the back of the plug, and once you're on that binding pin (you'll hit a wall, so to speak, so that's the one you want), just push it up slooooowly til you feel that big click. Take care when moving forwards again so you don't lift anything inadvertently. If a pin clicks straight away as soon as you scoop under it, make sure not to push it any more than that. If you take your time and don't push on anything you're not sure about it should be easy enough. You'll get the feel for it in time, but basically if you take your time wih it, the binding pin should always be sitting very low so it'll be realy obvious what you should be focusing on.
The one I have has a bitting of 228499 and a binding order of 213654. I can pick that with a short hook no problem even though 4 sets quite a bit higher than 3. So don't be intimidated by the bitting or anything either, just feel feel feel and take your time. It might be beneficial to pin it up progressively, cos the feel I'm talking about will be a lot easier to learn that way at first.