Manipulation #12LA GARD 3330standard ... 3 wheel ... key change ... spring loaded fenceOver on the MBA website where professional courses are offered, they describe this lock as "
the notoriously unyielding LaGard 3330."
I'd imagine that not
every LaGard will react like this... but its' "
unyielding" nature is attributed to what's known as
wheel shadowing.
This shadowing occurs due to inconsistencies within the wheels. A wheel may
appear circular, but may
actually be more of an oval shape.
Also, the inner hole of any given wheel may not be perfectly centered. Either (
or both) of these factors can create extreme highs
& lows
around the circumference of a wheel. With the fence predominatly resting on one of these high areas, enough lift is generated to allow
gates of other wheels to pass beneath undetected. Intentional by design or simply a lack of quality, matters not - it can pose problems.
Still fairly inexperienced, this lock proved to be one of the most difficult for me thus far. But it's also been a great stepping stone.
Libertyclicks - thank you for taking your time to brain-storm with me a bit. And, for sharing your computer generated illustrations.
Your pictures certainly helped to get my mind turning once again...
as well as the wheels in this LaGard. Much appreciated friend.
Walnut with one light coating of linseed oil. A flip-sided view of a LaGard wheel. Notice the small dimples around the edge of the wheel,
likely from the manufacturing process. They don't necessarily pose a threat, but they
canreflect in your readings... usually creating a fluctuation of around
1/8 - 1/4 of an inc.
An AWL graph produces one low area (18-28). As tempting as this is... my focus must
first be directed towards the high areas!
Two high areas that appear to be seperate from each other: One spanning from 48-66. The other, a mountain that peaks at 90.
By utilizing BOTH the low AND high areas, I hoped to acheive two things:1) Determine which wheel(s) are actually creating these high areas. And once known...
2) Reposition these wheels in a configuration that produces a reading that is equal to
(
or less than) the current lowest reading on my graph... which is
9 5/8 (
18-28).
The procedure I've used here is basically identical to hi/low testing. I park all wheels at the
high point I'm investigating (90)
I then drag one wheel at a time down to the
lowest area on my graph (25) while leaving the other two wheels at the high point.
When a considerable drop occurs in my reading, I can tag the high area to a particular wheel. In this case
w1 is creating this mountain.
AWL @ 90 . . . 10 3/8L90 L90 R25 . . . . 10 1/4
L90 R25 L90 . . . . 10 3/8
R25 L90 L90 . . . . .
9 7/8AWL @ 55 . . . 9 7/8L55 L55 R25 . . . . . . 10
L55
R25 L55 . . . .
9 5/8R25 L55 L55 . . . . 9 7/8
The other area (48-66) is investigated in the same manner. Park AWL @ 55... drag a wheel at a time down to 25.
I've now acquired a much better understanding of this graph, why it looks this way, and what's happening within the lock.
Also notice, during my second test I inadvertently achieved my other goal... which was to obtain a reading of
9 5/8 or better.
So I will now use this same configuration ...
L55 R25 L55 ... to begin isolating wheels.
Naturally, I start with w3. A little more variation now occurs, but still no gate. I suppose running w2 next would
be the logical order... lol... but for some reason I decided to jump to the other end of the wheel pack and run w1.
A gate @ 13-14 is
finally revealed for w1. Even if this is not an actual gate... I will utilize it.
L131/2 - - I run w2 around.... nothing definitive.
Having found a gate on w1... w3 has no choice but to surrender her gate to me. Not the most convincing of gates... but I'll take it!
L131/2 - - L60 wheels 1
& 3 on their known gates.... w2 around every 2 incs...
OPEN: L131/2 - R22 - L60 . . . . . . . . . CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . .Overall, I feel this lock is a great stepping-stone in my learning curve. Similar to going from standard pins to spools.
My multiple attempts
& failures with this one has certainly heightened my awareness
& understanding of some things.
At the same time, when it comes to these '
shadow games', I'm almost
certain there are some VERY large holes in my game.
Running more manipulations through this lock will bring more discoveries. I may find this method is not a sound
& consistant
means of overcoming this shadowing effect. I'll leave the current combo in it for now in hopes you guys have some ideas to try.