The Life of a Locksport Community Member

[xeo]

And XEO, allow me to inflate your head just a bit... lol... You are a fuckin' all-star in my book. The "Caped Medeco Master", one of the "all time greats" of lockpicking! You continue to amaze me, and I thoroughly enjoy watching & learning from you. When you slaughter a lock on camera like you do, there's really no need for words. lol. Plus, I like your cat.

Well thanks I appreciate that very much. You're on track to becoming an all-star as well, you picked it up pretty quick and I like your smooth and elegant technique. Keep it up man.

[datagram]

One half of learning is knowing how to teach - and I do think that a lot of you have a natural ability to communicate to your fellow pickers vast technical concepts and ideas that are difficult to put into words - and yet you do find a way to do it without a tinge of condescension and ego.

And some of us man up and make sure to include condescension and ego for the full effect : )

dg

[Warder]

Thanks guys for the evolution analysis. I pick to stay sharp and read here often. And contribute $. The one thing that keeps me off the forum the past year has been family (Kids!), and changing from a renter to an owner(upkeep!). The feel of a cylinder rotating as it clears the sheer-line NEVER gets boring.

[darkhorse]

wonderful heart felt write up LSA....Koko was and still is a great inspiration to me as is chris wingate who I respectfully call a good friend from over the pond...Ed smiley has been very helpful and sends me stuff whenever he can.Your good self has mezmerized me with your skills These plus loads of great pickers here and in the UK keep this sport alive for me.....I will always bend over backwards to help anyone..both newbies and experienced and will never tire of any questions thrown my way....A lot of newbies feel a bit intimidated and dont always ask the right questions for fear of rebuke....I just want to say there isnt a daft question so fire away...
Thanks LSA for such a great write up

[Solomon]

Stage 6!!

</Triumph>

[the picker]

i am at #3 and might b hear for awhile but i hope to stop at 4 and that the fire for picking never dims:)

[chris]

wonderful heart felt write up LSA....Koko was and still is a great inspiration to me as is chris wingate who I respectfully call a good friend from over the pond...Ed smiley has been very helpful and sends me stuff whenever he can.Your good self has mezmerized me with your skills These plus loads of great pickers here and in the UK keep this sport alive for me.....I will always bend over backwards to help anyone..both newbies and experienced and will never tire of any questions thrown my way....A lot of newbies feel a bit intimidated and dont always ask the right questions for fear of rebuke....I just want to say there isnt a daft question so fire away...
Thanks LSA for such a great write up

Thank you for the words, I'm glad I can be helpful to my brethren from across the seas. You too are a good bud, if I ever get my ass across the pond I shall look you up to have a few drinks, kill some locks and maybe bash in some of those looters and such.

[elbowmacaroni]

One half of learning is knowing how to teach - and I do think that a lot of you have a natural ability to communicate to your fellow pickers vast technical concepts and ideas that are difficult to put into words - and yet you do find a way to do it without a tinge of condescension and ego.

And some of us man up and make sure to include condescension and ego for the full effect : )

dg

lol

[elbowmacaroni]

wonderful heart felt write up LSA....Koko was and still is a great inspiration to me as is chris wingate who I respectfully call a good friend from over the pond...Ed smiley has been very helpful and sends me stuff whenever he can.Your good self has mezmerized me with your skills These plus loads of great pickers here and in the UK keep this sport alive for me.....I will always bend over backwards to help anyone..both newbies and experienced and will never tire of any questions thrown my way....A lot of newbies feel a bit intimidated and dont always ask the right questions for fear of rebuke....I just want to say there isnt a daft question so fire away...
Thanks LSA for such a great write up

One thing I have to say in response to this is, do not be afraid to ask questions. You won't be belittled here for that, most of us remember what it was like when we started out and don't mind answering even what you might think is a "stupid" question.

[edsmiley]

wonderful heart felt write up LSA....Koko was and still is a great inspiration to me as is chris wingate who I respectfully call a good friend from over the pond...Ed smiley has been very helpful and sends me stuff whenever he can.Your good self has mezmerized me with your skills These plus loads of great pickers here and in the UK keep this sport alive for me.....I will always bend over backwards to help anyone..both newbies and experienced and will never tire of any questions thrown my way....A lot of newbies feel a bit intimidated and dont always ask the right questions for fear of rebuke....I just want to say there isnt a daft question so fire away...
Thanks LSA for such a great write up

Thanks a bunch DH. Right back at ya!!

PS: You might not speak as fondly when you get the custom lock I sent!

[10ringo10]

good points lsa
but lockpicking is not just about locks in general its that enjoyment that comes from it,in lots of ways.
darkhorse is great.

[LocksmithArmy]

your absolutly right, that feeling when the plug finally turns... its amazing...

but the post was about the stages one goes through... that feeling... never changes... its still awsome and it will be awsome 10 years from now

[darkhorse]

wonderful heart felt write up LSA....Koko was and still is a great inspiration to me as is chris wingate who I respectfully call a good friend from over the pond...Ed smiley has been very helpful and sends me stuff whenever he can.Your good self has mezmerized me with your skills These plus loads of great pickers here and in the UK keep this sport alive for me.....I will always bend over backwards to help anyone..both newbies and experienced and will never tire of any questions thrown my way....A lot of newbies feel a bit intimidated and dont always ask the right questions for fear of rebuke....I just want to say there isnt a daft question so fire away...
Thanks LSA for such a great write up

Thank you for the words, I'm glad I can be helpful to my brethren from across the seas. You too are a good bud, if I ever get my ass across the pond I shall look you up to have a few drinks, kill some locks and maybe bash in some of those looters and such.

Your welcome to stay at mine whenever and if ever you get over here and some of the uk pickers will deffo make you feel very welcome indeed

[mastersmith]

My journey has been a little different than most I guess. About 40 years ago I was asked if I wanted to be a locksmith. Just out of high school, and ready to enter college, it seemed like a perfect part time opportunity. Little did I know 4 decades later I would still be a "Lockie". Recently I was looking for a hobby, something to fill my spare time. I find a couple of lock picking forums. Joined both and quickly found a huge difference in the make-up of the communities. One is rather "snobbish", and one is extremely inviting, so here I am. I have little in common with most members, I'm older, far less computer literate ( in college I sat in front of a key punch machine and took the stack of cards I created to the library main frame for processing. That cured me of wanting to "compute" for a long time!), and can't pick any of the high security stuff that the "hobbiests" do daily ( but I want to learn how to do just that)! But I'm home, go figure! The knowledge on this site every day is amazing. It has reinvigorated my passion I used to have for locksmithing. Though picking is a tiny part of the profession, it does draw the most attention! I am creating picks daily, (I don't have video and would not know how to post it if I did!) but if I come up with something really good I will find a way to show you all! The ride has been awesome, I hope it lasts a long time! Thanks.

[rai]

Noobie question here,
Last night a woman friend asked me to open a lock she had on a cabinet.
it was a steel shackle and a round tube with five plastic wheels on it, letters, not numbers on it, I tried to insert a thin probe between the wheels, and discovered that just beneath the surface the wheels fitted into each other so no stiff tool could enter.
I tried pushing on the button on one end of the lock, to see if any wheel was looser than another, during the internal tensioning that pushing the the button would induce but got no results that I really trusted tried pushing in on the shackle and pulling out on it while turning numbers, no result but didn't try long enough,
Thought I remembered seeing this lock and that one could set the combination to a word or name, found scoty on the five wheels but it did not open when this was aligned with the two index notches, one on either end of the wheel pack.
so my question is how do I open this lock. What did I forget to do, how would harry sher bypass this,
oh and one end had a raised foot in the number tube where the shackle goes in so i figures that holds the shackle when its open I assumed the other end had a notch and groove in the shackle.
I put a shim in the end without the raised shackle foot just in case the lock could be snapped shut without the combination being set in the lock, but no result with the padlock pushin type shim though it went in quite deep

So my newbie question is how do I open this letter combination lock, Its not mine but the owner wants me to open it.
gimme answers
what would harry sher do

I know you guys got the answer