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Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 9:42 pm
by escher7
I ran across these in my browsing of Aliexpress. Three sizes of what appear to be very well made tubular picks for $22.56 delivered. I don't need them or I would order a set.



http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-Sale ... 95859.html

I have ordered several items from this site and all have arrived, mostly of very good quality, although delivery takes a few weeks.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 9:47 pm
by elbowmacaroni
Cool... nice set there! I've been debating whether or not to give aliexpress a chance. So, it went well and your satisfied with the end result I take it?

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 9:49 pm
by Anarchy_won
I have that set, the 7.8 is the only one I have used It worked well on the toolbox lock I needed to open.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2014 10:02 pm
by escher7
Anarchy_won wrote:I have that set, the 7.8 is the only one I have used It worked well on the toolbox lock I needed to open.

Good to know as the price was so low I changed my mind and ordered a set. Elbow: I have placed many small orders with them and all worked out well. One cheap set of standard picks were a bit flimsy and needed polishing, but I still use a couple.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2014 11:08 am
by huxleypig
Shit, if you buy that set you will be disappointed! There are some just as cheap on AliExpress (for another set of 3) but they are golden coloured.

The difference is the ones in the OP just use loose rubber bands for tension. The golden ones have a collar and O rings.

AW, am I right?

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2014 11:17 am
by Anarchy_won
yeah your right Hux, it uses o-rings for tension but I am happy for the money spent. mine came with extra parts (4 replacement fingers and a bunch of clear o-rings) to me its worth the money only because I knew before i ordered I would almost never use them so I did not want to spend alot.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 5:15 am
by escher7
Anarchy_won wrote:yeah your right Hux, it uses o-rings for tension but I am happy for the money spent. mine came with extra parts (4 replacement fingers and a bunch of clear o-rings) to me its worth the money only because I knew before i ordered I would almost never use them so I did not want to spend alot.


Ditto.
Plus O rings are easy to buy at the local hardware store. I have never seen better at $20 on Aliexpress and would like to see the link.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 5:49 am
by Karma 24 7 365
Anarchy_won wrote:yeah your right Hux, it uses o-rings for tension but I am happy for the money spent. mine came with extra parts (4 replacement fingers and a bunch of clear o-rings) to me its worth the money only because I knew before i ordered I would almost never use them so I did not want to spend alot.


escher, Thank you for sharing! I've been wanting a set. I'm going to order one.

Anarchy, can you secure the fingers in place after the lock it picked?

Thanks!

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 11:25 am
by Anarchy_won
Karma 24 7 365 wrote:escher, Thank you for sharing! I've been wanting a set. I'm going to order one.

Anarchy, can you secure the fingers in place after the lock it picked?

Thanks!


Karma, the o-rings holds in the fingers in place well, I can open the lock and then decode the tool to have a key made it just takes a little practice. (once its set I add a extra o-ring to keep the fingers in place or if i need to open a second lock that uses the same key.)

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 11:34 am
by huxleypig
Karma 24 7 365 wrote:
Anarchy_won wrote:yeah your right Hux, it uses o-rings for tension but I am happy for the money spent. mine came with extra parts (4 replacement fingers and a bunch of clear o-rings) to me its worth the money only because I knew before i ordered I would almost never use them so I did not want to spend alot.


escher, Thank you for sharing! I've been wanting a set. I'm going to order one.

Anarchy, can you secure the fingers in place after the lock it picked?

Thanks!


The point is, that is all that is holding them there/providing tension. O rings(s) with nothing pushing against them. So you can't release/vary/lock tension...it is always the same.

There is a set for the same price (sorry, $30) that has a collar that pushes against the O ring(s) to increase/lock tension.

These:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/7-Pin-Tubular-lock-pick-Adjustable-7pin-7-5pin-7-8pin-LOCKSMITH-TOOLS-cross-pick-lock/854871375.html

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 12:14 pm
by escher7
Hux:
I was aware of that set, but around $20 was my cut-off as I don't really need them. The Goso set you reference have also had bad reviews, although I can't remember the source. Bottom line: neither is likely up to professional standards, but the good ones start around $65 and some are double or even triple that. Like a lot of "professional" locksmith equipment (eg Falle picks, and the new Abloy tool at $10,000), I find some of the tubular picks grossly over priced. I doubt that most working locksmiths open enough locks to justify two or three hundred dollars worth of tubular picks.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 6:09 pm
by MrWizard
I'm not trying to hi jack this topic just want to add my 2 cents.

Me being a professional locksmith I bought the Lee tubular pick that does center left and right style locks. It cost me around 285.00 about 30 years ago and that was when 300.00 was a lot of money. It can do the no talent impressioning mode and single pin picking. Each feeler has it's own lock down thumb screw to lock down ones you know are correct. I've tried them all and most cheap picks just suck and only work 15% of the time on real world lock opening. Anything can work on a clean lock in a vise and if used regularly are broken in no time. This one works every time flawlessly. I have made many $1000's with this and it is still in like brand new condition. When the surrounding lock shops have given up on opening or making keys for tubular locks they call me and I have it open and decoded in minutes. The difference is you get what you pay for. Like any trade if you are a auto mechanic sure you can go buy cheap tools. Harbor freight set of wrench's or sockets will work for a while and then soon after you wish you would have saved your money and bought real tools like Snapon, Proto, Mac, that will last you a lifetime. Same thing applies to locksmith tools. If you are going to buy those cheap tubular picks and know already there are ones for only 10.00 more from the same place that have the actual collar to adjust the tension on all feelers at the same time and can quickly tightened it after it is picked to make sure nothing moves while you decode it you have wasted a chance to get ones that might work 200% better. Hux knows what he is talking about when he suggests you get the ones he posted the link to it is light years better that the cheaper ones and for only 10.00 more you can't go wrong paying that tiny bit more. So I suggest if you want to get a cheap set of tubular picks spend that extra 10.00 and get the one Hux linked to, or be sorry later. Although I will say I like the way the cheaper ones look so choose what ever ones you like best.

Lee made some of the best locksmith tools you could buy.
You can get this same style made out of slightly cheaper materials than Lee used from I believe Pro Loc now.
Looks exactly the same and it should work equally as well.

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Richard

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 8:16 pm
by huxleypig
Thanks Mr Wizard, I agree!

Also, may I add, if anyone gets any of these 7 pin cheapies and wants them converting to an 8 pin (including 7 left and right offset) then let me know!

Image

I just picked my ACE II with that, which are not easy tubular locks to pick.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 9:32 pm
by escher7
Wiz: You got me! I just ordered them because they're pretty. Plus, as with all my tools, I will improve/tune them and they will be fine. As for the tools you guys are showing, they are not for amateur hackers like me, but designed for the pros. Apples and oranges.

Re: Unbelievable price for Chinies tubular picks

PostPosted: Mon May 26, 2014 11:38 pm
by VancouverSpecial
Any suggestions for which pick set for use on cruciform locks - there also seem to be multiple different options/prices.

Richard, those tools look amazing - such nice craftsmanship.
Thanks for the great info guys!

Cheers fellahs,
Sean