Before all the locksmiths and

do gooders out there condemn
what I am about to explain, locks
are essentially mechanical puz-
zles, it just so happens that most
of us have puzzles on our front
doors. It is widely known that
normal door locks, the kind on
90% of peoples front doors are
easily defeated by picking, by
exposing this maybe I can get
people to think a bit harder
about security.

The most common lock in use

today in the western world is the
pin tumbler type lock whose
design was based upon ancient
Egyptian pyramid locks and
“reinvented” by Linus Yale in the
early 19th century. Despite some
minor improvements over the
years the original design is
essentially the same today. There
are also many closely related
locks out there that are all varia-
tions on a theme.

How a pin tumbler lock works:

Looking at figure 1 you can see
that when the key is inserted in
the keyway the lower pins rest in
the “valleys” of the key cuts
allowing the breaks between the
upper and lower pins to fall at
the shear line. This allows the

plug to turn which rotates the
tail piece actuating the locking
bolt or mechanism on the door.
In its simplest form picking this
type of lock requires that you lift
each pin to the correct height, so
that the plug can be turned.
Fortunately for lock pickers,
rather than having to lift all the
pins to the correct height at the
same time, as the real key does,
we can exploit the poor toler-
ances of mass produced locks.
By applying a turning force to
the plug and lifting pins individu-
ally to the correct height the
lock can be defeated. Once each
pin is lifted to the correct height
the plug will turn a fraction of an
inch, and so catching the edge of
the pin keeping it in position for
as long as the torque is
applied (see fig 3a). This allows
you to sequentially work your
way through the lock until each
pin as been lifted to the shear
line allowing the plug to turn.

OK that is it, in its simplest

form, but let me go into a little
more detail after I have
described the tools that we shall
be using for the job. Try to find
an old flat head screw driver
(Christmas cracker drivers are

ideal), I say old because you will
need to bend the shaft at right
angles about quarter of an inch
from the blade. The bend should
be such that with the blade in
the vertical position, after bend-
ing, the handle should be to the
left or right. The blade of the
screw driver should be as small
as possible so that once inserted
in the keyway it is still possible
to exert a firm turning force, yet
be small enough so that it does
not occupy the whole keyway.
This is known as the “Torque
Wrench.”

Next you need a pick. If you

have ever seen a professional
lock pick set you will realise that
they come in a variety of shapes
and sizes, but that is because
there are different sized locks
and different ways to pick locks.
Many texts you read recommend
spring steel, which is ideal, but
to shape it you will need a file
and / or grinder. When I first
started not only could I not find
any spring steel, but I did not
have access to a grinder or a
vice to hold it in so I turned to
the humble paper clip.

Unfold the outer end of a large

paper clip ( 2 inch ) as in figure
2, then using pliers give the very
end a slight upward bend. Now
hammer the extended section
flat to give it a little rigidity to
aid picking and allow easier
insertion into the keyway. Make a
few as they tend to suffer from
metal fatigue, however when a
lock is picked correctly it is done
gently with a minimum of force.
So the better you get the longer
your picks will last.

The Unofficial Teach Yourself Guide to Lockpicking

"In this article I want to show you that with only the minimum amount of fuss you can, without elabo-

rate tools, learn to pick common locks very easily." - Obiwan

Now to using your new found

tools. It would be foolish to try
to start picking a fully functioning
lock from scratch, because you
need to learn to use your tools
gradually. I suggest you go out
and buy a Yale type lock, unless
you have an old one lying
around, but you will need the
key to begin with as you are
going to disassemble it. By dis-
mantling the lock you will
achieve two objectives.

Firstly you will see first hand

the individual components of the
lock and get a better under-
standing of how it works.
Secondly it needs to be reassem-
bled with a single pin initially, so
that you can learn how the lock
feels on a lesser scale. After that
you will vary the position of the
single pin to aid “depth percep-
tion,” then on through various
stages of multiple pins to a fully
loaded lock which you will be
able to pick to your hearts con-
tent...

To see the rest of this article,
check out issue 2 of Walkabout
zine.

Figure 2

Figure 3a

Disclaimer:
Once you have mastered the art of picking locks you will never again view a door as being secure again,
but a word of warning: People in general seem to think that only crooks or locksmiths can pick locks and
if word gets out that you know you could find yourself getting the blame for any items that may go miss-
ing from behind closed doors.

Courtesy of http://www.neverness.net.

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