Lockpicking

Quote
http://elvencraft.com/lpd/Lock%20Pick%20Metallurgy.html
Functional tools are stiff and strong, to transfer force and feedback without excessive flexing or absorption. Durable tools are resilient and tough, to flex instead of bend, and bend instead of break. The ideal metal is stiff, strong, resilient, tough, corrosion resistant, inexpensive, and available.

301 high yield stainless steel and 420 hardened stainless steel are the strongest stainless steel alloys commonly used for picks, with a Rockwell C hardness of about 51. 301 and 302 full hard stainless steel are softer, cheaper alloys intended for stamping, with a Rockwell C hardness of about 41. 302 full hard is superior to 301 full hard for stamping because it work hardens more slowly, which puts less stress on the dies, increasing their longevity. Carbon spring steel is strong, but rusts. Titanium Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V) is as strong as 301 full hard, and is less likely to be detected by metal detectors, but is half as stiff, and thus unsuitable for making thin picks. Picks benefit from the strongest alloys, flat wire turners should be made with 301 full hard, so they can be bent without breaking. There are many other metals that look good on paper, but are too expensive or difficult to obtain to be practical.

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http://elvencraft.com/lpd/Lock%20Pick%20Recommendations.html
These recommendations are aimed at helping consumers get better tools and helping manufacturers provide better tools. Basic sets are big sellers, yet are fraught with problems. Consumers must make significant compromises, and/or buy tools piecemeal from multiple manufacturers to get an optimum set, and even then, some practical tools are simply not commercially available in an ideal form. Manufacturers are more concerned with sales than tool quality, but it only takes one manufacturer to make a truly outstanding set and corner the market.

....


Thickness
It is worth having pick profiles in multiple thicknesses, using the thickest pick possible for a given lock to minimize wear of thin picks, which are less durable than thick picks. Each thickness requires a different profile with a corresponding shaft taper for consistent strength.

.030" classic Bogota pick/turner
.025" durable picks for wide keyways
.020" delicate picks for narrow keyways
.015" disposable picks for paracentric keyways
.010" knife tool for decoding combination locks
Pick Shaft Taper
Pick shafts with an excessively large taper are unnecessarily bulky and less maneuverable. Pick shafts with an ideal taper balance strength and maneuverability. Pick shafts with no taper will bend and break at the shaft-handle junction. Pick shafts with an inconsistent taper, such as the half shaft buttress taper used by LAB and Sparrows, have a stress concentration at the taper end point that causes the shafts to kink and break at that spot. Shafts that taper to the beginning of the pick profile instead of tapering though the pick profile to the pick tip have a stress concentration at the beginning of the pick profile that causes the shafts to kink and break at that spot. In this finite element analysis, 2 pounds of force is applied to each pick shaft tip.


Pick Shaft Taper Finite Element Analysis
Undercuts
Undercuts reduce stress concentration by making the pick profile more uniform, thus allowing it to flex evenly. In this example, removing metal from the underside of the wave rake actually makes it stronger. Both profiles are identical aside from the undercut and have 2 pounds of force applied to the tip. Notice the stress concentration behind the wave closest to the shaft, and the increased stress along the length of the shaft. Stress concentrations cause picks to break. This is why it is vital for pick profiles to taper evenly from shaft to tip, why it is worth using arcane mathematics to calculate undercuts, and why finite element analysis is important to lock pick design.

Why Wave Rakes Have Undercuts
Handles
Handles should be bilaterally symmetric, with center aligned shafts, so that reversing the pick does not alter the grip or alignment. Asymmetric handles and side aligned shafts may look stylish, but prioritize form over function. Handles should not be too thick or too long, or they will not fit in standard pick bags. Laminated stainless steel handles used by SouthOrd and Southern Specialties and injection molded fiberglass reinforced nylon handles used by Peterson are practical examples of good handle design. Fiberglass reinforced nylon is a strong engineering plastic. The pick blade does not have to extend far into the handle for rigid coupling and good feedback.

Handle Symmetry

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http://elvencraft.com/locksport/


Locksport References
Guides
OFC Guide to Lock Picking (Tristan Guédel & Alexandre Triffault 2015)
LSI Guide to Lock Picking (Paul Wragg & Josh Nekrep 2006)
MIT Guide to Lock Picking (Ted the Tool 1991)
Lock Diagrams and Animations (Deviant Ollam 2010)
Lock Picking Slides and Videos (Deviant Ollam 2010)
Notes on Picking Pin Tumbler Locks (Matt Blaze 2003)
Notes on Picking and Torque Tools for Pin Tumbler Locks (Matt Blaze 2003)
LSA Tech Manuals (list of service manuals, catalogs, and guides)
Raking Techniques (Christina Palmer 2017)
Lock Pick Metallurgy (Christina Palmer 2021)
Lock Pick Recommendations (Christina Palmer 2020)
Videos
Locks: Basic Operation and Manipulation (Schuyler Towne 2011)
BosnianBill • LockPickingLawyer • Lock Noob • LegalLockPicker • HelpfulLockPicker
tumbl3r • ∅ • legendofthesamurai • AMonitorDarkly • Daz Evers • idanhurja
Lockfall Laboratories • kokomolock • wizwazzle • red • huxleypig • Schuyler Towne
Books
Practical Lock Picking (Deviant Ollam 2010, second edition 2012)
Modern High-Security Locks: How to Open Them (Steven Hampton 2002)
High-Security Mechanical Locks: An Encyclopedic Reference (Graham Pulford 2007)
The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing (Bill Phillips 2005)
Groups
SSDEV - Germany Chapter List (Sportsfreunde der Sperrtechnik - Deutschland e.V.)
TOOOL - Netherlands Chapter List (The Open Organization of Lockpickers)
TOOOL - USA Chapter List (The Open Organization of Lockpickers)
TOOOL - SF Bay Area (join our Google group for meeting announcements)
LI - USA Chapter List (Locksport International)
Longhorn Lockpicking Club - Austin, Texas (A chapter of Locksport International)
FALE - Winston-Salem, North Carolina (FALE Association of Locksport Enthusiasts)
FOOLS - Bloomington, Indiana (Fraternal Order Of Lock Sport)
Detroit Locksport - Detroit, Michigan (Competitive lock picking in Detroit)
Lock Picking 101 • Keypicking • UK Locksport • Lockpicking Reddit
Tools
Peterson (premium picks, flat turning tools, thin tools for narrow keyways)
SouthOrd (big selection, beautiful handle finish, nice slim line sets)
Southern Specialties (big selection, many handle styles, nice folding sets)
Mad Bob (British practical pick profiles, Peterson Pry Bar clones)
Dangerfield (British MadBob clone Praxis set, dual thickness picks)
Law Lock Tools (British picks and Peterson Pry Bar clones)
UK Lock Pickers (British lever tumbler tools)
Multipick (German elegant expensive SouthOrd clones)
Sparrows (Canadian tools in their own unique style)
DCAPower (the 15 piece starter set is practical and inexpensive)
LockPickExtreme (the 12 piece starter set is practical and inexpensive)
TOOOL (the Tremendous Twelve set is practical and inexpensive)
Covert Instruments (Covert Companion jackknife pick and bypass tool set)
Picklocks.com (Swick jackknife pick set)
SerePick • SereKit (stainless steel and titanium Bogota sets)
Spooxe (German pick bags made from recycled nuclear fallout shelter cloth)
Pickology (British tools including unique sinusoidal rakes)
Tag 5 Industries (Peterson Pry Bar clones and old school pick profiles in stainless steel)
Technical Entry (European Peterson Pry Bar and Falle hook clones)
Ouverture Fine (French Corbeau "Raven" asymmetric handles)
Alwood Locksport (tactical size galvanized carbon steel picks)
Pro-Lok (old school pick profiles in stainless steel)
HPC • Majestic • A1 • DINO • GOSO/KLOM • LAB • Rytan • Falle-Safe (distributor only)
DealExtreme (KLOM, GOSO, and H&H rebranded DINO reseller in Hong Kong)
BangGood (Chinese reseller, 14 piece dimple turner set)
Lock Pick Canada (Souber, GOSO, and SouthOrd dimple pick reseller)
LockPickShop (SouthOrd and Peterson reseller)
CLK Supplies (pinning and rekeying supplies)
Red Team Tools • Rift Recon (penetration testing supplies)
Bump My Lock • BumpKey.US (bumping tools)
Starter Sets
Lock Pick Extreme 12 piece set (Southern Specialties reseller) or
TOOOL Necessary Nine (Southern Specialties reseller) or
Southern Specialties 12 piece set (Original Manufacturer)
picks are 301 full hard stainless steel, all picks designed by me,
good turners, the TOOOL Necessary Nine has double ended turners,
the 12 piece sets have single ended turners with the same blades
DCAPower 15 piece set (nickel plated carbon steel) is a good strong cheap set,
but the plating will eventually flake off and the picks will rust
Custom Set
Peterson Nylon Tri-fold Case (great double tier design)
or US PeaceKeeper P21111 Small Punch Roll (budget case)
Southern Specialties Tension Tool 2500 Series Set (single ended)
or Southern Specialties Longhorn Tension Set (double ended)
or TOOOL Tremendous Turners (this is the 2500 series set)
these are usually warped, but can be straightened by hand
or SouthOrd TW-01, TW-22, TW-60S, TW-61S, TW-62S, TW-63S
ToK blades will need to be cut to 1/4", TW-22 is not really ToK,
but a thin windshield wiper insert can serve as a substitute
Peterson Pry Bar No Teeth .050" and .040" (hardened 420 stainless steel)
can be modified to look like the examples in Lock Pick Recommendations,
or make your own from cheap steak knives and the example drawings
Peterson Government Steel picks (hardened 420 stainless steel)
get a variety of hooks in .025", .018", and .015" thicknesses
Peterson Wonder Waves (hardened 420 stainless steel)
or TOOOL Wicked Waves (301 high yield stainless steel)
the Wicked Waves need heat shrink tubing on the handles
SouthOrd MAX picks (301 high yield stainless steel)
the .025" hooks are good, and have a nice range of heights
Practice Locks
7 Pin Ultimate Adversary Practice Lock includes security pins
Ebay is a great source for new and used locks and security pins
Lockpicking Reddit has a long list of locks categorized by difficulty
Do not use transparent plastic locks, they do not behave like real locks
Notes
Read the guides and browse the tool links thoroughly before purchasing tools
Most pick sets have many useless tools, it is better to choose a few good tools
Stainless steel is highly rust resistant, carbon spring steel will rust in damp conditions
Titanium is corrosion resistant and less detectable, but has half the stiffness of steel
The barbed harpoon shaped tool in many pick sets is a broken key extractor, not a pick
Lock bumping can permanently damage lock mechanisms and plug faces
DIY picks and turning tools can be superior to commercial tools, learn to make them
from windshield wiper inserts, feeler gauges, bicycle spokes, and steak knives
Round off sharp edges and polish picks by sliding them in and out of 600 grit
emery cloth folded inside a phone book to avoid impaling fingers with the pick
[elvencraft.com] updated 4/18/2021, 3:19:17 PM
© ELVENCRAFT LEGENDARY TECHNOLOGY morsel@elvencraft.com

Quote
https://www.lockpickextreme.com/women-locksport-series-christina-palmer/
Update to Christina’s most recent work (June 2020): Lockpick Extreme is proud to carry a new 12-piece lockpick set designed by Christina. To purchase a set of your own, visit our shop. If you’d like to read more on her research and design process, check out her “Lockpick Recommendations” website.

Sometimes, especially when just starting out, it can be hard to find others who share an interest in picking locks. I have always felt that community is such a large part of lock picking and is something positive to celebrate, especially when there are seemingly so few of us. Personally, I have found that other women in this field are few and far between. I have more fingers on my hands than women that I know who are in locksport. I truly hope that this is a fact that can change over time as locksport becomes more widely recognized. We are kicking off an interview series, “Women in Locksport,” with one of our dear friends and a luminary in the field, Christina Palmer. Christina has been picking locks since 1975, has done dedicated studies on different aspects of lock picking, and is a lock pick designer who has worked with multiple pick manufacturers to help create better tools. Bob and I have known Christina over the course of many years and look up to her having taught both of us a countless number of things, lock picking related and otherwise.

Over time, we hope to highlight more inspiring people in lock picking, so please check back with us and this series of interviews.

(This interview was conducted via telephone and was transcribed for reading.)

Bob: Can you tell us how you got started in lock picking?

Christina: I was walking home from high school one spring day in 1975. My eyes happened to land on the commercial mortise cylinder lock on the door of a Radio Shack, and I suddenly thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how to pick locks?” Back in those days, there was no Internet as we know it, and they weren’t many good resources available, so I walked to the public library and looked up “lock” in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Now, that is a very conservative publication, and they had nothing to say whatsoever about lock picking, but they did have a beautiful exploded view diagram of a classic Yale pin tumbler lock. Looking at it, it became immediately obvious that two tools were required, one to rotate the plug, and another to manipulate the pin stacks.

So I went home, found a little 1/8″ flat blade screwdriver such as were commonly given away as trinkets in those days, stuck it in a vise, bent it 90°, and that was my first turning tool. I then tried to manipulate the pins of the lock with a paper clip, but discovered that was way too soft and mushy. I then tried the old classic, a hairpin*, and found the hairpin was made of nice strong carbon spring steel that was much more suitable to the task. I bent the hairpin open and tapered the last 1/2″ of the end to a point with a hand file. I then bent the tapered end a little bit at a time with vice grips, slowly moving from the half-inch point to the the tip, thus giving it a continuous graceful curve. I then rounded all the edges with the hand file and made it nice and smooth. I still have that pick today, and it works really well. It’s a great hook.


Christina’s first lockpicking tools.
*It was later clarified with Christina that these are technically roller pins, which are larger than hair pins. She still has a package of vintage 1975 roller pins in her toolbox. These, like they do today, originally come with a coating that is designed to match hair color. The coating was removed to reveal the silver color underneath, as it is photographed above.

Bob: You were able to figure out the concept of setting pins just by looking at the exploded picture of a lock?

Christina: Well, I knew it was possible, otherwise people wouldn’t refer to doing it in movies, regardless of the fact that in the media, it’s generally not shown in a realistic way. I just tried it and I guess perhaps I was lucky. I don’t remember what lock I used back then. It was a long time ago, but I think I must have had a few locks at my disposal and at least some of them opened fairly readily. I probably had at least one wafer tumbler lock, which of course is pitifully easy to open, but I did have some some pin tumbler locks and probably an old Master padlock. And those are pretty easy. I just stuck my bent screwdriver in and applied some torque and manipulated the pins with my with my little hairpin hook and felt around and experimented. Thus I taught myself how to pick locks.

Bob: Has your knowledge of lock picking helped you in your younger years?

Christina: I attended a wild and woolly co-ed boarding school for my last 2 years of high school, where I taught much of the student population how to pick locks. I became the unofficial locksmith for the school while I was there. The administration would turn a blind eye to my mischievous activities, and in return I was expected to help them whenever they got locked out, which was often. They had an ancient and arcane system of master keyed locks throughout the school and they didn’t have their own locksmith, so I probably saved them vast amounts of money. It was not uncommon for them to wake me up when I was fast asleep on Sunday morning in order to open a lock, but it was worth it, because I got away with bloody murder while I was there. It was great.

One day I actually heard a student ask the administrator for Palmer Privileges. “Is your last name Palmer?” the administrator replied. “No,” the student sulked. “Well then, you don’t get Palmer Privileges.” You just can’t pay for that kind of life experience. I still giggle thinking about it.

Bob: What other kinds of adventures has lock picking gotten you into?

Christina: My first week at university, I completely disassembled my dorm room lock, and carefully measured the pins. They had a complex mastering system with a grand master, sub masters, and the individual room key. So it wasn’t enough to just disassemble my lock to determine the master key. I bought some key blanks at a hardware store, and hand cut a key that I guessed might be the grand master, but it turned out to be just the sub master for my building. So a few days later, after I’d made some friends, I went to one of their rooms in a different building, took their lock apart, and measured their pins, of course cross referencing to their key and to my key, and with that information was able to deduce which cuts were the correct cuts for the grand master. I then hand cut a grand master key, and sure enough, it worked. I made a very small number of those for my closest friends, and from then on, we were able to go anywhere in the university.

Most of my friends were in that other building, so I was over there a lot. Each building had a Resident Assistant. These were students who were paid and got to live in a suite in the front of the first floor. They made sure that things didn’t get out of hand, and that sort of stuff. Well, the Resident Assistant over at that other building was a stickler for rules and detail. She was super uptight, and she would notice me. She could see right out her window that I’d be coming and going all the time. Each building was locked, the stairwell door could only be opened by holders of a room key for that building. Yet I would just waltz in all the time. So she became progressively more hyper-vigilant, and finally one day accosted me, and accused me of having a key for her building. She demanded that I whip out my keys, and I decided to humor her. She said, “There, that one!” I inserted the key into the lock, but deliberately didn’t insert it quite far enough, turned it left and right, and demonstrated how it wouldn’t open the door. She stomped off frustrated, but clearly this situation could not be allowed to continue.

I gathered together a large number of friends, and we planned an elaborate ruse. We had someone call her, pretending to be from security, telling her there was a package waiting for her. This obliged her to walk from her dorm room all the way across campus to the Security office in the Student Union Building to pick up the package. This would take her about ten minutes each way. She set out to get her nonexistent package, and we had people following her with walkie-talkies, telling us were she was, every step of the way. Meanwhile, we opened her suite and removed everything: the furniture, the telephone, all of her belongings, transporting them via a human bucket brigade into the basement storage room containing supplies for visiting parents who came in the summertime. We then reversed the bucket brigade, filling her room from floor to ceiling with hundreds of pillows from the storage room, closed the door, locked it, and casually, but conspicuously, loitered in the general area of her room to see what would happen upon her return.

Well, she stormed back 20 minutes later really pissed off because, of course, security had no idea what she was talking about, and there was no package. She sees us all looking at her expectantly, and opens her door to find a wall of pillows. She attempts to dig a few out to get into her room but quickly discovers that there’s nothing in there but pillows, then immediately locks her door and storms off to security again, informing us that we’ll pay for this. As soon as she leaves to get security, (another 20 minute round trip walk across campus) all the pillows go back down into the storage room and all of her stuff is moved back into her room, exactly as it was originally. She comes back again 20 minutes later with a security guard in tow and unlocks her door. She swings it open and says, “SEE?” The security guard looks into the room and thinks she’s totally nuts and leaves. She never bothered us again.

Bob: What have been some of your practical applications of lock picking?

Christina: A friend and I were on a wildflower safari in Frazier Park, California. We were about to head into the wilds of the Los Padres National Forest and then on to Carrizo Plain. There were no services or restrooms for hundreds of miles where we were headed, so we went into the last convenience store before the wilderness, in the hopes of using their restroom and getting supplies. Someone had locked the knob and shut the door from the outside and the owner could not find his key, so I whipped out my Bogota set* and offered to open it. After some initial trepidation concerning potential damage to his lock, the owner consented. I raked it open in about five seconds, but before I could say a word, the cashier leapt over the counter, shot past us, and dove into the bathroom to relieve himself. Apparently, he’d been needing to go for about two hours.



*A “Bogota set” refers to a pair of picks that are each both pick and turner. They nest together for storage and have a 90° twist to orient the pick perpendicular to the turner handle for ease of use. We just happen to have the Titanium Bogota Set available on our web store.

Bob: Do you have any advice for people starting in lock picking and don’t know where to start?

Christina: Nowadays there are vast numbers of resources. I occasionally maintain the Lockport References page. It has lists of free guides and videos, some book suggestions, various groups and clubs you can join, and a list of all of the current manufacturers of lock picks. If you are interested in buying picks, you can spend hours, days, or even weeks perusing the catalogs of all of these manufacturers and following links to the other resources. It also has few basic suggestions on starter sets.

Bob: What accomplishment would you consider to be the most significant or that you’re most proud of?

Christina: I’m pretty happy with my Lock Pick Metallurgy paper*. I wrote that in the hopes of getting both DIYers and manufacturers to use better metal in making their picks, and help people understand which metals are better and for what purposes. I’m pretty happy with the research I’ve been doing on wave rakes and the Wicked Waves, which was done in partnership with TOOOL. The principle behind the Wicked Waves was about evaluating about a dozen different wave rakes that were on the market at the time, figuring out which ones worked best and why they worked better, then enhancing the characteristics that made them work better to optimize wave rake shape for the best performance.

*Both Bob and I have had the pleasure of seeing Christina give her talk on Lock Pick Metallurgy. It’s full of science, data, and mathematics that describe a variety of metals in a way that directly relates to lock picking, and even includes how this is relevant within current pick brands many of us use today.

Christina also has a very insightful page on Raking Techniques, complete with descriptive animations and other information on torque or turning force.

Bob: What do you think contributes to your success?

Christina: Well, I don’t see this as succeeding or failing. I see this as a hobby that I enjoy doing, so it really isn’t about success and failure for me.

Christine: For someone who’s considering taking up lock picking or hasn’t reached out to other people, how would you describe the lock picking community?

Christina: I’ve made a lot of good friends in the lock picking community and I like to hang out with them. I really look forward to our meetings.

Bob: Aww, me too.

Quote
https://elvencraft.com/lpd/Raking%20Techniques.html
Applying appropriate turner torque is essential for effective raking. Use as little torque as possible to avoid seizing the pin stacks while allowing the pins to set, but use enough torque to compensate for plug friction and return springs. Some locks require virtually no torque...

1. (Soda Pop Cans): can be made into lock shims
2. (Windshield Wiper Inserts): can be made into turning tools and lockpicks
3. (1/4" Mono Male to Male Adapters): can be made into dimple pick handles
4. (Feeler Gauge): can be made into turning tools and lockpicks
5. (Marine Grade Shrink Tube): handle wraps for lockpicks
6. (13mm Plastic Cable Ties): handle wraps for lockpicks
7. (Stainless Steel Cable Ties): bypass tool for combination padlocks
8. (Selfie Sticks): lock core followers
9. (Non-Tapered Marker Pens, AA, AAA Batteries): lock core followers
10. (Security Tag Strips): lock shims for lock disassembly
11. (Card Stock Paper, Corrugated Fiberboard aka Cardboard): Pinning trays
12. (Bra Underwire): can be made into turning tools and lockpicks