How To Pick a Lock

So you want to learn how to pick a pin tumbler lock?

First of all, owning lock picking tools are against the law in some states, and picking a lock if it's not your own is also against the law.

Now that I have told you about the legal implications, I will tell you how to pick your lock open.

There are many types of locks out there - some good, some bad, some cheap, some very expensive and some that cannot be picked open. The lock I will talk about is a Kwikset pin tumbler lock. Kwikset locks were made by Kwikset Co. out of California and about 4 years ago they where bought by Black and Decker.

Picking a Kwikset pin tumbler lock open in most cases, is not hard to do if you have the right tools and patience.

LOCK PICKING TOOLS

You will need:

1) A spring Steel Pick: (also called a rake) has a "W" shape at the picking end of the pick and its raked over the pins in the lock.

It looks like this:

2) A Tension Tool: this tool is made out of flat spring steel and has an L shape at the picking end.

It looks like this:

These two tools can pick open many of locks but it takes time to get the feel of using them.

This is a set of picks and tension tools: (I found it being sold on the web search lock picking tools)

[ view lock picking tools ]

THE LOCK CYLINDER

This is a lock cylinder and as you can see it has two parts to it, the out side housing and the plug where you put the key in the lock. The housing of the lock has five pins and five springs in it, and the plug has five pins in it. Unless it is mastered to a master key then it would have ten pins in it.

There are also mushroom pins and we will talk about that later on.

The lock cylinder looks like this:

If you look at a key you will see different cuts in it some deep and some shallow these are the combination of the lock. They are numbered 1 through 5 - five being the longest pin and they are in the plug in random order - that’s what makes each lock combination different, and there are many different combinations for locks. Some are harder to pick than others.

When you put your key in to the plug and push it in all the way, the pins will line up with the cuts in the key and the lock will open up, this is because the top pins and the bottom pins line up with the housing and the plug so the plug can turn and the lock will unlock. This is called the shear point.

There is another tool you may need on some locks called a Plug spinner it looks like this:

[ view plug spinner lock picking tool ]

This spinner tool is used to spin the plug when you have to pick a lock backwards (the reverse way) and that’s because some combinations pick easier backwards, which means the plug would pick to the locking position. When this happens you would use the plug spinner to turn the plug to the unlock position.

The plug spinner has a spring in it, and when you hold it in your hand and turn the knob at the end of the tool left or right, depending on which way you want to turn the cylinder, it winds up the spring in it. Then you pull on the knob and it will lock in place. When you insert the flat spring steel part of the tool into the middle of the plug and push the tail end of the spinner, it will release the spring and turn the plug very fast the opposite direction past the shear point to the unlock position, and the lock will open. This tool takes a little practice to master but it’s a great tool to have.

Now that you understand how a lock works, and what the inside looks like, I will teach you how to use the pick and tension tool to open your lock.

Take the pick in your right or left hand (the one you use to write with) and then pick up the tension tool with the other hand hold them between your thumb and index fingers on both hands use your middle finger to support the bottom of the pick, hold the pick towards the back of the tools and face the tools towards the lock plug.

Insert the spring tool at the bottom of the opening where the bottom of the key would hit on the plug and push down on the spring tool (lightly not hard) - if you put to much pressure on the spring tool the pins will stick and not pop up and down as you rake over them.

Now take the rake and insert it all the way in to the plug, and with a little pressure and a up and down motion, pull the rake out then push it back in straight and out again with the up and down motion till you reach the shear point. After the third time raking the pins, let the tension off the spring tool to let the pins go back to their normal position and then put pressure and start again.

(When you rake the pins and put too much tension on the tension tool, sometimes the pins stick past the shear point, so you have to release the tension on the tension tool to let them pop back up in the cylinder.)

This is a cylinder being picked open:

Rake slowly to start with, and as you get better you will speed up your raking motion. Don’t be in a rush and don’t get discouraged because it will take time to get the feel of the rake and how much tension to put on the tension tool.

This method will work on some car locks, suitcase locks, luggage locks, desk locks, strongbox locks, file cabinet locks, computer locks, some pad locks and most door locks.

Remember picking open locks that do not belong to you, in some states is against the Law! And can be considered breaking and entering and that is a felony! Having picking tools in your possession if you’re not a locksmith in some states is also against the law! [view Wikipedia info on legalities of picking locks and lock picking tools ]

Mushroom pins are pins shaped like thread spools. When trying to pick them they wedge in the cylinder making it almost impossible to pick open the lock.

The only way they can be picked is with a battery powered picking tool and a lot of luck or to drill out the cylinder.