MIT Guide to Lock Picking by Ted the Tool - HTML preview

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chapter

4).

If

you

pick

a

lo ck

and

the

plug

stops

turning

after

a

few

degrees

and

none

of

the

pins

34

Figure

9.5:

(a)

Driver

sets

on

b evel

Figure

9.6:

(b)

Driver

jams

on

b

ev

el

35

can

b

e

pushed

up

any

further,

then

you

known

that

the

lo

c

k

has

mo

died

drivers.

Basically

,

the

lip

of

the

driver

has

caugh

t

at

the

sheer

line.

See

the

b ottom

of

Figure

9.7.

Mushro

om

and

sp o ol

drivers

are

often

found

in

Russwin

lo cks,

and

lo cks

that

ha

v

e

sev

eral

spacers

for

master

keying.

Y

ou

can

iden

tify

the

p ositions

with

m

ushro om

driv

ers

by

applying

a

light

torque

and

pushing

up

on

each

pin.

The

pins

with

mushroom

drivers

will

exhibit

a

tendency

to

bring

the

plug

back

to

the

fully

lo ck

ed

p

osition.

By

pushing

the

k

ey

pin

up

you

are

pushing

the

at

top

of

the

k

ey

pin

against

the

tilted

b ottom

of

the

mushroom

driver.

This

causes

the

driver

to

straighten

up

which

in

turn

causes

the

plug

to

unrotate.

Y

ou

can

use

this

motion

to

iden

tify

the

columns

that

ha

v

e

m

ushro om

driv

ers.

Push

those

pins

up

to

sheer

line;

ev

en

if

y

ou

lose

some

of

the

other

pins

in

the

pro cess

they

will

b e

easier

to

re-pick

than

the

pins

with

mushroom

driv

ers.

Ev

en

tually

all

the

pins

will

b

e

correctly

set

at

the

sheer

line.

One

w

a

y

to

identify

all

the

p

ositions

with

mushroom

drivers

is

to

use

the

at

of

your

pick

to

push

all

the

pins

up

ab out

halfw

a

y

.

This

should

put

most

of

the

driv

ers

in

their

co

c

k

able

p osition

and

you

can

feel

for

them.

T

o

pick

a

lo ck

with

mo

died

driv

ers,

use

a

lighter

torque

and

heavier

pressure.

Y

ou

w

an

t

to

error

on

the

side

of

pushing

the

key

pins

to o

far

in

to

the

hull.

In

fact,

another

w

a

y

to

pick

these

lo cks

is

to

use

the

at

side

of

y

our

pic

k

to

push

the

pins

up

all

the

wa

y

,

and

apply

very

hea

vy

torque

to

hold

them

there.

Use

a

scrubbing

action

to

vibrate

the

k

ey

pins

while

you

slowly

reduce

the

torque.

Reducing

the

torque

reduces

the

binding

friction

on

the

pins.

The

vibration

and

spring

force

cause

the

k

ey

pins

to

slide

down

to

the

sheer

line.

The

key

to

picking

lo cks

with

mo

died

drivers

is

recognizing

incorrectly

set

pins.

A

mushroom

driver

set

on

its

lip

will

not

ha

v

e

the

springy

giv

e

of

a

correctly

set

driver.

Practice

recognizing

the

dierence.

9.10

Master

Keys

Many

applications

require

keys

that

op

en

only

a

single

lo

c

k

and

k

eys

that

op en

a

group

of

lo cks.

The

k

eys

that

op en

a

single

lo

c

k

are

called

change

keys

and

the

keys

that

op en

multiple

lo cks

are

called

master

keys.

T

o

allow

b

oth

the

change

key

and

the

master

key

to

op en

the

same

lo ck,

a

lo

c

ksmith

adds

an

extra

pin

called

a

sp

ac

er

to

some

of

the

pin

columns.

See

Figure

9.8.

The

eect

of

the

spacer

is

to

create

tw

o

gaps

in

the

pin

column

that

could

b e

lined

up

with

the

sheer

line.

Usually

the

c

hange

key

aligns

the

top

of

the

spacer

with

the

sheer

line,

and

the

master

key

aligns

the

b ottom

of

the

spacer

with

the

sheer

line

(the

idea

is

to

prev

en

t

p eople

from

ling

down

a

change

key

to

get

a

master

key).

In

either

case

the

plug

is

free

to

rotate.

In

general,

spacers

make

a

lo

c

k

easier

to

pic

k.

They

increase

the

n

um

ber

of

opp ortunities

to

set

each

pin,

and

they

make

it

more

lik

ely

that

the

lo ck

can

op

ened

by

setting

the

all

the

pins

at

ab out

the

same

height.

In

most

cases

only

t

w

o

or

three

p ositions

will

hav

e

spacers.

Y

ou

can

recognize

a

p osition

with

a

spacer

by

the

t

w

o

clic

ks

you

feel

when

the

pin

is

pushed

down.

If

the

spacer

has

a

smaller

diameter

than

the

driver

and

key

pins,

then

y

ou

will

feel

a

wide

springy

region

b ecause

the

spacer

will

not

bind

as

it

passes

through

the

sheer

line.

It

is

36

Figure

9.7:

Mushro om,

sp

o ol,

and

serrated

driver

pins

37

Figure

9.8:

Spacer

pins

for

master

keying

more

common

for

the

spacer

to

b e

larger

than

the

driver

pin.

Y

ou

can

recognize

this

by

an

increase

in

friction

when

the

spacer

passes

through

the

sheer

line.

Since

the

spacer

is

larger

than

the

driv

er

pin,

it

will

also

catch

b

etter

on

the

plug.

If

y

ou

push

the

spacer

further

into

the

hull,

you

will

feel

a

strong

click

when

the

b ottom

of

the

spacer

clears

the

sheer

line.

Thin

spacers

can

cause

serious

problems.

If

y

ou

apply

hea

vy

torque

and

the

plug

has

b eveled

holes,

the

spacer

can

twist

and

jam

at

the

sheer

line.

It

is

also

p ossible

for

the

spacer

to

fall

into

the

k

eyw

a

y

if

the

plug

is

rotated

180

degrees.

See

section

9.11

for

the

solution

to

this

problem.

9.11

Driv

er

or

Spacer

En

ters

Keyw

a

y

Figure

9.9

sho

ws

how

a

spacer

or

driv

er

pin

can

enter

the

keyw

a

y

when

the

plug

is

rotated

180

degrees.

Y

ou

can

prev

en

t

this

b

y

placing

the

at

side

of

your

pick

in

the

b ottom

of

the

keyw

a

y

b

efore

y

ou

turn

the

plug

to

o

far.

If

a

spacer

or

driv

er

do

es

en

ter

the

k

eyw

a

y

and

preven

t

you

from

turning

the

plug,

use

the

at

side

of

you

pic

k

to

push

the

spacer

bac

k

into

38

Figure

9.9:

Spacer

or

driver

can

en

ter

keyw

a

y

the

hull.

Y

ou

ma

y

need

to

use

the

torque

wrench

to

reliev

e

an

y

sheer

force

that

is

binding

the

spacer

or

driver.

If

that

do esn't

work

try

raking

o

v

er

the

driv

ers

with

the

p ointed

side

of

y

our

pick.

If

a

spacer

falls

in

to

the

k

eyw

a

y

completely

,

the

only

option

is

to

remov

e

it.

A

ho ok

shap ed

piece

of

spring

steel

works

well

for

this,

though

a

b ent

pap erclip

will

work

just

as

well

unless

the

spacer

b ecomes

w

edged.

9.12

Vibration

Pic

king

Vibration

picking

works