The Absolute Lockpicking Guide for Beginners

by mr_whackamole

Alright everyone. i think its been stated everywhere, but neither me, totse.com, my isp, or my dog is responsible for anything you do with this article. i dont give a shit if you want to copy this, or post it wherever, but dont edit it or call it your own. thanks.

**this is only a beginners guide. this will only get you started, and let you become an expert yourself from reading in-depth guides/books to hone your skill.**

first off, we will refer to www.howstuffworks.com/lock-picking.htm there are awesome images there, and they explain things that i cant explain without images. you need to read thru this.

now, maybe you want to make some lockpicks. thats great, we will in a bit. we all learned how a lock works already from the ever awesome howstuffworks.com. we know that when you put the key in, the pins line up and we can turn the plug, right? if you dont know that either youre an idiot, or you didnt go to my link above. do it.

to start building your lockpick skill, you need a lock. go to your local hardware store and pick one up. dont buy schlage, they aren't beginner friendly. now that you have your lock, take it out of the box. put everything in a pile except one key and the plug and what holds the plug in place. you will notice that there is a metal piece clamped on the top of your lock. this should be directly above the pins. see if you can take that off. this is important, and you want to do so carefully as to not lose any of the springs that wanna pop outta there. after the metal piece is off, turn your lock upside down and dump all of the springs, driver pins, and key pins in one place. the key pins are the pins that touch the key as the key goes in the lock. their sizes vary, and they have a slightly ointed or rounded bottom so the key slides in easy. the driver pins are all the same size, and they do not have rounded or pointy edges. their tops and bottoms may be beveled, but its not that noticable. you may notice that one or more driver pins isnt a cylinder. it may remind you of a mushroom. this is a little anti-picking thing we need to be aware of. so seperate all of the key pins, the driver pins, and springs. make sure youre on the floor because if your up high, these things bounce when dropped and are a bitch to find. take your plug out. to do so you will have to unscrew a little piece on the end of a plug. it will be difficult to unscrew, and you might think your breaking something but your not. unscrew it and take the plug out. put ONE key pin in the plug, pointy or rounded edge down. preferably a small pin. put the plug back in. (youre thinking well why the hell did i have to take the plug out? i could've just dropped the pin in from the top!) well its good to see all the parts, and you will need to take the plug out later, anyways. now screw in that piece and make sure youre plug is face up(holes in the top of the plug are facing up, and you can see down the top of the lock into the holes of the plug) now put one cylindrical driver pin in the corresponding hole and put a spring in on top of that. now put the metal piece back on. now you need picks. either google it or order the basic set with a book off of www.cheaperthandirt.com

or google "buy lockpicks"

or if you cant buy picks, then do a google search for MIT guide

it will explain how to make picks in there, and also explains a great deal and is necessary reading.

At this point, im assuming you have lockpicks. so if you dont, go get/make some. if you only want to make ONE (for now, at least) then make a snake pick (read the MIT guide for more info)

now, youre going to want to hold your lock right side up (pin is pointing down, spring is pushing it down). insert your tension wrench (can be included in the kit, can be a very small flat head screwdriver) into the bottom of the plug where all those annoying wards are. now, take your pick (i suggest snake, it is easy to use in this situation) now put LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT tension either left or right, doesnt matter here.

now insert your pick, and try to push up the pin and try scrubbing very slowly. (scrubbiung is inserting the pick and moving it back and forth in the plug) and soon enough, you will hear a little click and you can turn the plug with your tension wrench (YAY!!!!) now you can do this a few more times to get the feel of a lock. (tip- you will know when a pin is set because you can push on the pin and there wont be any force from the spring.) now you can play around with the lock, make more picks(dont be limited to other peoples ideas, be creative!!!) you can add successively more pins until you are a master. i suggest reading as many books/manuals as you can.

Ryan