As mentioned in a previous post, I like lock picking methods that have become clichés in movies. The last post I am referring to is the one about opening a door with a credit card. It doesn’t have to be a credit card, but ideally any plastic card that has the strength to be forced between the door and the doorframe and depress the door lock’s latch.

Today we have a video I came across on youtube. In it you will see a guy demonstrate the opening of a door with a plastic card. As you will notice, this only really works if the rounded part of the latch is facing the direction you are trying to open the door from. Maybe if you had the time and room to work with, you could work down the flat end on the latch millimeter by millimeter. But again, it is all based on how your door lock hardware was installed, the quality of the door, and the space you have to work in. Things that also must be are any hindrances on the door, such as fancy door trim that blocks your direct access to where the door and frame meet.

After seeing a few of these videos, they always seem to be demonstrating on these lightweight closet or inner house doors. I have yet to see anyone trying to get through their front door.

This wouldn’t even work in a movie

For those of you who have read my previous postings, you know I like to reminisce about the lock picking methods shown in movies and televisions most of us saw growing up. While opening locks with a credit card is plausible, the video I came across today is just not possible. The idea is that one can use a cut open aluminum soda can to trace and cut out a copy of a regular key. The person in the video proceeds to trace and cut out the replica key and later is able to use the cut out to open a lock.

From what I have seen on aluminum cans, there is no way that this would work. The metal is much too thin and flimsy to do it the way the video instructs. Even if you did manage to cut out an accurate trace of the key, the metal is much to flimsy to be able to turn it inside of a lock. Maybe it would work if you folded the aluminum sheet over a few times to where it would have the actual thickness of a house key, but even then the aluminum would most likely still be very flimsy.

Be Cautious of Helping People With Your Lock Picking Skills

Sure you are proud of your lock picking abilities and may be willing to impress others by showing them. But always be wary of whom you show and how you decide to show them. Even if you think you are helping or doing a good deed, the person you are helping may be lying to you.

Case in point:

Example 1—You are passing through a parking lot and pass what seems to be a stranded motorist who has locked their keys inside of the car. You happen to have your set of auto jigglers on you and feel that you should help them out. You offer to help and open the door for them, but you do not really know if they are the owner of the car or not. They may have just been somebody wandering by and noticed a set of keys locked inside the car. If it wasn’t their car, now you are an accomplice in grand theft auto, as well as practicing locksmithing without a license.

Example 2—You see someone standing around outside of a house milling around. You ask them “What they are doing?” and they say that they have lost their keys. Do you offer to pick open their door? Is the address listed on their I.D. good enough proof that they live there? Even if they have an I.D. listed at that address, they may not belong there. It could be an ex-spouse, and you don’t know what plans they may have. You could be guilty of breaking and entering or worse.

Be careful, responsible, and use good judgment. Helping people is nice, but know as much about the situation as you can before offering any services.

Some Situations Call For A Locksmith

Though you may be able to pick a lock when needed, some projects may call for more than you know how to do. When you experience problems with your locks that require repairs, installations, and roadside assistance, you may need to employ the aide of a locksmith. Such events can include:

• Being trapped in the middle of the dessert, since you locked your keys in your car.
• In a hurry to get to work you close your locked front and realize that you keys are still inside your house.
• For some reason you can’t find or have lost your keys.
• An old worn key breaks off inside of the lock.
• Moving into a new house that has had numerous past tenants inspires you to have the locks replaced or re-keyed.
• To gain extra security, you want to have a deadbolt installed on the door.
• There is a broken lock you want to try and get fixed.
• You need to get some copies of your house keys or a replacement car key.
• You forgot or can’t find the combination to your safe and need it opened.
• You lost the keys to your file cabinet lock and want to get it open.
• You live in an apartment and your mailbox lock is broken.
• You run an office building and you want get a master key system installed.
• Your business wants to control who can gain entry with a door buzzer system.
• You are tired of the cost of keys and want to have a keyless door entry lock installed.
• You need to install a surveillance system and opt for a closed circuit television system (CCTV).

Always research a locksmith company before you decide to hire them. It is best to do your research before you need a locksmith.

Turning Your Lock Picking Skills Into A Profession.

If you are reading this blog, then picking locks is probably a hobby of yours. And what job do they say is the best to get? A job doing something that you love to do. Put your talents to work and become a locksmith. You will get paid to crack locks and be able to help people in bad situations. To legally work as a locksmith in most states, you must be licensed by the state. The same applies for owning a locksmith company. This process will entail passing a criminal history background check through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). You must also pay all licensing application fees, as well as fees for your FBI and DOJ documentation. Once all of your documentation has been submitted and you pass all background checks, you will be issued your temporary license.  If you are interested you should research the laws of your specific state. This is just an overview, so you will need to look up the specifics for yourself. When you apply for employment at a locksmith company, you may have to get another background check.

When you start out, you can seek employment as a locksmith for a company or if you are more ambitious, start your own locksmith business.

Being employed as a licensed locksmith will also justify your possession of lock picking tools, so you can avoid the pitfalls of being seen with lock picking tools. Instead of being seen as a potential criminal, people will see the tools as a part of your job. As mentioned in previous post, people and unlicensed locksmiths caught with lock picking tools can be fined and possibly face jail time.

Following up with my last post on drilling out locks, I've found a couple of video to illustrate the process more clearly. The point of where to start drilling seemed a little unclear at first, but the ideas in the video show it much more clearly. No, it still isn't official lock picking. But sometimes you need to destroy a lock to get to the goal.

How to drill out a lock.

True, drilling out a lock is not a form of lock picking. But it is a means to an end. You may have accidentally locked an old file cabinet that you’ve lost the keys to, or a cheap lock box. If you have lost the keys and the locks are cheap, it may not be worth it to call a locksmith to unlock it. If you can’t open it with a screwdriver and you have no lock picking skills, you might just want to drill out the lock. This will be easiest to accomplish on cheap locks that are not that complex to begin with.

The steps to drilling out a lock are:

1. First attempt to just drill out the locking pins of the lock. Choose a small drill bit that roughly fits the keyhole. Aim for the section where the longest part of the key enters.
2. Start your drilling at a steady pace; there is no need to rush or force the drill in faster. Let the drill work its way through. Keep the drill bit lubricated so that it does not over hear and break.
3. If you’re lucky, there will only be a couple of pins to go through. If not, just be patient and you will eventually get through all of them.
4. When you have gone through all of the pins, put your drill in reverse and work it out. Now you can try to turn the cylinder with a screwdriver. If it worked the lock will turn.

If this didn’t work for you, switch to a larger drill and remove the whole cylinder. Just proceed to drill out the lock again to completely destroy the cylinder mechanism. After this done, you can work open the lock.

How to Open a Briefcase Combination Lock.

I came across this one video on a method to crack the combination lock on a brief case. This method involves pulling the latch and checking for the tightness of the numbered wheels.

To Start:

• Pull the latch and find the tightest of the three wheels.
• Turn the tightest wheel to zero and repeat for the process for the next two.
• Cycle through the first wheel, until the other wheels tighten up. When both of the other wheels are tight, you have found the first number.
• Repeat the process for the next two numbers.

 I don’t know if it works, I don’t have a briefcase to try it on.

My favorite key out there is the “Skeleton Key”. The locks they were made for weren’t overly secure, but the keys are still the best looking keys in our history. What other keys were so decorative? The Skeleton Key usually had a decorative bow, a long shaft, and a flat bit. In their time these keys were made to fit their respective warded lock, but the keys were so similar that they could be used on other locks as well. The wards could only block keys that were larger than it, or drastically different in shape.They went out of style when the new cylinder locks became affordable and easier to produce. They are still around in old houses and furniture. I've come across many videos on Mortice locks that still have this style of key. And since they are general, locksmiths can produce them for customers.

I've come across a neat video of a robot that is programmed to pick a combination lock. Well I guess it isn't really picking. It is just trial and error, as it goes through all of the possible 3 digit combinations. It isn’t really practical, but it is interesting to watch.