Rhydo said:
when the worse has come to pass things can only get better (thats what mom says)
I hope that she isn't referring to your birth...
Sorry, pal... I still have to try to be funny once in a while.
Don't apologize for asking about picking. I actually first got into doing it when I was still in school. I had a couple of favourite TV shows, and one of them was "It Takes a Thief" with Robert Wagner and Malachi Throne. At about the same time, Reader's Digest had an article about a jewel thief who was pseudonymed "Armand" by the writer. Both piqued my interest, and led me to experiment.
My mother was quite proud that I got home from school one day when my parents were away, popped the lock, baked myself a cake for lunch, relocked the door, and was off at my friend's house when they returned. (That was before I had my own key.)
The .44 mag incident was a couple of years after that, long before I ever became a locksmith or even considered becoming one. I had forgotten the code for one of the dial-combination Dudley padlocks that I had used on my school locker after I had it at home. Since I wanted to see what was inside, and liked to dial in my Super Blackhawk whenever possible, I set the thing up in my back yard and took a whack at it. I can only assume that I succeeded in opening it, because I never found it.
(Luckily, none of my neighbours did either.)
I must point out here that the previous description that I gave of lock-and-key manufacture was severely limited to only the simplest type of pin-tumbler units. There are dozens of other systems, ranging from the old bit-key (what some call "skeleton key") style up to stuff like Medeco biaxial locks (for which I was factory trained), Abloys (my fave), magnetic stuff, dimples which in my early years were produced by only Dom ix, chip keys as used in automotive ignitions... There is an incredible array, and most of the high-security stuff such as the Medecos, Abloys, etc. are ridiculously difficult (essentially impossible) to pick or even force open. When I had my Medeco factory training, for instance, there were 3 people in the world who could, using 6 picks simultaneously, open one out of every 10,000 Medeco locks. They also have armour plate steel inserts at all of the drill points and over the screws. I don't know what they're up to these days, but when I was in the biz their best was the Ultra 700. It's a 1 kg vise with a biaxial lock in it, which replaces part of the door. It throws a 1.5 inch bolt, about the size of a Zippo lighter, into the frame. When I dealt with them, they cost about $250.00, and were well worth it. (The top Weiser model was about $30.00.)
So, about the picking... it is in no way a violation of my oath to suggest that you check out "How Stuff Works" (that's not the actual address, but close to it; just Google it). They show everything from how to make Jell-O to how a neutron bomb works.
With regard to my joke about your mom... my mother slept through my birth. When she finally woke up, the doctor handed me to her. She looked at me, looked at the doctor, looked back at me, looked back at the doctor, and said "What the hell am I supposed to do with
that?" That pretty much defined our relationship, and my general attitude in life.
)
