Delve into the world of locks, where understanding terminology and mechanisms is key to finding the perfect fit for your needs. While locks once safeguarded treasures like spices, today they secure our possessions from prying eyes. Let’s unravel the intricacies of lock selection and empower you to make informed choices.
Decoding Lock Terminology:
Before delving into lock designs, familiarize yourself with key terms essential to lock discourse:
- Full-Mortise Lock: Concealed within furniture, this lock type requires precise mortising for installation, ensuring a seamless integration with your project.
- Selvage: Often evolving in meaning, the selvage denotes the edge of a lock from which the bolt extends or the distance from the top edge to the center of the pin.
- Bolt: The rectangular piece extending into furniture in door and drawer locks, or the main lever inside chest and box locks, securing the item.
- Strike: Attached to lids, strikes feature protrusions for the main lever to catch, ensuring a secure lock.
- Half-Mortise Lock: Flush with the workpiece’s surface, these locks were prevalent in 18th and early 19th-century furniture, offering a seamless aesthetic.
- Backplate: The face of the lock, typically screwed to the workpiece, housing the lock body’s interior workings.
- Keyhole: The aperture through which the key interacts with the lock, with the keyhole’s position affecting the backset.
- Backset: The crucial measurement between the selvage and the center of the pin, essential for installing or replacing locks.
Unlocking Lock Designs:
Explore the diverse landscape of lock designs, each tailored to specific applications:
- Desk-Lid Locks: Recognizable by their angled selvage, these locks accommodate desks’ rabbeted edges, facilitating seasonal adjustments.
- Door and Drawer Locks: Offering versatility, these locks feature dual key slots, allowing horizontal or vertical installation, catering to drawers or doors.
- Chest and Box Locks: Unique in orientation, these locks necessitate a strike for secure locking, with only one key slot, typically installed horizontally.
Navigating Lock Selection:
Consider various factors when selecting locks, including woodworking proficiency, project requirements, and period authenticity. Pay attention to keyhole placement and escutcheon positioning, ensuring compatibility with your chosen lock size. Whether safeguarding spices or valuables, rest assured there’s a lock suited to every task.
As you embark on your lock selection journey, let knowledge guide your choices, transforming mundane hardware into guardians of your prized possessions.
The Complete Beginner’s Guide: Getting Started with Lock Picking
My journey into lock picking began at a young age, driven by a mischievous urge to unlock my parents’ old number-dial phone for prank calls. At just seven years old, I discovered that a tiny scraper from a nail clipper set could fit the lock, and with some wiggling and jiggling, I succeeded. That moment ignited a lifelong fascination with the art of lock picking.
Now, over four decades later, I’m still immersed in the world of lock picking, albeit without the prank calls. It’s been a journey filled with satisfaction, learning, skills development, occasional frustrations, and most importantly, a sense of community in an increasingly isolated world.
As someone new to lock picking, or perhaps just curious about it, this guide is tailored for you.
Firstly, let’s clarify: this isn’t a detailed tutorial on lock picking techniques. That’ll come later. This is about equipping you with the knowledge to navigate the array of basic lock-picking tools available online, ensuring you make informed decisions about what suits you best and what’s worth investing in.
Beginners often fall into the trap of purchasing lock-picking kits or sets that are either too advanced for their skill level or unsuitable for the locks they intend to pick. We’re here to prevent that waste of time and money. As avid lock pickers ourselves, we’re passionate about helping you find your way in this fascinating pursuit.
And if you ever need guidance, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Lock Pick World. We’re here to assist, regardless of your level of expertise. Remember, we were all beginners once. So, prepare to unlock the mysteries and experience the excitement of lock picking for leisure, also known as “LockSport.”
The Rise of LockSport
In recent years, lock picking has seen a surge in popularity as a recreational activity, thanks largely to the internet’s accessibility to tools and techniques. I remember as a teenager, gazing longingly at a set of picks displayed in a shop window, forbidden entry due to my age. The idea of those shiny steel tools granting me access to locked doors was exhilarating. I knew my improvised nail clipper pick wouldn’t suffice for much else. But proper tools? That was a game-changer!
When I finally went online in the late 1990s and found a set of picks, I wasted no time in ordering them—my first step into a world of endless possibilities. The internet opened doors (pun intended) to a wealth of resources on lock picking, including specialty stores like ours. These platforms provide easy access to top-quality lock picks and invaluable advice, significantly lowering the barrier to entry for newcomers and fostering a vibrant lock-picking community.
In essence, the internet revolutionized lock picking, turning it into an accessible and engaging hobby for enthusiasts worldwide. And with resources and support readily available.
Here’s a breakdown of what you should look for in a basic yet reliable beginner lock pick set:
- Hooks: These are common picks with curved tips, available in various lengths, depths, and thicknesses. They are used for precision picking.
- Half-Diamond Pick: A versatile pick with a tip shaped like half a diamond, suitable for different types of locks.
- Deforest Diamond: Similar to the half-diamond pick but with an angled stem, allowing access to tight spaces where standard picks may not reach.
- City Rake: A rake pick resembling a city skyline, designed specifically for raking locks to quickly manipulate the pins.
- Bogota/B-Rake/Triple-peak Rake: Named after the Bogota mountain ranges, this rake pick is highly effective for raking locks open swiftly.
- Tension Wrench: A critical tool for applying rotational pressure on the lock’s core. Without tension, lock picking would be impossible. Tension wrenches typically have a long, thin, “L” or “Z” shape, with one end inserted into the keyway to engage with the core while the other end serves as a handle for applying pressure.
Tension tools are indispensable in lock picking, allowing the lock picker to exert the necessary rotational force on the lock’s core while manipulating its internal components. These tools come in various shapes and sizes to suit different locks and picking techniques.
