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= The Science of Picking Locks =
=       by: Eric The Red       =
=  Tiger's Lair (206)874-4115  =
================================

The advantages of picking or other skilled methods of entry are many: less
noise and hence less chance of discovery, no tell-tale signs that a violation
has even occurred, fewer tools are necessary than with most break and enter
methods, and lastly, but not leastly, it has more class...

With any of the picking methods presented here it is necessary to practice,
practice, practice. Any picking takes some time and lots of skill. Like most
other things in life, it is seldom accomplished as easily as presented on
television.

A good method for effective practice is to obtain a lock that lends itself to
dismantling and remove all but two pins (one long and one short). Follow
techniques given until you have mastered the two pin lock and then try three
pins, then four, etc. Once you have this down pat, replace the two pins with
mushroom pins and start over...

Before picking any lock, squirt a bit of graphite into the locks innards to
help free it from the binding effects of dirt and other contamination.

An overview of the pin tumbler lock:
------------------------------------
The pin tumbler lock is the most widely used lock. It offers medium to high
security and is found in doors, cars, and a host of other applications.

The principle of the pin tumbler is a series of tumblers resembling small
pins (usually 5) held in place by other pins resting on top of them, called
drivers,which are in turn, held in place by springs.

The tumblers, drivers, and springs are mounted in the shell of the lock and
the tumblers extend down in to the core of the lock. When the proper key is
inserted the tumblers are raised to this shear line, or division between them
and the driver pins. This shear line is located at the top of the core. When
this transpires, the core may be turned freely with the key.

If a key is cut too low, the driver pins will extend down into the core; too
high and the tumblers will extend up into the shell of the lock. In either
case, the core is help stationary and the lock stays locked. Pin tumblers
require a high degree of tolerace in lock and key making. About .002 of an
inch is required for correct functioning.


Picks:
------
The most common way to obtain lock "tools" is to have a friendly locksmith
order them for you. As much as I hate to say it, many people "become"
locksmiths themselves and order the goodies on a letterhead. Some suppliers DO
check to see if they are legit, some do not.

If you choose to skip all this worry and make your own pick set simply follow
these easy to remember rules:

Get some clock spring, or even shim stock from an auto supply house. You want
the thin type, sold in strips, not the sheets.

A good range of pick thicknesses is from .025-.035"; too thin will slip the
pins out of alignment, and too think will bind in the keyway. The most useful
pick is probably the curved variety, although straight picks have their uses...

Cut the metal on a grinding wheel, dipping it in water quite often. Take care
not to burn the metal. For the curved variety you want a slight upward curve
in the end of the pick. Do not make a gradual upswing, rather a slight, sudden
upward curve directly at the end of the tool.

The other important tool is the tension tool. This is in every way as important
as the pick(s) and must fit the job or it too will bind.

Tension bars can be constructed from the same clock/spring steel. Bend the tool
into the classic "L" shape near the end. Also make several sizes and thick-
nesses of tension tools.

Picking:
--------
(about time, eh?)
Picking locks requires two intrinsic items: A pick and a tension tool. The pick
is a thin tool cut from spring steel which ends in a slight upward curve, or a
number of other tip shapes ranging from diamonds to balls and squares. The pick
is used to raise each pin to its shear line. The most popular pick is probably
the curved pick, although you should have a variety of alternatives on hand.
There are many sets on the market containing anywhere from 5 to 200 picks and
tension tools in some sort of carrying case.

The tension tool is an "L" shaped (usually double ended) piece of spring steel.
The tension tool is inserted into the core of the lock and turned slightly in
the direction that the lock opens. This tension is maintained throughout the
picking operation (a small lead weight attached the the handle of the tool may
do this job for you and free a hand to hold a flashlight, etc). As the pins are
raised to their shear line the tension you are exerting will prevent them from
falling back down into the core.

Locks that use regular, smooth pins are the easiest to pick, and are the best
to learn with. Modern Yale, Corbin, etc., are usually equipped with special
pins to make picking a more exacting operation. It is quite essential that one
learn to pick on a smooth pinned lock before attempting the challenge of an
anti-pick lock. So...try and choose a cheaper, older lock to begin with.
(Kwikset locks are quite easy.)

Place the end of your tension tool into the keyway in such a fashion that it
does not block your access to the pins. Most locks will take the tension tool
at the bottom of the keyway best; however it makes little difference to the
lock, or for that matter, to me, where you place the tool.

Exert a medium tension on the tool on the direction you suspect the lock turns.

Take your curved pick and insert it into the lock directly under the first pin.
Now, while maintaining the tension, push the pin up into the lock.

While still maintaining the tension, remove the pick. If the pin is picked the
top (or driver) pin will remain up in the lock itself, freeing the shear line.
The bottom pin may fall back down into the core, but if done correctly, the top
pin will wedge against the edge of the core (because you are turning it
slightly with the tension tool) and remain up.

Now move on to the second pin and while maintaining tension (so the first pin
will remain caught) carefully move the second pin up into the lock; of course,
you are being careful not to dislodge the first pin by a clumsy motion. You are
being careful, aren't you?

Good.

Now about this time you may discover that some of the pins slide right back
down without binding as you've come to expect from my clever instructions. You
must realize that some of the pins will be thicker than others (either on
purpose or due to uneven wear factors). This means that the thin(ner) pins will
slide back into the core while the thicker pins remain picked.

To overcome this little problem one simply picks all the thick pins first and
then goes back and attepts the thin ones. As each each pin is picked, the core
turns a bit more and as it turns the thinner pins will bind against the edge.
Soooo....go through the lock, picking all that will, and then go back and work
the more difficult buggers.

It really makes no difference if you pick from front to back or skip around,
choose the method that best matches your personality. An agent should be at
harmony with himself at all times.

As you push a pin up into the lock and it falls down, you must decide if
gravity is the cause or if the pin is being pushed by the spring. If the latter
is the case, it is, of course, not picked.

Fat pins will be harder to push up, but they will stay picked. Thin pins go up
easily and come back down easily. One may have to pick thin pins several times
before success shines its bleary eye on you.

Raking:
-------
Once you have mastered the art of picking you are ready for bigger and better
things. This next method is especially nice if you're in a hurry, or say,
you've picked up this little fox in the local singles bar and you've brought
her along on this big secret mission to impress her.

Now she has this low-cut thing on and you're a bit nervous, right? Maybe you
don't trust your hands too well, so you decide to try the rake.

Rake, I said rake. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Insert the tension tool.Now select your pick (I prefer the rake pick, but the
circle, or even curved, will suffice) and push it into the lock as far as
possible (so it is resting under ALL the pins at one time.)

Now bring the pick up until you feel it start to push up the pins, and then
draw it towards you rapidly, watching to see that it comes in contact with
every pin on the way out.

Always keep your tension on the core, and repeat this maneuver several times in
quick succesion. You may have to adjust the height of the pick as well as the
turning tension as you work. Start with a medium pressure on the tension tool,
then try light, then hard.

If the lock fails to open, then remove and try again.
In raking you are still performing the same function as in individual picking-
i.e. you are raising the pins to the shear line. Of course, you are doing it
faster than you could with each separate pin.
As you rake the tight pins will pick first and then the loose pins as the core
turns ever so little, just as in single picking. With any luck you should be
able to open the lock in 5 or 6 rakes.

This method will open many locks in a matter of seconds.

Stay tuned for more fun spy files from Eric The Red.



================================
= The Science of Opening Safes =
=       by Eric The Red        =
=  Tiger's Lair (206)874-4115  =
================================

Safes:
------
Once the determined agent gains successful entry to the premises, he may find
that some no good son-of-a-bitch has not only placed the necessary target in a
locked and alarmed building, but has also employed a safe to help insure the
virginity of the target materials.

A good agent will be prepared for such an eventuality by being armed with one
or more possible opening methods, and necessary implements.

Success often depends on the degree of security offered, coupled with the age
and make of the safe.

Safes come in a wide variety of sizes and applications. One can encounter wall,
floor, or vault models of varying thickness and offering a wide variety of
resistance to the determined agent.

Most safes have at least one combination mechanism. The combination is
preferred as there are no keys to lose or have copied, and the number of
possible combinations varies from over 1 million to 1 billion, thus making it a
bit time consuming to open one randomly.

The dial is marked with a reference point and a series of numbers. The dial is
connected to the spindle which appears as a skinny metal bar and to the
tumblers (which are connected to the leg bone, leg bone connected....).

The spindle transmits the motion of the dial to the tumblers, which appear as
metal wheels with a cut in one spot. The tumblers are all packed together.
(Do not confuse the tumblers of a safe with the tumblers of a normal lock--they
are entirely different)

When the spindle turns the tumblers, they first all turn together (as each has
a small metal post which hooks the next one). As the dial is stopped at the
first number, that tumbler remains it that position. Then one turns the dial
to the other direction moving all but that tumbler, the next number, and so
on.

When all the correct tumblers are dialed in the slots will be all lined up
directly under the "fence" which falls into the slots allowing the bolt to be
retracted.

Sound Opening:
--------------
Some safes can be opened by sound, much as in the movies, but most that were
manufactured after the mid 60's are not susceptible to the following method:

A high gain amplifier is used. A small, direct-coupled amplifier can be
purchased for about 10 dollars from the various electronic supply houses. A
contact microphone (i.e. one that "hears" vibrations rather than actual sound)
should be employed. BE SURE to use a matching transformer if the impedences do
not match; and in a pinch, a crystal phono cartridge can be employed as a
contact microphone. A stethescope can be used instead of all this, but the
amplifier-microphone combo is much better.

Place the contact mic on the safe, near the dial. Now, turn the dial 5 times to
the left to clear it. Now, turn back towards the right. On the first
revolution, you should hear a distinct click as the cam and lever engage. Read
the number. This will be the opening number, or the last number dialed to open
the safe.

Continue turning to the right. You will hear an additional click during the
next 4 or 5 turns. This indicates how many tumblers you are actually dealing
with. Most safes will have 3, but some will have 4 or 5.

While you are determining the tumber of tumblers, disregard the drop-in click
that occurs at the opening number on each turn.

Our turning the dial to the right 5 turns also performs another duty; it clears
the mechanism. This means that the dial has picked up all the tumblers and is
moving them in rotation with the dial.

After our 5 turns to the right, we move the dial about 10 points BEYOND the
opening number. If the opening number is 15, we would move to 25 and stop. Now
we move back to the exact opening number.

This procedure puts the opening lever and cam in position to open the safe
(although the tumblers are not lined up so it will not open) Now at this point,
you can rock the safe dial back and forth without actually turning it.

This rocking motion causes the lever to click against the tumblers (through
the lever slot). This clicking can be heard by the manipulator in his ear
phones. The whole secret here is the fact that the noise will vary depending
on the number of tumblers the lever is clicking against. (Much like the
difference in hitting 3 notes on a piano at the same time, or just hitting
one.)

Should we have happened to line up one of the tumbles slots under the lever,
the sound will be that of the lever only clicking only two tumblers (as the
lever will fit into the slot of the lined up tumbler, creating no sound).

Each time we time we rock the dial to make the lever-tumbler combination click
we (assuming there was NO difference in sound) move the dial back to the right
where it picks up the tumblers and then we move it about 2 digits past the
last number. Now one moves the dial back to the opening number to realign the
lever-cam slot, and repeats the rocking motion.

When you hear a sound differnce, (indicating that the tumbler slot is lined up)
you turn the dial back to the right until the click indicating the cam has
picked up the tumblers. Now immediately stop and read the number that is lined
up when you hear this click.

This is one of the combination numbers.

Now continue to the right 2 digits past the last try and move the dial back to
the opening number and repeat the procedure. Do this until you have all the
combination numbers.

Now, we know the opening number is the final number, but we dont know what
order the combination numbers are arranged, so you will have to try all 9
(assuming 3 combinations and one opening number) possible variations. One will
open the safe.

Sometimes you will have to move the dial a couple of points beyond the opening
number to get the cam to retract the bolt and open the lock.

Some locks open to the right, i.e.
 R four turns  22
 L three turns 18
 R two turns   46
 L to opening  15
Some will be opposite (L-R-L-R).

Most locks will open no matter which way it is turned, however, a rough
guideline is:

 Sargeant-right
 Diebold-right
 Yale-left
 Mosler-left

This sort of technique will not work on high quality modern safes as they
employ nylon tumblers, sound baffles, and devices to prevent the lever from
touching the tumblers until ready to open. Because of this, the good agent will
have a couple of alternate methods in his repertoire.

Drilling:
---------
A good way to tell where to drill is to place your microphone against the safe
about half way between the handle and the dial. Now shake the handle violently.

This should make the tail piece hit the bolt. Keep it up until you can locate
the point where the noise is loudest, i.e., where the tail piece and bolt come
into actual contact. Drill here.

It makes little difference whether you drill off the tail piece or bolt; either
will open the safe.

It is safer to use a large bit, say one inch, on a powerful drill. This may
require more than one person pushing on the drill...

Use special hardened carbide or diamond points, and always carry 4 or 5 with
you.

Some safes have hardened plates covering the vital areas to discourage those
who would use the method. When you encounter such a plate, press very hard on
the drill and DO NOT ease up, even for a moment, as the will cause the bit to
burn up.

You may have to take your torch (you did bring a torch, didn't you?) and heat
the plate quite hot, let it cool, or throw water on it, drill some more,
reheat, cool, drill, etc. Most hard plates are fairly thin.

Punching:
---------
In this case, we are not referring to what the frustrated agent often resorts
to when the safe fails to open, but rather, a quick method of forced entry. The
agent knocks off dial off with some heavy instrument and punches the spindle
with a center punch and hammer. With a bit of luck, the safe can often be
opened.

However, on many high quality safes, any puching attempt will shatter the
spindle, or cause the bolt to dead-lock. Some safes have a surprise in the form
of tear gas which will be released when punched or burned.

Grinding:
---------
A high speed electric grinder with a carbide wheel may be employed to cut away
the safe wall around the lock mechanism.

Burning:
--------
One of the most popular methods over the years has been the burn job.

This is accomplished with an oxy-acetylene torch. The protecting wall in front
of the dial mechanism is cut away revealing the tumblers which are manipulated
to open the door.

Many modern safes are laminated steel connected to something like copper, which
conducts heat away from the burning area. Also one must consider the
possibility of tear gas releasing at about 130 degrees.

Paper can withstand temperatures up to about 350 degrees.....

Other:
------

Many people feel they must go in via the door as that is the conventional way,
when, in real life, the door may be the protected part of the safe.

Often, turning a safe on its top and attacking the bottom with a sledge or
heavy duty axe may yield opening results. However, this method does lack a bit
in the finesse department.

Peeling is another possibilty: Here one drills a hole in the corner of the door
(thereby missing the anti-drill plate) and inserts a crowbar and peels back the
first layer of te door. This will usually expose the locking mechanism.

One can also drill from the rear, look into the safe, decide if it is worth
opening. As an added bonus, most safes can be opened by turning the dial while
watching the mechanism from the rear and visually aligning the tumblers.

Thermic Lance:
--------------

A thermic lance, or burning bar, will cut through most safes with no noise,
minimum hassle, and have the added advantage of being concealable and simple to
operate.

Call Tiger's Lair (206)874-4115 for the latest in "The Science of..." Series.
