by Enzo » Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:32 am
Part of my lifetime has been spent in the coin operated amusements industry. Every piece of equipment we have has at least one lock on it and as many as a half dozen or more. Keys get damaged, lost, broken, so many times I neeeded to get into something. SO I took a locksmithing course.
I have a set of picks in my tool kit. But the rake was the one I used most often. Why use finesse when a simple motion opens most locks?
The locks in the video are all "pin tumbler" types. A lot of the cheap locks we used in coin-op were "disk tumbler" locks. The tumblers are one piece, not divided. So the technique doesn't work on them. However they are easy enough to pick otherwise.
There are more secure lock styles than the pin tumbler, it is just that pin tumblers are so very common. The pin tumbler is split in two, and the technique relies upon that. Smack the key and the top half of the tunbler hops into space allowing the lock to turn. But there are locks like the "sidebar" lock that GM uses on its cars. Not only do the tumblers have to move up, they must all move up different amounts so a side bar can slip into grooves on their sides. Bumping won't open that.
There are rotating tumbler locks, like the Medeco locks on some coin changers. Tumblers not only must move vertically to open, but they also must rotate within their shaft to allow a little bump to clear a little slot. They all rotate different amounts, so bumping won't open them.
And there are higher tech locks, some with magnetic keys and even electronics sensor keys. So there are secure locks, just the common ones we use everywhere are not.
Locks keep honest people honest, they don't stop crooks.