How To Pick a Lock – When you need a Chicago Locksmith

78 Replies

Chicago

 

When you need a Chicago Locksmith

 

You are heading to the city of Chicago with your family to attend a Chicago Blackhawks game. A 7:05pm start. Fun for the entire family, especially because the Hawks skate away with an overtime win. The game ends at 10pm and you head out to the parking lot where your car is surrounded by hundreds of other cars and you find yourself boxed in. You reach in your pocket… only you can’t seem to find your car keys. You look everywhere and they are nowhere to be found. It seems as though you’ve locked yourself out of your car and can’t get in. Yes, now you see the keys. On the front seat of your car. You think to yourself, how in the heck did I lock the car when the keys are still inside the car? Well, it doesn’t really matter now. You don’t have a spare set of keys and are stranded. Have you ever found yourself in such a situation? What do you do? Well, if you don’t know how to pick a lock, you better think about calling a locksmith. Sure, you can try to use a coat hanger to pull up the door know but most cars don’t have those type of knobs anymore. So, if you find yourself in such a situation, you better call a Chicago Locksmith.

Chicago Locksmith Emergency Services

The right Chicago locksmith will provide emergency services on a 24 hour basis, 7 days a week. Locking yourself out of your car doesn’t always happen between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Now a locksmith can provide many more services besides getting you back in your car and along your way and we will get into those later. In the situation above, a good Chicago locksmith can be on location within 15 minutes to half an hour after your call and will be able to reproduce keys for all makes and models of automobiles. Even in a situation where an ignition is jammed, an auto locksmith should by your first call. You’ll find that many Chicago locksmiths are fully licensed, bonded, and insured for your security and peace of mind.

So in what ways can a Chicago locksmith who specializes in automobiles help you?

Automobile Locksmith Services

  • Lost Car Keys
  • Key Duplication & Replacement
  • Laser Cut Keys
  • Electronic and Transponder Keys
  • Computer Chip Keys
  • VATS Keys

Now obviously locksmith services can help you in other ways besides roadside assistance. For instance many offer residential and commercial services as well. How about simple lock installation? Yes, most locksmiths are more than happy to provide that service. Do you have a property that has just turned over a tenant and you need to have the locks changed? How about getting a security deadbolt lock installed? This is when a  locksmith can help you out. I had a tenant leave an out of state property in the middle of the night with no forwarding address, no keys left behind, and all of the doors locked. The easiest way that I found to resolve this situation was to call a locksmith.

Residential Locksmith Services

  • Locks Re-Keyed
  • Locks Installed
  • Lock Outs
  • Keys Replacement
  • High Security Locks
  • Mailbox Locks Replaced

Now if you own a business, you may at some point want to seek out a commercial locksmith. Most locksmiths will offer auto, residential, and commercial services but it is a good idea to inquire about your specific needs. Whether you work for a school, own a restaurant, are a unit in a mall, have a factory or warehouse, own or are part of an office building, maintain an apartment complex, a commercial locksmith may be just what you are looking for. When my college roommate lost our one and only mailbox key, a commercial locksmith was called.

Commercial Locksmith Services

  • Fireproof Safes
  • Money Drop Safes
  • Mail Boxes
  • CCTV
  • Doors
  • Master Key Systems
  • Alarm Locks
  • Push Bars
  • Cabinet Locks

Now there are some cases when you have the time and can find alternative ways to get into those pesky locks. Yes, we even show you how to pick a lock within this website. Take the time and you will learn about bump keys and other ways in which you can gain access into a car, house, bike lock, etc… However most people find themselves in circumstances where they don’t want to wait to get into their car, house, office desk, etc…. Like the time where my neighbor left the house to get the mail, shut the door behind her, only to realize the door locked behind her and her baby could be seen through the window. That is when you need a Chicago locksmith. In fact that is the time when you need emergency services that locksmiths are known for. Some but not all Chicago locksmiths will make what they call skeleton keys which can help you get into an older curio cabinet, rolltop desk, gates, an old trunk and more.

So whether you are an individual who has found themselves locked out of the car as you are staring at man’s best friend, a business owner who broke her key inside the lock as she tried to hurriedly get in for months end closing on a Saturday, or you would just love to see what is in that trunk that has not been opened since your grandparents passed, a Chicago locksmith can be your best friend.

How To Pick A Master Lock

Leave a reply

Learning how to pick a master lock is going to take some time. Some locksmiths even have a difficult time doing this and they are experienced. Clearly people do this because they are forgetful and constantly forget their keys.
First you will need to get yourself some tools to do this job. You can pick a lock using items that you can find around in any home. But sometimes it is best to use something a bit better and buy a lock picking kit, owning one of these you can cut the time down to pick a lock dramatically.

As well some locksmiths use a picking gun which vibrates the tumbler pins in order to get them to move quickly. Honestly you probably will not need one of these picking guns unless you are a locksmith and owning one could get you into trouble in the future if you were caught picking a lock when you shouldn’t have.

If you should not happen to own one of these kits all you really need is a piece of metal shaped like an L and a small piece of metal, most people use a bent paperclip to do the job. Now some others can get away with using a torsion wrench to do the job. Regardless the idea is to use a flat piece of metal that you can use like a blank key and a pin that will act to suppress the tumblers in the lock.

Many locks are just made up of a tumbler and a cylinder. The tumbler has small pins that get pushed back from the key. The point of using a pin is to push those same small pins so that you can move the lock. It really is very simple but effective, but because it is so simple once you understand the principle behind it then you can pick just about any lock.

The construction of a master lock is pretty much the same as any other lock. That is why the method to pick it is the same as picking any lock you would find on a doorknob. The construction of a master lock however is stronger then what you would find in a doorknob. This makes it harder for any thief to forcefully open your lock. It takes some finesse and care to pick one of these locks; this can be done quite easily by any trained locksmith.

A deadbolt master lock will take a lot of time to break through. The fact that there is no knob and just a double cylinder makes it far harder because the construction is sturdier and solid. As well deadbolts are known to take thieves more time that is why people buy them in the first place.

Learning how to pick a master lock takes time even for the best of us.

Use your new-found skills in an ethical manner.

How To Pick A Lock: Basics

27 Replies

There are times when it is really helpful to know how to pick a lock. For instance what happens if you should get locked out of your own home? That would be an ideal time to know this skill so that you can get into your house and seek the safety it provides.

Some believe that the only people who learn this skill are either burglars or locksmiths. That simply is not the case; there are many times when you can use this skill in your life. As well, picking a lock is just not that hard, unless, of course, you run into a specialized lock that is designed to prevent lock picking.

Most locks are based around a pin and tumbler design. This design comprises at least 90 percent of the locks you can find in your home or office. Knowing the principles behind how the design works will make it easier for you to pick it.

Having a pin or safety clip can help to pick locks. A tension wrench would help as well. These are the basic tools you need to get a lock opened. Some people can pick any lock with just items lying around outside, or, with tools found in the home.

Now the actual mechanics of how to pick a lock involves inserting the pin/paper clip so that the cylinder can turn and, therefore, move the bar which holds the door closed. Moving the cylinder is what you are mostly trying to do. There are many ways to do this, but the best way is to move the pins so the cylinder can move and you can turn the lock.

The way the lock turns determines which way to unlock your door. There are some signs of this on the door so that may be easy to determine. For instance if there is a lot of wear on one side then most likely the lock turns that way, seems like an obvious point, but sometimes people miss this.

This skill does take some practice to master. Even the most experienced locksmiths can sometimes take a while to get it right. The proper application of force and the movement of the pins are crucial to opening the lock. If you could get an L shaped piece of metal to go in the key slot before you place the pins into the chamber, this would help make the task that much easier.

There are some kits that you can buy, and you don’t even have to have a locksmith’s license to use.

Knowing how to pick a lock can come in handy for many times in your life. If you should forget your keys in the morning rush to get to work this skill can be a lifesaver. As well there are some people who always forget their keys for some reason or another; if that is you then this skill would eliminate a lot of hassle.

Lock Picking

31 Replies

I’m 16 years old and I ride my bike to school each day during the summer as I’m taking driver education classes. I come out on a particularly hot day in the midwest and find my lock on the ground and my bicycle gone. No, the lock was not cut or snapped in some way, it was picked. Lock picking at its best and the prize was my bike.

Lock Picking Expert

I’m 18 years old and work at the local bowling alley. After a few hour shift I am happy to head home. Only my car is not in the parking lot. I walk around with security and sure enough, the car is gone. A short while later the police come to take my statement. Even though my 1976 Mercury Comet was locked, the police said that the lock was most likely picked, the ignition broken, and the car driven away in a matter of about 3 minutes. A lock picking expert made his way off with my pride and joy.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago and my brother and I were rehabbing homes. We were in the middle of a rehab and the property was full of our tools. Tile saw, miter saw, table saw, jigsaw, drills, wrenches, sockets, etc… Burglar breaks into the house in the middle of the night and the police are called. Police said the lock was picked as the locks were brand new and there were only two sets of keys.

Sometimes it gets to a point where you say enough is enough. Maybe it is the one or two times you lock the keys in your own car and need to find a way to get in or the fact that you’ve had your belongings taken when you thought that everything is locked up. So whether you want to protect yourself from lock picking or learn the fine art, I recommend checking out The Lock Pickers Bible.
Lock Picking

The Lock Pickers Bible

Here is why I recommend The Lock Pickers Bible. Are you familiar with bump keys and how within sometimes seconds a potential thief can break into your home? Would you like to know how to pick a car lock? How about learning where to legally buy specialized tools to do the work for you.

  • The basic principles of how locks work
  • How a basic pin tumbler lock works
  • How to pick a pin tumbler lock using traditional picks, raking and scrubbing
  • How lever locks work
  • How to pick a high security lever lock
  • How to pick padlocks (combination, lever, pin tumbler)
  • How bump keys work
  • Where to legally buy bump keys
  • How tubular locks work
  • How to pick tubular locks
  • How to pick car locks
  • How to open cars without keys (bypass techniques)
  • How skeleton keys work
  • Where to legally buy lock pick tools (no questions asked)
  • Plus lots more…

All of this is explained in well-organized sections, each with color photos, diagrams, and videos.

The bottom line is that everyone wants to feel secure while keeping our families safe from lock pickers. If you’ve ever been in that situation before where you feel fear due to someone breaking in to steal your possessions or worse yet threatening your life, I highly recommend The Lock Pickers Bible.

 

How To Pick A Lock For Beginners

Leave a reply

Video: How To Pick A Lock For Beginners

 

How To Pick A Lock For Beginners
I am going to show you how to lock a file cabinet without a key, and then how to pick the lock using the same tools and the reverse method.

To pick a lock you are going to need a paperclip or bobby pin. If the bobby pin has a plastic tip on the end you will need to remove it. You also need something for leverage that can be inserted into the lock. A Uniball pen had the perfect pen clip to use for this.

For your paperclip or bobby pin, you need to bend the tip at a little angle. These instructions are for a file cabinet but they work for most locks.

Insert the pen clip lever into the lock and lever it towards the top of the lock at the opposite side of the gold pins in the lock. You can look in the lock and see the little gold pins. My gold pins are on the bottom so I want to put the lever on the top and push up with it, keeping leverage while I’m picking with my paperclip. As I’m pushing up with my pin clip, I’m going to take my paperclip and put it below the lever and above the gold pins and start raking it back and forth. Because the objective of this is to push down all the gold pins that your key usually pushes down and open up whatever you are trying to open.

Keep on pushing with the paper clip and sometimes you can look to see which gold pins still need to be moved; sometimes there is one in the back. You can change the angle on your paper clip and get the ones in the back without touching the front ones that have already been pushed down.

That took only 50 seconds but be patient because it can take about 3 minutes.

Now, just do the reverse. Put the lever at the bottom of the lock this time and rake your paperclip along the top to drop down the gold pins that you previously pushed up.

That’s it!

Bump Keys In The News

43 Replies

Why Are Bump Keys In The News?

A bump key or bump keys gets their name because you bump the key and the door opens.

One locksmiths frightening discovery that allows thieves to easily unlock.
Deadbolt locks. Most of us have them in our homes in order to provide extra security, however a Bay area locksmith is now speaking up on an alarming new trend which enables thieves to easily bust a deadbolt. Its called bumping.

Locksmith Dennis McEntire is demonstrating how someone can unlock or bump a deadbolt by using a common key. A bump key is basically taking an ordinary key, converting it, and that key will then open any lock that it fits into. Any lock? You can open probably the majority of the locks in America. Locks that can be found in most common hardware stores, including the big box stores. Like that.

That disturbing fact has inspired Dennis to warn others. And now it is unlocked. However some locksmiths prefer to keep their lips locked on the subject. Like I said I don’t want to talk about the bump key. I’m not feeding the information highway out there that is gonna just go out and do bad things with it. That’s stupid. Debbie may not want to speak up, however I found one site on the internet that has several videos on how to make a bump key, passing along the information to the public.

So if the information is already out there, what can be done? First off, Dennis says the public needs to know about the problem. My goal here is, I don’t want to show people how to make a key, I’m not including instructions how to do that. Its basically that I want to show the vulnerabilities out there. And Dennis says, most importantly, high security locks sold by locksmiths is the best way to beat bumping. I have this little assortment here of other locks that are not bumpable.

Stop The Bump KeyStop Bump Key

 

 

Master Lock DSNRN0605BOX Nightwatch Deadbolt With Bump Stop Cylinder, Antique Brass Finish

How To Pick Any Padlock Or Combination Lock

Leave a reply

Forgot the key or combination to your lock again? No worries. We’re going to help you pick that padlock without breaking it.

You will need: A razor or box cutter. An aluminum can. A marker. Scissors. And a cylindrical object the size of your padlock shackle.

  • Step 1: Using a straight edge razor, carefully cut the top and bottom off an aluminum soda can.
  • Step 2: Cut the can from top to bottom using the scissors and then fold the aluminum down so that you have a flat sheet. Trim the edges so they are straight.
  • Step 3: Using the marker, draw rectangles on the \silver side of the aluminum sheet that are 1.5 x 2.5 inches and cut one of them out.
  • Step 4: Take one of the strips, draw a vertical center line across the middle and mark the strip horizontally in 4 equal sections.
  • Step 5: Draw an M whose top reaches the halfway point of the middle line and whose sides are about a quarter of the way in on each side but instead of the center of the M looking like a V, round the bottom so it looks like a U.
  • Step 6: Using scissors, cut out the M with the rounded middle tip that you drew. Fold the top quarter down to the middle of the rectangle and the two legs of the M up from the bottom so they cover the piece of the metal that you just folded down.
  • Step 7: Find something the approximate circumference of your padlock shackle, like a pen or a marker and wrap the shim, the U shape around it. Shaping it to fit into the narrow space between the shackle and the lock, fold back the wings.
  • Step 8: Using the wings as handles, wrap the cylinder part of the lock pick around the shackle and insert the curved part in the space between the lock and shackle. Maneuver it around until the lock pops.

    • Working with sharp objects and cut aluminum is dangerous. Use extreme caution.

    Did you know? There are lock picking clubs all over the world devoted to the hobby of picking locks for sport.

    How To Pick A Lock

    Leave a reply

    Lock yourself out of the house? Most common pin and tumble locks can be picked with a little luck and finesse, so before you call a locksmith, try this. You will need:

    A paper clip or safety pin and a tension wrench.
    Optional, a second paper clip.

  • Step 1. Get a paper click or safety pin and bend it straight. Now make a slight upwards bend at the very end. You can buy a professional lock pick set at a hardware store. There is a basic size intended for American Locks.
  • Step 2: Insert your wrench into the lower part of the key hole. That is the side opposite the one where the keys teeth would go in.
  • Step 3: Figure out which way the lock needs to be turned to open by turning the wrench clockwise and then counterclockwise. You’ll feel which way has more give.
  • Step 4: Turn the lock the correct way with the wrench. Putting slight pressure on it. HOld the wrench in place.
  • Step 5: While keeping pressure on the lock, insert the paperclip into the top part of the keyhole.
  • Step 6: Feel around the keyhole with the paperclip until you locate the pins. If you are picking a common door lock there will most likely be five of them in a row. Before you start, many experts suggest raking the lock. Straighten your second paper clip, put a few bends at the wires end and then with no pressure on your wrench, shove it to the back of the lock. Now pull it out quickly, pressing against the top of the lock while gently turning your wrench. You might just set a pin or two that way.
  • Step 7: Now for the actual picking. One at a time. Push each pin up with the paperclip. Try to feel for the moment when the pin reaches its unlock position. You should feel a slight give or even hear a faint click. Start with the pin furthest away from you and then move on to the next.
  • Step 8: As you go, apply slightly more pressure with the wrench until you have all the pins lifted up.
  • Step 9: Now turn the wrench fully. Voila. The lock will pop open.

    • Only pick your own locks or you could wind up in a lot of trouble.

    Did you know that wooden locks were used as far back as 4000 years ago in ancient Egypt?