Since the dawn of humanity, we have had possessions that needed to be kept safe. From the clubs of cavemen hidden under rocks to the nuclear launch codes protected by virtual encryption, certain things just need to be kept safe! The concept of using locks as safeguards first arose in ancient Assyria, and these were completely handmade and made of strong alloys. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, locks became much more sophisticated and complex.

An Electronic Combination Lock

A Standard Pin and Tumbler Lock
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How Does A Pin and Tumbler Lock Work?

Front View/ Source- flexcut

Side view of a Lock/Source- flexcut

Figure 1

Figure 2

Inside the Lock/ Source- ExplainThatStuff
How to Pick a Pin-and-Tumbler Lock?
Step 1:
This method should work on most Pin-and-Tumbler Locks that people normally use. To start with, you need the right tools for the job. You will require one wrench to apply tension to the lock cylinder and one long pick to actually get the pins of the lock to move. Available in most hardware stores, you can fashion these out of wires lying around your house too. Many people can even do this with a hair clip or something similar, but that’s expert level stuff. Let’s just stick with the easiest one for now, shall we?

Torque Wrench on the Left. Various Pin Pushers on the right/ Source- Crazy Russian
Step 2:
Determine the direction in which the lock is supposed to rotate. You can do this by using the tension wrench. Insert its smaller end into the edge of the slit, exactly where you would insert the key. Turn the wrench to get a feel for which direction is easier to turn. That’s the direction in which the lock is supposed to rotate. Turn the lock’s cylinder in the correct direction and hold it that way.

Torque Wrench used to turn the Tumbler of the Lock
Step 3:
Insert the pick into the upper part of the keyhole and feel the pins. You should be able to feel the force by which the pins are being pushed back down by the spring when you try to push them up. Identify which one is the most difficult to push up. If there is no observable difference in their stiffness, turn the wrench to give the pins even less room to move. You should then be able to identify the hardest pin.

Finding the right pin /Source- artoflockpicking.com
Step 4:
Keep pushing the identified pin up until you hear a faint ‘click’. This means that that it has set with the groove in the cylinder. The upper part of the pin is completely out of the cylinder and is now compressing the spring. The most important part here is keep the torque wrench in place with the two halves of the pin separate; if you loosen your grip, the upper pin will fall back down under the spring’s force.

Misaligned pins to keep the upper pin outside the Tumbler
Step 5:
Work your way around the remaining pins using the same strategy. You might need to adjust the torque on your wrench after each pin ‘sets’ into the groove of the lock’s cylinder. Once all the pins are set, you should be able to turn the cylinder and open the lock! Although, pin-and-tumbler locks aren’t the only locks out there, they have been in use for ages and it seems like they’re going to stay that way. The security level of such a lock depends on various factors, such as the number of pins, the width of the slit and the accuracy of the design. Sometimes, keys are indented on the plain surface to make it even more difficult for instruments to mimic the behavior of actual keys. However, for most locks, once you master this technique, lost keys won’t be a problem for you anymore.