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Simple lock picking is a trade that anyone can learn. However, advanced lock picking is a craft that requires mechanical sensitivity, physical dexterity, visual concentration and analytic thinking. If you strive to excel at lock picking, you will grow in many ways.
Learning how to pull the pick overthe pins is surprisingly difficult. The problem is that the mechanical skillsyou learned early in life involved maintaining a fixed position or fixed pathfor your hands independent of the amount of force required. In lock picking, youmust learn how to apply a fixed force independent of the position of your hand.As you pull the pick out of the lock you want to apply a fixed pressure on thepins. The pick should bounce up and down in the keyway according to theresistance offered by each pin.
To pick a lock you need feedback about the effects of your manipulations. Toget the feedback, you must train yourself to be sensitive to the sound and feelof the pick passing over the pins. This is a mechanical skill that can only belearned with practice. The exercises will help you recognize the importantinformation coming from your fingers.
In order to excel atlock picking, you must train yourself to have a visually reconstructiveimagination. The idea is to use information from all your senses to build apicture of what is happening inside the lock as you pick it. Basically, you wantto project your senses into the lock to receive a full picture of how it isresponding to your manipulations. Once you have learned how to build thispicture, it is easy to choose manipulations that will open the lock.
All your senses provide information about the lock. Touch and sound providethe most information, but the other senses can reveal critical information. Forexample, your nose can tell you whether a lock has been lubricated recently. Asa beginner, you will need to use your eyes for hand-eye coordination, but as youimprove you will find it unnecessary to look at the lock. In fact, it is betterto ignore your eyes and use your sight to build an image of the lock based onthe information you receive from your fingers and ears.
The goal of this mental skill is to acquire a relaxed concentration on thelock. Don't force the concentration. Try to ignore the sensations and thoughtsthat are not related to the lock. Don't try to focus on the lock.
Each lock has its own specialcharacteristics which make picking harder or easier. If you learn to recognizeand exploit the "personality traits" of locks, picking will go much faster.Basically, you want to analyze the feedback you get from a lock to diagnose itspersonality traits and then use your experience to decide on an approach to openthe lock. Chapter 9 discusses a large number of common traits and ways to exploit or overcome them.
People underestimate the analytic skills involved in lock picking. They thinkthat the picking tool opens the lock. To them the torque wrench is a passivetool that just puts the lock under the desired stress. Let me propose anotherway to view the situation. The pick is just running over the pins to getinformation about the lock. Based on an analysis that information the torque isadjusted to make the pins set at the sheer line. It's the torque wrench thatopens the lock.
Varying the torque as the pick moves in and out of the keyway is a generaltrick that can be used to get around several picking problems. For example, ifthe middle pins are set, but the end pins are not, you can increase the torqueas the pick moves over the middle pins. This will reduce the chances ofdisturbing the correctly set pins. If some pin doesn't seem to lift up farenough as the pick passes over it, then try reducing the torque on the nextpass.
The skill of adjusting the torque while the pick is moving requires carefulcoordination between your hands, but as you become better at visualizing theprocess of picking a lock, you will become better at this important skill.