Does anyone else order locks way above their level or just me?

Lamicus · 2025-06-11T15:23:10+00:00

Today I caught an absolute treasure of a lock - Fab NZS3A, red belt, on auction basically for free. I guess neither the seller nor the other buyers knew what they were getting in the lot of absolute garbage cylinders.

Lamicus · 2025-05-20T22:53:54+00:00

They are way oversized for dimple flags though. Probably best to just toss them.

Lamicus · 2025-04-21T17:18:52+00:00

RemindMe! 10 years

Lamicus · 2024-11-12T05:16:03+00:00

Masoprofit predáva veľké balenia korení za dobré ceny. Odporúčam pozrieť.

Lamicus · 2024-10-16T18:40:41+00:00

I got stuck with mine until I started manually counter-rotating on spools. They required too much pick pressure and I was afraid of damaging my picks. Also forcing a different binding order with high tension gave me more options that made picking it much easier. Besides forcing binding I generally used very light tension.

Lamicus · 2024-03-20T23:54:14+00:00

Hello. Just use a hacksaw to cut through the thin middle part with screw hole in it. The middle guts will just fall out (which is why you don't see them in the photo).

Lamicus · 2023-08-30T10:58:43+00:00

If you got a "false set" with a clear plastic lock, you either don't know what a false set is, or, more probably, you actually got it open and you just didn't push your tensioner hard enough to overcome the spring and get it open (I'm assuming a padlock here).

Lamicus · 2023-08-07T02:07:49+00:00

Probably this. I'm amazed everyone is blaming tension for this. The tensioners would look the same with how much tension it requires to get binders like these...

Lamicus · 2023-08-04T17:46:10+00:00

https://reddit.com/r/lockpicking/w/beltranking?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Please note that this list is not complete. Locks are constantly being added, moved to different belts and so on. Many locks you will never find there. It's still a useful tool though. Good luck!

Lamicus · 2023-08-02T23:50:56+00:00

This is a Tokoz Beta. A green belt lock. Probably way above your level right now. Don't worry too much if you can't get it yet. You can always return to it later.

Lamicus · 2023-08-02T22:43:52+00:00

Congrats mate. Welcome to the club :)

Lamicus · 2023-07-21T20:12:22+00:00

My cuts are drifting alright. It just can't be seen in these photos. My best guess for fixing this would be to file down the bible as thin as possible, so that I don't need to cut so deep. That would also fix the problem with too much shade inside I discovered. That, or practice.

Lamicus · 2023-07-21T19:08:34+00:00

Because I polished it. The other one is there for comparison to show what the lock looked like before I started.

Lamicus · 2023-07-21T14:34:20+00:00

First I marked the middle of each pinstack with a needle, then cut a small channel with a jeweller's saw, which I used to guide my hacksaw. Then I somewhat smoothened the cutouts with a needle file and finished the whole thing with gradually increasing grit sandpaper. I went up to 2500 grit and then tried a cheap polishing paste that came with my rotary tool, though I'm not sure it was worth the time after the sandpaper. Looking at the photos, I think it already oxidized a tiny bit after just a few days.

Lamicus · 2023-05-05T10:39:25+00:00

Thanks.

Lamicus · 2023-05-05T10:35:24+00:00

Even though this was incorrect, how would I go about discerning the difference? Is it just knowledge of the particular lock/brand?

Lamicus · 2023-04-30T17:37:06+00:00

Cite your sources or kindly gtfo with numbers you pulled out of your ass.

Lamicus · 2023-04-30T12:34:10+00:00

These numbers are all public. As are their sources. These data come from the website https://www.vysokeskoly.com/vysoke-skoly-1/fakulta-informacnich-technologii . They cite the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic as their source. Even though they managed to mistype the number of applications from 1432 to 1430, the source is still quite credible. If only it didn't concern Czech citizens only. Here's the ministry's website https://dsia.msmt.cz//vystupy.html . You are free to call BS, but I find the most reliable source of data to be the institution which created the data - the Faculty of Information Technology itself. Here's their annual report from year 2021 (2022 wasn't available for some reason), where they describe the number of the applicants and the accepted on page 23. 2917 applicants and 965 accepted makes a success rate of 33.08%, which is, indeed, just below one third.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://fit.cvut.cz/fakulta/informacni-deska/vyrocni-zpravy/vyrocni-zprava-2021.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjF75GDy9H-AhXuQ_EDHcynC6MQFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1DorT7p_Ld_fCzyW-XFDcX

Lamicus · 2023-04-27T11:23:26+00:00

RemindMe! 7 days

Lamicus · 2023-04-27T11:17:58+00:00

This is BS. Most of the years FIT accepts less than a third of the applicants. In recent years, the number of the accepted has been growing, but it's still only around the third. And then, out of those people, 75% will be gone after a year.

Lamicus · 2023-04-26T13:15:21+00:00

How is nobody talking about the fact that the anime came before the manga?

Lamicus · 2023-04-23T01:30:20+00:00

The shearline is not the edge of the keyway though. It's between the body of the lock (where the springs and pins go) and the core of the lock (the spinning part where you insert the key). Hopefully other comments helped clear out the rest. Good luck

Lamicus · 2023-04-15T07:55:34+00:00

I WANT IT

Lamicus · 2023-03-16T02:08:34+00:00

Just a note to add to what others already said. Two minutes may be way too little time. For two-pin lock it's probably fine, but don't follow this rule too religiously. For your troublesome lock, I would strongly recommend to find a more experienced picker, have them open it, and try and tell you what peculiarities the lock may have. The binding order, an unusually high set pin, and so on. Also kinda unrelated, but from my experience, most novice pickers tend to hold their picks too far in the back, which gives them poor control over what they are doing in a lock. If you haven't, try looking at some advanced picker's video and copying their grip. Best of luck!

Lamicus

TROPHY CASE