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303 lines
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303 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
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How to make PLT -Professional Lock Tools-
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The making and possessing of lock-opening tools may be regulated by state
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and local laws. Check these before you start. Although all of the
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techniques and materials discussed herein will work, I accept no liability
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whatsoever regarding use of this information.
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The mere insertion of a lockpick in a keyway constitutes "entry" (as in
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"breaking and entering"). Everything you have heard about life in the can
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is true, so if you want to score big, take my advice and run for office
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that's legal!
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-Eddie The Wire
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ TOOLS AND SUPPLIES ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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A. TOOLS
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1. Grinding machine with 1/4" - 3/4" coarse wheel. (A lot of
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metal must be removed in some plt, so a file would be too
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slow and tiring. A cheap alternative is an arbor mounted
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stone chucked in an electric drill.)
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2. 6" - 10" flat mill cut file
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3. Gun blue
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4. Small ruler
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5. Paint masking tape.
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6. Scribe or nail
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B. SUPPLIES
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1. 1/4" Spring steel (The do-it-yourself sewer snakes sold at
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hardware stores work well. It is also pre blued.)
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2. Feeler gauge stock, 1/2" x .025" x 12" and 1/2" x .035" x 12"
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3. Hacksaw blades (1/2" x 12")
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4. Two extra-cheap pin-tumbler rim cylinder locks. (Buy two of
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the same brand.)
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5. And of course, a quiet, well-lighted place to work is good.
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Also, any hand tools you may have will make the work that much easier. The
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above should be considered the bare minimum. Let me emphasize that the
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purchase of a small bench grinder may involve a medium expense, but is is
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well worth it in time saved.
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Your basic set of PLT will consist of one diamond, two lifters, and two
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tension wrenches, This will allow you to work 90% of the locks you
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encounter.
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ BEGINNING MEASUREMENTS ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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Several measurements are necessary to size the PLT to a particular lock,
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and also to you own opening technique. First (alpha) measure the distance
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from the key stop (the part of the key that butts against the lock face
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and prevents further insertion) to the exact bottom of the farthest pin
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cut, as shown in figure 1. Next (beta) measure the distance between two
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adjacent pin cuts. Finally grab a pencil (you should be writing down these
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measurements) and pretend it is a lockpick, holding the eraser end up to a
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lock as you usually hold your lockpick, If you have never used a pick
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before, hold it in your usual pencil grip. Mark the point at which the
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pencil shaft no longer touches any part of your hand, and then measure
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from the eraser to that mark for the gamma measurement.
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³<---total key length-->³
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³ ³
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³ ³
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³ ³<--alpha-->³ ³
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³ ³ ³ ³
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³ ³ beta>³ ³< ³
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³ ÛÛÛÛÛÛ ³ ³ ³ ³
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³ÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÄ/\_/\Ä/\_/\-/\³
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ÛÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ/
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ÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ ROUGH PROFILE BLANKS ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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At this point we begin making rough profile blanks, or RPB. Add one alpha
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dimension, one gamma dimension, and three beta dimensions together. The
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total is the RPB overall length. With luck, it may be less than 4 inches,
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enabling you to cut three RPB from one piece of stock. If you are using
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painted hacksaw blades, fine lines can be scribed directly onto them.
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Plain blades and feeler stock must be blued (with your gun blue) to accept
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layout lines. Your best bet is using the plumers snake if you can find it.
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This stuff is preblued and beats the hell out of hacksaw blades.
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Scribe your RPB length lines and cut them apart by grinding on the face of
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the stock. In any grinding, the heat produced can quickly rise to levels
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hot enough to un-temper the steel. If any part of a PLT becomes un-
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tempered (indicated by a dark blue or straw-colored area), it will easily
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bend at that point and make pin manipulation impossible. Also, no thin
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steel shapes can be retempered by heating and quenching because they will
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warp badly. A burned pick is a ruined one. A good way to keep grinding
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time short is counting to three while grinding. cooling the PLT in cold
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water, and then starting over with the count. As the cross-section gets
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smaller and there is less material to carry excess heat away, only grind
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for a count of one or two before cooling. Having the water immediately
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below the wheel saves a lot of time and motion. Sharp angles and points on
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PLT really heat up fast, so cool frequently. Holding the PLT in bare
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fingers while grinding is another good way to avoid burning (the steel, at
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least).
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ÜÜ ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ
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ÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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sample RPB
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ THE DIAMOND PICK ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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At this point, collect keys for your two sample locks and examine the
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different bitting depths. You are looking for the maximum height
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difference between two adjacent bitting appreciable height difference, but
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occasionally just by chance, there will be nothing but slight differences
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in biting depths. If this happens, examine any keys in your pocket that
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have the same alpha/beta dimensions, looking for an appreciable height
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difference (which we will call a delta dimension). Once you find the
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maximum delta dimension, trace that section of the key directly onto an
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RPG. The object is to duplicate the exact angles and height of that
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selected part of key bitting on the RPB. Remember to keep the bottom of
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the lower of the two bitting depths flush with the top of the shank on the
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tool. When you have traced this, grind to the new outline, taking special
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care not to lessen the delta dimension at all by grinding the top of the
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pick end. Your finished product should look like a diamond. If it has a
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flat spot at the top, grind to eliminate the flat spot, while keeping the
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height the same.
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As you expand beyond a basic PLT set, you may want diamond picks with
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lower height diamonds (delta dimensions). Note: A pick cut to the maximum
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delta dimension can lift a pin to the necessary height without the shank
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of the pick binding and possibly un-picking the lower adjacent pin. A PLT
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with a lower height delta is, however , useful in special situations and
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other makes/models of locks. To produce these smaller PLT, Simply trace
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your maximum delta pick directly onto a RPB, and then continue the process
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shown but past the point that is shown to stop grinding. This will
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effectively lower the diamond to any desired height. Remember to keep the
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angle the same or the pick will not easily slide in under the pins.
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄgrind to eliminate flat
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³
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Successive key cutsÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ> //ÄÄ\
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lower diamond height // / /^\______________________
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ THE LIFTER PICK ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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The working end of a lifter is merely an upswept curve with a small flat
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spot on top to hold the pin. Remember, a diamond is pointed, but a lifter
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has a flat on the top. You can cut these PLT easily by tracing your
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maximum delta profile on a RPB and then making modifications. In this
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re-designing, make sure that the distance from the middle of the flat top
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of the PLT to the beginning of the upsweep is at least as great as the
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beta dimension. If not, the sweep might lift or bind on an adjacent pin.
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Make this PLT in two delta dimensions to complete the pick components of
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the basic PLT set. The smallest delta dimension among your sample keys
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would be a good choice for a second pick size.
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ SNAKE PICKS ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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Besides lifter and diamond profiles of various delta heights, there are
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also half-rounds and multiple-cut PLT (usually called snake picks), Both
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types are useful when "raking" the lock with a diamond fails, and
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"lifting" is too tedious. (To understand this fully, you should have some
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lock-picking theory down, but if you don't just trust me.) Half-round
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profiles are laid out by marking the delta dimensions on a RPB and then
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tracing various curves whose tops are no higher than this delta dimension.
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The base of the arc should be wider than two beta dimensions so that part
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of the curve will lift two or more adjacent pins, unlike diamonds and
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lifters which work only one pin at a time. Since the arc base is wider
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than two beta dimensions a special RPB should be made for this and the
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"snake" PLT. A snake PLT attempts to duplicate a two/three/four pin
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portion of actual key profile, thereby holding up a group of pins
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simultaneously that would require great skill to pick individually. I
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suggest that you not use RPB for these profiles, but instead lay out a
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blank with lines for four beta dimensions as shown:
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<ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄfour beta dimensions
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³ ³ ³ ³
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_____³_³_³_³_______________________________________
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³ /^\_/^\|____________/ ³
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Ä/ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
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Cutting then becomes a matter of selecting a good profile, tracing and
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cutting it out. Notice that you can make up a composite of individual key
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bitting cuts selected and arranged according to any to any pattern by
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marking the depth of cut only, and then connecting the depths with
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straight lines. Just remember to never exceed the delta dimension between
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adjacent cuts, or the PLT will not work smoothly or at all, because of too
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steep angles on the bitting cuts.
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The problem is: What sequence or profile of cuts works best? How many cuts
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should be used, and how deep? since the object is to duplicate key action
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and all keys are different there is no "best" profile for all locks.
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One approach is to cut a profile that works on a sequence difficult to
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open by lifters and diamonds, such as:
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* deep, shallow, deep, medium
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* deep, shallow, deep
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* deep, shallow, medium
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These lift one or two pins high, while lifting adjacent pins only a little
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something lifters cannot do. Experiment also with the following profiles:
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* deep, medium, shallow, deep
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* medium, deep, shallow
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* deep, deep, shallow, medium
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Another concept to try out is half-depth profiles. Keys are usually cut
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according to steps or increments of cut. An average system might have 9 -
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10 steps of key bitting depth, even though not all are present on one key.
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buy cutting one or more of your PLT bitting depths either high or low by
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exactly one-half of this step, you may increase the number of combinations
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the PLT will work. This is especially true of worn or cheap locks with
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loose-fitting parts. The rule here is experiment. Some profiles may not
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open any locks, in which case they can be re-cut to other profiles.
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Usually a "snake" PLT is a last resort, but some can be very valuable.
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ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
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³ TENSION WRENCHES ³
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
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Two tension wrenches are required to complete the basic PLT set. Start by
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cutting off a 6 inch length of .060 - .090 diameter music wire and bend as
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shown
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°
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°
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ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛ
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º
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º
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Now go to the wheel and grind the flats indicated, the object being to
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obtain ends wit rectangular cross-sections. Test for a tight fit as the
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grinding progresses by trying the tool in a keyway. Try also to grind
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another wrench in which the flats have a slight taper getting smaller near
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the tip. This will permit a tight wedge fit and thus increase the feel and
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control of the wrench. Wrenches with a loose keyway fit seem to work
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better with jerking or raking pick procedures . While wrenches with a
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tight fit give more control in lifting pick procedures.
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Or you can use RPB stock to make tension wrenches. The RPB stock is to
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wide for a tension wrench you will need to make it thinner. I usually do
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this after I've put the proper bends on it you can bend it similar to the
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wrench shown above or like this:
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ÉÍÍÍÍÍßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
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º ^ 45ø twist
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Make a 90ø bend 3/4" from the end of the RPB stock put a 45ø twist about
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1/2" from the 90. Now grind it down till it is about 1/8" wide. You need a
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few of these altering only the end to produce different widths.
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This completes the basic PLT set. Using this set you can open 90% of ALL
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the locks you'll encounter.
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