Magnum 2100 Mont Blanc צילינדר מאגנום
Here is a quick look on a new Magnum lock I got – Magnum 2100 Mont Blanc.
This lock has a very good design and some nice features but as with many other locks can be defeated within seconds.
The lock is actually a wafer lock (like vehicles) and has a very narrow key way which is almost impossible to introduce a tension wrench in
צילינדר מאגנום 2100 הינו מנעול מעניין מאוד תהוא עושה מפחיות ודי מזכיר מנעול רכב
The key is a double-sided key and the lock contains 8 wafers and 4 heights .
The middle wafer is an anti drilling one and therefore will not move.
The plug sits within two plastic caps that hold the wafers when the key is not in.
The core of the lock and the anti snapping system (which makes it very difficult to dismantle).
למנעול מנגנון אנטי שבירה
The lock was sent to friends in England and was picked but I don’t think picking is the best solution.
A blank key will do the trick in no time…
My new Locksmith shop חנות המנעולים שלי
Hello all.
I’ve opened my own shop in September so therefore didn’t have much time in my hands for covering locks and picking tools (Don’t worry I still have loads of them to cover.)
http://www.facebook.com/rashbus
However this is my new shop’s Facebook page and some of my articles will move there but I will still be using my blog to cover version stuff.
Feel free to join my FB and although it is in Hebrew the articles and videos will still be in English.
Regards,
Raf
מפתח העיר- שכפול כל סוגי המפתחות ושירותי מנעולנות מתקדמת
רחוב דיזנגוף 147 תל אביב
03-7326655
050-7946111
Magnum Onguard מנעול אופנוע מאגנום אונגארד
Hello all, sorry for not posting in here for a while but I was a bit busy so loads of new locks and tools are will covered in my blog soon.
Here is close lock on a very interesting lock I finally manged to get my hands on- the Magnum onguard which has a very nice key (similar to 2 tracks Kia car ey) but operates in a slightly different way.
The lock is actually a smaller version on the Magnum Millenco sidebar (Already covered in ny blog) but this lock has 2 side bars operates by 8 sliders ,4 on each side and the same as the Superior Millenco has only have 3 heights.
The sliders operates with little springs that are placed underneath them, and as the key goes in they move up and down the key track.
Here is the core of the lock with the 2 sidebars
The core with no key in
And the sheer line of one side
The pins with the key in
This is how the actual pins looks like with heights 1-3
Now picking thislock is not that simple because the sliders sits very close to the plug and a very thin wire is needed, but as you can see the sidebars has a very wide room where they sit so this lock can be easily bypassed with a big screwdriver or such.
Till next time,
Coming soon- defeating the Magnum Millenco in less than 20 seconds!
Champions Mottura
Some time ago I got hold of some very nice Italian locks , as it’s clear to me that Italy must be the locks and keys capital city of the world . Silca which is the best keys cutting products company and any many other companies are from there.
The locks that I got are interesting ,the design and structures are amazing and except for one lock which I found impossible to pick they all have a way to get around.
The first lock I’m going to cover is the Champions Mottura which locks like C-38 from my research .
This is a very well made lock which has everything that a good quality lock needs
A very unique and strong anti snapping mechanism
The key has 5 pins plus a magnetic one.
So all in all the lock seems very promising while I was braking my head on how to make a tension wrench with a magnetic element and the hours of pain that this lock is going to give me I went SPP just feel the lock and 2 mints later that lock was opened..
I do know from other lock pickers friends that once that lock is picked very easy you lose interest and that is a big shame because this lock was very expensive and well made ,however you could expect the manufacture to come up with a better anti picking design and especially with the magnetic pin that seems like a normal pin.
Here’s a short video of picking this lock
More pictures of the plug and pins
P.S
Please excuse the quality of the first pictures and video as I had to use my phone..
Unlocking the world of traveling – Vidtur.com / Or: A new website, hurray!
So today I do not want to talk about locks and lockpicking and all that, but about something slightly different, which is in a way another passion of mine – passion of traveling and holidays! (And I know just how much we need them!)
A close friend of mine (the one who actually helped me with this blog, thank!) has a start up in the travel business and her company just produced tons of videos about cities in the world and some of them are on youtube so here is a link
There is lots of playlists about many cities in the world (some of them in different languages) and I must say I watched quite a lot of them by now, Barcelona seems like a great place, Istanbul isn’t bad either… give the Bangkok clips a look – the German version is fun! (needless to say that all I can say in German is schnell schnell haha). And at any rate – London stays MY number one city in the world. What’s yours??
So guys it would be great if you could take a look, click on them, like them, enjoy them and come back here as I will soon have something new about our usual theme.
cheers
raf
Mul-T-Lock XP
Last week I got the new mul-t -lock XP cylinder from Fooddude of Island forum (thank you mate!) . There was a lot of buzz around this lock and since it had manged to achieve the SS312 Diamond level of accreditation for a lock cylinders I was very curious to see the inside of this lock.
The XP lock is basically an improvement of the Garrison break secure lock that was also introduced by Mul-t-lock.
The lock has a broken secure cut but in a different position right before the 5th pin which is NOT available in the secure side.
It is also contains the “half-moon” anti drilling which I see for the first time in a lock outside of Israel.
The plug has 2 extra anti drilling balls
The plug has only 6 pins (camber number 5 is blocked)
Since every Garrison must have a number 6 pin because it’s the anti drilling pin this leaves us with only 5 power 6 which are 7,776 keys combinations that are not a very good ratio.
The bottom pins are all mushrooms and this lock is very hard to bump and impossible to use a foil picking method with.
The last pin is also anti drilling .
The anti drilling pins
Now all this is very nice but the major issue in the XP is the cam design. The plug doesn’t have C clips- it’s the cam that is actually holding them in place.
The cam designed as 2 pieces with a circle clip holding is together, which means that if the lock is attacked the cam can not break and I can imagine that a lot of strength is needed to pull it out, in other word the other side of the plug must be snapped in order for the cam to release and even then it will cause a lot of mass inside the lock mechanism .
All in all I find this lock to have a very clever design and would definitely do the job, picking this lock however is very easy .
Quick Pin Loader
Last week I had a great visit from 2 English lock pickers Mikey and Orc,it was a great fun and I ‘m still recovering from a hangover..
During that week I got 2 new tools from Sam Lee which is responsible for many great lock picking tools including the Mul-t-lock H&M tool, so when I saw that he made some new tools I didn’t have to think twice and quickly got them.
The first tool is a foil impressioning kit for pin tumbler locks which will be covered at a later stage and a quick pin loader tool.
About a year ago I saw a similar tool from a manufacturer from the USA ,unfortunately I found out that this company doesn’t know how to treat a costumer and had to cancel my order and got it cheaper from another shop even though it was supposed to be cheaper at the manufacturer.
However, the tool that I got had a big false as the springs had to be short and not not stick out of their plug holes so the tool had little use and I gave it away.
Sam Lee’s tool looks great and it will do the job in 30 seconds and it is important to have this aid as a use” in the field” tool in case you need to quickly repin a lock without the comfort and tools that you have in your work shop.
Here is a quick video of using the tool
And of course I’ve already made similar tools for mul-t-lock!
An update:
Here is a video of my friend Shahar using the quick pin loader on a Mul-t-lock Classic
Mul-T-Lock Gamma
Here is a quick look on my most favorite lock that I have in my locks collectors items – Mul-t-lock Gamma still in the box cylinder.
The date on the lock is August 22nd 1979 and it was the very first mul-t-lock cylinder and keys that were ever issued.
The very interesting story behind this lock was never really told outside of Israel but actually Mul-t-lock was a small department in Rav Bariach which are door manufactures in Israel who came up with a revolutionary idea of 4 ways lock. Rav Bariach were a great success and completely changed the doors and locks market in Israel.
The first mul-t-lock was named Gamma and the key had no profile on it, Also the key was shorter and the telescopic pins were made of two parts and not one as we know it today.
The second version of the key was longer since a key protector was also installed in the door and Rav Barich had also came up with a steel door with the 4 ways lock already installed inside.
The first key
The first and second key
Since the lock was so succesful it became a target for an immediate attack which came very fast: since the key had no profile or warding on it ,it was easy to insert a foil in the lock and get the code . This was revealed in a T.V show very similar to” Crime Watch” in the United Kingdom. Rav Bariach already had the new version of classic 06 key and did one of the most brilliant moves she could: came live in the programme and admit that the lock had a fault and promised to replace the lock to the new version for a little extra cash. Thousands over thousands of locks were replaced and the Gamma version was droped . Getting the orignal lock still in the orignal box and in a new condition is impossible ,that’s what makes this lock a real collector’s item.
Assa Abloy finally bought Mul-t-lock and decided not to buy Rav Bariach and made Mul-t-lock a very famous lock brand in the world.
Here are more pictures of this very unique lock
The second version of the lock (still in the box!!!!)
All 3 generations of the key.
The Gamma key code
The Cutaway King
If there’s one thing I truly love more than locks and lock picks it must be cutaway locks.
cutaway locks are locks that have cuts to expose the inner working of the lock & pins and actually enables you to see what’s going on inside the lock. I highly recommend to anyone who wishes to start lock picking to buy at least one cutaway to start with, working on a cutaway is a time saver and will help you understand and progress with lock picking much faster.
I have many many cutaways in my collection, most of them I’ve had to make myself and some are factory made. Most of the lock companies make cutaways to give to their locksmiths as display to put in the their shops, the main problem is that for picking purposes, most of them are not that great to pick as they don’t always show the real inside of the lock.
In my collection there are more than 120 cutaway locks, but the best cutaways I have (and have actually ever seen) are made by a young lad from England named Spence (AKA hintz or FrenchConnectionUK). Spence is already a living legend in most of the lock picking forums for his amazing work, this guy is a true artist and I know that he loves locks very much.
Here are some of Spence’s locks that I have
Mul-t-lock Garrison
MT5+ and Interactive
Mul-t-lock 115
Abloy protec
The most amazing fact is that Spence is not a 60 years old engineer with million pounds worths milling machines but actually a guy in his mid twenties without an impressive machines which makes him a very gifted cutaway maker.
I’ve made many deals with Spence and he’s a top guy… very reliable (and he’s a top expert with wrapping locks , which takes me 20 minutes to actually open his packages…)
Some videos of Spence’s cutaway locks
I have this lock!
Till next time,
Raf
HON 66 Spilt Wafers
Here is a quick look at what is better known as “Spilt Wafers” car door lock .
This is a Honda HON 66 lock which contains Seven spilt wafers and one full wafer in the door lock.
The lock is divided into Axis A & Axis B , on the door lock there are 3 A wafers And 4 B wafers and another full wafers (B5)
The 3 wafers are named A 2, A 3 &A4 the full wafers is B5
The other side is B1-B4
There is total of 6 heights and 12 cuts when cutting the key if I’m not mistaken.
Picking the lock is very awkward as you must pick it twice to open the door and then pick it twice to return to the orignal position. I did see one lock that was caught in the 45 degree position because of what seems to be a worn key (the owner swore it wasn’t picked or played with).
Cutting the HON 66 key is not easy even on the Quattrocode as the key must be measured before.
Lishi 2 in 1 User Guide
Last week I bought what seems to be one of the best purchases I had in ages, it’s the Lishi 2 in 1 user guide.
The book is written by Tony Audsley who made a fantastic and a really extraordinary work with pictures and info of everything you need to know about featuring vehicle looks. This book is also a great aid of understanding the Instacode and how you can check codes.
Latley I had to open a BMW HU58 4 tracks locks and I did felt that lock is picked but I couldn’t turn the lock for the life of me, reading the book made me understand where I went wrong and saved me time to understand it for future jobs.
Since Christmas is just around the corner I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is into vehicle locks as knowledge is key (lol) in this area.
I also got the 3rd generation VW HU66 pick which looks great so far I will try to write more about it soon.
Coming soon is the new mul-t-lock pick and decoder!
Bumping the Magnum Millenco
A relatively new lock is out in the UK ,the Millenco Magnum which is made in Chine.
This lock however is known in Israel for at least a couple of years (it’s named Superior in here).
The lock contains 7 pins and a side bar (which has another 4 pins)
There are only 3 heights to each pins.
I’ve sent a few of those locks to friends in England and the lock was picked but it’s not an easy one,it requires lots of patience and it’s quite tricky to pick.
I tried to foil the lock at first but this method will not work in here, and then I first started thinking of making a bump key to this lock.
My first instinct was of course that it can’t work because of the side bar and the pins shape in the plug but I’m a great believer in trying things . Making the groves for the side pins bump key wasn’t so easy at all but I did take some notice to the VW keys patterns I have and decided to try a few and after 5 blanks (the key material is very strong and will ruin cutters on the dimple cutting machine) I manged to bump this lock!
Here is a video on how it’s done.
Here are 2 videos of picking the lock by Mikey and Dark horse.
And Orc and Bill
Also a there is a very good video made by an English locksmith named Jay from Island locksmith LTD.
I don’t know jay personally but I’ve heard many good things about him and judging from his videos he know his work very well (I can’t put his video in here without a permission so you might want look for Millenco Magnum in YouTube.)
Mul-T-Lock +צילינדר מולטילוק
Mul-T-Lock Israel had changed the Interactive lock structure after some other company issued a similar key that could also be used to open their interactive locks.
מולטילוק ישראל שינתה את מבנה צילינדר האינטרקטיב לאחר שחברה מתחרה הוציאה לשוק מפתח אשר יכול לפתוח את המנעולים הללו.
The Interactive concept is based on a moving components in the key , this means that one pin is actually lower than the first position. In the old Mul-t-locks the part was inside the plug and used to lower the moving pin in the key. with the new design there is an upper pin and the key is different.
Here is the new key near the old key
הנה המפתח החדש מול הישן
The new pin and the back hole
Also the drivers (or body pin) were highly improved ,the edge of the inner pin was cut around in a way it would be caught in the plug pin. This deign plus the new interactive design makes this lock bump proof.
העיצוב החדש מונע כול אפשרות להקפצת המפתח
It is very interesting that only in Israel we have half pins or tabs. As in the rest of the world to my knowledge there are only 4 external plug pins -A B C D and 5 internal plug pins 1 -5 , We have half pin between A to C pins and also from 1 to 4
Here you can see the card (the tabs are under A and C )
Here are the B and C pins near the tab ones which are in black.
And the way they sit in the plug in the right way (those are the tabs)
The wrong pins (not tabs)
The main reason for those pins I suspect is for copy control as it would be very hard to read the key without the card.
Defeating the DOM IX
Last week I was forced to drill a Dom lock on a real lockout. I always feel bad when doing so ,even when sometimes it’s the only option (like glued locks etc.)
I’ve already covered the Dom locks in my blog and they are very hard to pick but possible. The trouble is on a real door when you lose the comfort of your vice and most of the time there’s a lock protector which makes it harder to tension.
I spent a few good hours on finding a better solution to this lock and found out that the foil is the best way. However there might be some problems when using this method.
I have five different locks and three of them pick very easy, one lock will pick but it will be impossible to remove the key after, I suspect the higher cuts( pin number 5) is going far too deep in the foil key , and the last lock will not pick and when I’ve looked more into the lock I’ve discovered that where it should have been pin number one it went all the way to the last pin for some reason. Also with this lock it is better to use pliers as bigger forced is needed.
To overcome those problems I’ve cut a substantial amount of the key and since there isn’t a complex warding the key is working much better now and will go on very smoothly.
Here is a video on how it’s done.
Also here’s a quick look on my new lock training borad I’ve made this week.
Tips on using the Lishi 2 in 1 Picks
Hello all,
Not much time in my hands lately but I was asked by a few friends to share some tips on picking and decoding the HU 101 Ford lock. This lock is harder to pick since it has 10 wafers and 5 different heights and would easily go in a false setting.
However ,I found that there is a way to pick them faster and it is working for me.
Here is a video on the Ford lock
I was also very impressed with the NE72 (Peugeot/Renault)pick and made a short video
A word of a warning if I may , apparently there are fake Lishi picks in the available in the market now and I had a play with one on a Merc HU64, the fake pick did open the lock but is giving the wrong code since the needle is a bit off-balanced and shorter.
Till next time,
Raf
Dom Diamant (Diamond) – The Rolls Royce of Locks?
Here is a quick look of what must be one of the best engineered locks I’ve ever seen – the German Dom Diamant ( Diamond).
This lock was kindly given to me by Inalock from the DBC forum and was delivered by the almighty Mikey from Manchester.
First of all this lock has a very unique key ,which I can’t think of any way you can copy it without the real cutting machine.
The lock contains 10 discs that operates 3 (!) side bars
In the lock that I got one side bar was missing so I had to make a new one.
The side bars are in every 90 degrees of the core but one side is not a side bar but it has a spring attachment to it that prevents the discs from fully turning.
Inside the core you would find the discs with some very interesting spacers that look like four O rings which basically means that when you move one of the discs , the one next to it will move as well.
This is the side bar with the key in.
The discs have false notches in them and they look like the letter B but some are in reverse.
Another unique thing that I learned from this lock is that discs do move when the key is inserted/extracted and unlike the Abloy they are not turned into a certain place which moves the bolt. In here the key immediately opens the lock
I’m still studying this locks but it is a very unique lock and very very well made.
ELF Convention 2011
I was too busy to write lately and not because I am out of locks or ideas ,it’s just that Israel just held the ELF (European locksmith association) in Tel Aviv and a 5 mints walk from my house .
In the convention I was presenting the Lishi 2 in 1 and the VAG & BMW decoders which are made in here. I was very busy in the show which is a good sigh and does make me proud to be able to help other locksmiths and meeting some was a real pleasure.
I was also very lucky to host a real NDE specialist from England ,some of you may know him from the forums as E3locks.
E3 is a true gentleman and a real lock lover and we spent a real great 5 days of picking and drinking beers.
The other guy that worths mention is Steve Gallagher which gave a once in a life time car opening course . There is not enough words to describe how professional and knowledgable this guy is with cars and we also had him over my flat for a few drinks and dinner , Steve had some very funny stories to tell as well.
The are still many stories but I’m still very short of time but my next post is about overlifting and defeating a double sides safe keys! so watch out for this space.
Here are 2 video E3 took of the convention ,the first one is me explaining Steve how the Lishi decoder works ,the other video is on a real car that was hired for the show.
THANK YOU E3 FOR A GREAT TIME!
Using Depth & Space Keys -Part One
Here is a quick look on how to use depth and space keys in order to make keys, I will demonstrate them on VAG keys because they don’t have codes on them and usually they are not that difficult to decode.
VAG group locks has 8 wafers with 4 different heights that are 1 2 3 4 , those keys are used on VW Skoda Audi Seat & Porsche
The number 1 wafer (first to the right) is from a newer lock that has traps inside,when using the VW decoder it will not reveal the true code of that wafer and a software is needed to find it out. Lishi 2 in 1 pick has no problem with this lock.
First thing to know and remember is that there is never a jump from wafer 4 to wafer 1 so wafer 4 can only be followed by 2 or 3 and it’s the same for wafer number 1. The lock will never work properly with this combination.
The D &S keys are 4 keys that are cut to each position and they are double-sided.
This is key No. 1 with four wafers on it ,only the first wafer is at the sheer line.
And this is key No.4
The VAG locks spacing is one up one down and usually found in cars from 1998 to 2002,the other models are two up two down
This is the old type lock
So for a locksmith that has a cut to code machines, making those keys shouldn’t be a problem and even if one or two of the codes are not certain ,you can always cut them deeper, but if you don’t have those machines you would have to use those S&D keys on a dimple laser cutting machine.
So there are two main options ,one is dismantle the lock and the other is to decode it. (see my other sections on how they are decoded ).
If the lock is in your hand ,on the older types of locks you would get numbers on each wafer that will tell you what they are, if not you insert the S&D keys to determine the code.
Here is key No.1 inside the locks and it reveals that wafer No.1 is not in the lock. If you look closely you can see how the tolerance is not so good with wafers No.1 &2 ,even though the wafer is not correct it is still in the sheer line.
Key No. 2
Here is the third key
So basically now the fourth key is not needed as No.4 is all that left
So now that the code is known we can cut this key on the cutting machine ,another good use of the S&D keys is to copy keys to code.
This is a key that we need to know its code
The is key No. 1 and it reveals the positions No. 3 4 5 are number 1 wafers
The second key reveals that positions 1 &2 are wafers number 2
And the third key tells us the positions number 6 7 & 8 are wafers number 3
So now we know that the code for this key is 2 2 1 1 1 3 3 3
To be continued…
A Portable Impressioning Table Station
A few days ago I had to make keys to a very old Subaru vehicle (keys were lost). Impressioning is very easy with those locks so instead of stripping down the lock I made a key by file which took less than 10 minutes,then I had one of those “how come I never thought of this before” moment as I realised that the job could have been much more comfortable with the proper tool .
Impressioning is a must have skill for any locksmith I belive, and I treat this skill as a pure art.I still practice it but I usually gets to do at least 5 keys a week for different locks, however there is a big difference when working in the comfort of your shop or shad than on a real door.
In my new station “table” I’ve made some adjustments:
I use a few different plugs to mark the spacing on the popular locks I’m more likely to come across with.Using this comb or a file I mark down the spacing of the pins.
In here I use this key for a” backwords” impressioning when I have the plug in hand and need to file down a key.
The wood has lanes for the key
Here is a picture on how it sits on my knee
All in all it didn’t take much time to bulid this and I must say I’m quite happy with this table.
Raf's lockpicking world 