I recently picked up a retired, surplus transit card reader after getting excited about seeing one person turn it into a fortune teller and another into a Tamagotchi. The mounting plate (sandwiches the two halves onto a pole when in use) arrived detached with no key for the lock, and it's the tightest keyway I now own

I can get a 0.16" short hook in at an angle and a 0.32" in bok, but there's little to no feedback from tension and the 5 pins are a bit mushy like my 1100

Any idea what I'm looking at here?

Just know you can use a small (in my case 7mm) socket. I was not planning on attempting disassembly quite yet...

And ended up repinning 3 locks in my sesh. I got into one I suspected had a spring caught between the plug and lock body, to find it was also missing pins. I was curious why it picked so easily. Then I added a 5th pin with 2 security pins to my sparrows 4pin, and made sure the key still worked. There was a bit of trial and error getting the tension correct when tightening the keeper nut, but now it's buttery smooth

Hey everyone!
I’ve recently become interested in lockpicking after watching quite a few videos, and I’d really like to give it a try myself.
I’m completely new to locksport, so before buying anything, I thought I’d ask the community for some advice.
I’m looking for a good beginner setup that I can keep using as I improve, rather than buying a cheap kit that I’ll need to replace after a few weeks.
My initial budget is around €50–70, although I’m flexible if spending a little more is actually worth it.
A few questions:
Which brands and pick sets would you recommend for a complete beginner? I’ve come across Multipick and Sparrows so far.
Which tools are actually essential? Are there any I should avoid buying initially?
What padlocks or practice locks would you recommend starting with?
Are there any good places in Europe, preferably Austria, to buy equipment?
Does the community have any lock exchanges, second-hand markets or opportunities to borrow practice locks?
I’m mainly interested in learning how locks work and developing the actual skill, rather than just opening locks as quickly as possible.
I’d appreciate any recommendations or advice!
Thanks in advance!

Pretty stoked to get this around a minute with change. Again, thank you u/Bearly_reddit for this fun one. Aussie mail call completed!

I’m blue

I was wondering if there were any alternatives to law lock tools, since I get a hefty tax added to the price 😬

However, this one is causing me grief, I progressively pinned it. 2 pins fine, 3 pins fine, 4 pins fine but now I have put the 5th pin in.. brick wall!

Slow at work all week, so decided to keep myself occupied by getting back into picking after a 3 month break

I've seen a nice set from Covert Instrument, but it turns out they don't ship to my country. I want to learn lockpicking, but every training set I see is with a transparent lock and a whole kit of different picks, which I probably won't use.

Attempting to turn one of my brinks-40 mm laminated locks into a cutaway lock. Workstation: the bed of my truck and a picnick table. Tools: grinder, hacksaw, files, and sand paper. Ground down and punched out the rivets, bought some 3mm allthread, and I'm cutting away the keyway and body now and plotting how to cut out the lock body layers. Somehow, this is all coming together and seems to be working. 😅 I'm hoping I can cut enough of the body panels so the pins will be visible without it becoming unstable. If not, I've got 3 more for parts to try again. Also, look how cute these terribly made spool pins are! No wonder they rivet these things together to hide the shame! Haha

Haven't opened this one until now!!

Don't have a flag that fits, but a paperclip and two tensioners got it open!

First new open in a while lol