The Lockpicking Lawyer presents a video showcasing a series of events that began about six months ago when Shane from the YouTube channel "Stuff Made Here" posted a video of an unpickable lock. The Lockpicking Lawyer accepted the challenge and was provided with the original lock and a redesigned second one.
The lawyer explains that the original lock was designed to lift the upper pins upon key insertion, lock them in place, rotate them until they're in contact with a fin, and then drop them into their gates. The upper pins are no longer in contact with the key pins when they encounter the fins, making it unpickable in theory. The lawyer describes a method to pick this lock by lifting all of the upper pins, locking them in place, rotating them until they're in contact with the fin, and then dropping them into their gates.
The second lock is more complex, having two cores attached with an internal connecting rod. The lock is unpickable because when the upper core is turned, the bottom core is offset by about 45 degrees, preventing the lock from being tensioned. The lawyer explains a method to get around this by inserting a thin piece of metal between the door and the lock housing, sliding it up until it's over the upper core, and then pulling down to tension the upper core.
The lawyer also identifies two potential vulnerabilities in the second lock. The first arises from the core rotating 45 degrees in either direction until it seizes up, and the tail piece being misclocked by about 45 degrees. The second vulnerability is decoding, which can be done as all of the upper driver pins are the same length, allowing a tool to lift all the pin stacks to the stopping point, fully compressing the springs. This indirect way of measuring the key pins would allow for a key to be cut.
The lawyer demonstrates these methods on both locks in a garage setting, with the door and frame secured to his workbench. The lawyer concludes by briefly addressing how to fix each of the exploits demonstrated, despite the fact that Shane had already precision machined a back cover to protect the lock's design. The lawyer thanks Shane for his work on the locks and encourages viewers to subscribe and comment on similar videos.
1. The speaker is a lockpicking lawyer.
2. The video is the culmination of a series of events that started six months ago.
3. Shane, the YouTuber, posted a video of an unpickable lock and challenged the speaker to open it.
4. The lock is made of two locks with no internal resemblance to each other.
5. The speaker found a few minor oversights in Shane's design that could be fixed with little effort.
6. The first lock has a mechanism where pins lift and rotate until they're in contact with a fin.
7. The second lock is more complex and has two cores attached with an internal connecting rod.
8. The method to open the locks involves lifting the upper pins, locking them in place, rotating them until they're in contact with the fin, and then dropping them down until they fall into their gates.
9. The second lock has a vulnerability that arises from the core rotating 45 degrees in either direction until it seizes.
10. The speaker is going to try to get around this by inserting a thin piece of metal between the door and the lock housing, then sliding it up until we're over the upper core and then pulling down which should tension the upper core.
11. The speaker has discovered two other potential vulnerabilities: the rotation of the core and the decoding of the pins.
12. The speaker has found a way to tension the lock while the door is locked by turning the core as far as it will go to disengage the anti-retraction mechanism.
13. The speaker has attempted to slip a tool between the door and the housing to tension the upper core.
14. The speaker has attempted to pick the lock using a pick and a mallet.
15. The speaker has attempted to fix the exploits demonstrated by lifting the pins to their highest position and tapping on the housing with the mallet.
16. The speaker has attempted to fix the exploits by decreasing the angle of the fins for the first lock and modifying the moving tail piece for the second lock.
17. The speaker has found a way to fix the picking exploit and deny access to the back of the lock.
18. The speaker has found a way to fix the vulnerability of the second lock by re-clocking the cutout by about 45 degrees.
19. Shane has precision machined a back cover to fix the picking exploit and deny access to the back of the lock.
20. The speaker has thanked Shane for the excellent work on the locks.