Cut-Away locks - Perfect to see what happens inside a lock!
A cut-away lock is probably the best learning tool someone beginning in the Lock Picking business can use. It can even be used by professionals for advanced locks and to learn the exact feedback a lock will give.
Cut-away Locks are extremely practical for a beginner. You can listen and "feel" the lock exactly as the pin you are lifting hits the shear line, the line at which the plug will rotate. You can learn exactly the feedback you are getting with spool or serrated pins as well. It's a fact that cut-away locks will speed your learning significantly.
Example of a Cut Away Practice Lock
We offer the best selection of cut-away locks currently available anywhere, and at very good prices, in our practice lock section. Choose from key-in-knob style locks (which make up about 80-90% of the locks you will encounter in the real world as they are used in virtually every deadbolt and keyed knob or lever you're likely to run across), or cut away padlocks and mortise cylinders (the type of lock found on many glass commercial storefront doors). We even offer a fine cut away tubular lock, made by LearnLocks.
The purpose of a cut away lock is easy to grasp. If you are just beginning as a lock picker, you probably are not certain what goes on inside a lock when a key is inserted, or when a pick is used. It can be described, and you can find books with illustrations, but these do not help you get real time feedback as you attempt to work on the lock. For beginners, cut away locks give a clear view of the pins and springs inside the lock, where all the action takes place. You can feel AND see what you are doing, as you are doing it. Quickly you will build reflexes that come from the feedback the lock gives you, as well as the visual stimulation of seeing and understanding what happens as you move the tool around in the cylinder.
Once you have gained a good degree of picking talent, you will likely put the cut away lock aside, or use it without having to watch it. For this reason, you really need only one or maybe two cut aways -- save your money and buy a set of standard practice locks as soon as you have developed some skill at lockpicking. Better yet, invest in a super cool EZ-ReKey Practice Lock (these are also available in a cut away version!). One Practice Lock will take the place of literally THOUSANDS because you can pin it up any way you want, over and over and over, to make it as easy or as challenging as you like. Take a look here, at our EZ Cut-Away locks.