locksport and the people who love it

This is a placeholder page to represent my abiding interest in locks. :) Locksport is a wonderful hobby with so many facets: collecting, learning to pick, varied lock patents, history, tool fabrication, engineering tradeoffs, supply chains, etc.

Did you have a starter kit? Here's the guide to the pieces.

Projects!

Photo of Master Lock Speed Dial Screenshot of mh's visualizer

Master Lock Speed Dial/Knollan Saly Dance locks are very cool. Check out mh's detailed paper (PDF) on their inner workings, and use the fork of mh's visualizer for interactive exploration. For even more, see mh's paper release announcement and all ToooL NL publications.

If you're trying to get your lock open:

I'd test and see if it's a factory code first. Blank Registration made a worksheet for factory code Speed Dials (Google Doc), and a companion video showing how to use it. It'll take <10 minutes to check if it's a factory code.

If it's not a factory code, try using a couple experimental decoding wizards:

Drawing of crankshaft lock mechanism

Yehonatan Knoll, the inventor of the previous lock, has also proposed a pick-resistant wafer lock (PDF, short video), tentatively known as a "crankshaft" lock. You can explore the bittings using another visualizer, which can try to filter out bittings that are likely pickable with a straight tool.

MULTACC PCR keybox

Notes related to decoding and picking the keybox on MULTACC PCR realtor lockboxes. GWeins2001 has a great teardown on Keypicking.

Supra Marc keybox

Notes on the Supra Marc real estate keybox, a product competing with MULTACC PCR keyboxes, with similar form factor and two-factor authentication mechanism.

As a curiosity, there's the Kwikset & Schlage key pin interchanging reference. Don't interchange the two for locks in use. It's not worth it!

Works in progress, both full of spiky bits and bad code: