Welcome to locksport! It's a great puzzle hobby. Single Pin Picking (SPP) a standard pin tumbler is the core skill to learn — it's slower than raking, but it teaches you how a lock actually feels inside.
Only practice on locks you own and that aren't in use on a door (you can damage a lock while learning, and picking a lock you rely on is a bad idea). A clear acrylic practice lock is perfect to start so you can see this while you feel it.
How the lock works
Inside the plug (the part that turns) are 4-6 stacks, each with:
- A spring on top
- A driver pin in the middle
- A key pin on the bottom (the one your key touches)
When no key is in, the driver pin crosses the shear line between the plug and the housing, so the plug can't turn.
The correct key lifts each stack so the gap between the key pin and driver pin lines up exactly with the shear line. Picking fakes that, one pin at a time.
Tools you need
- A tension wrench (also called a turning tool) - a flat L-shaped piece of metal. This applies slight rotational pressure.
- A hook pick - a pick with a small upward hook at the end, for lifting one pin at a time.
The Technique: Single Pin Picking
1. Insert the tension wrench
Put the short end into the bottom of the keyway (called BOK - Bottom Of Keyway tension) and apply very light rotational pressure in the direction you'd turn a key.
How light? About the pressure you'd use to hold down one key on a computer keyboard. This is the #1 beginner mistake — too much tension will lock everything up. Too little and set pins will fall back down.
This tension is what makes picking possible. Because of tiny manufacturing imperfections, one pin stack will always be squeezed / "binding" between the plug and housing more than the others.
2. Insert the pick
Slide your hook pick in above the tension wrench, all the way to the back pin.
3. Find the binding pin
Gently lift each pin stack, starting from the back and coming forward. Most will feel springy and loose. One will feel stiff, gritty, and resistant to lifting. That's the binder.
4. Set the binding pin
Lift only that binding pin, slowly, while maintaining that light steady tension. You'll feel/hear a faint click, and the plug will rotate a tiny, tiny fraction — almost imperceptibly.
That means the driver pin is now trapped above the shear line, resting on the edge of the plug, and the key pin will feel loose/springless below it. It's "set."
Don't lift further. If you lift too far, you'll "overset" the key pin across the shear line too, and it will jam. If you think you overset, ease off tension just a hair until you hear that pin fall, trying not to drop the others.
5. Repeat
Keep your tension on. Now a different pin will become the binder. Find it the same way, lift it to its click, set it.
Continue. With each set pin, the plug will give a little more rotational feedback.
6. It opens
When the last driver pin clears the shear line, the plug will suddenly rotate freely. You did it.
Now release tension, pull your tools out, and all the pins will reset so you can try again.
Troubleshooting for beginners
- No pins feel like they're binding: You need a fraction more tension.
- Every pin feels locked solid and won't lift: You have way too much tension. Back off significantly.
- I got clicks but now nothing moves: You probably overset a pin. Slightly release tension until you hear a click back down, then re-find the binder.
- Pins keep dropping when I set a new one: Your tension is too light or inconsistent. Try to keep it perfectly steady.
Raking — scrubbing a wavy pick back and forth under tension to bounce pins into place — can open cheap practice locks faster, but SPP is what will build real skill. Go slow, focus on the difference in feel between a springy pin and a binding pin, and reset the same lock 20 times rather than rushing to a harder one.
What lock are you starting with?
It gives a complete step-by-step single pin picking walkthrough with tools, technique, and troubleshooting, with only a brief practical tip about practising on owned locks.