When you hold a cylinder in your hand you get different feedback from the pins than you do on a real door. First, apply light torque (as you practiced in the previous exercises) to the two pin cylinder and gently feel each pin. You’ll notice that it resists more than it did in the previous exercise because its top pin is pinched between the plug and the shell at the shear line by the torque you’re applying. It is very important when you do the exercises that you not move on to the next until you have completely and comfortably mastered the exercise you’re working on. I usually find that the very top of the plug, directly in front of the pins, to be a good place to apply torque, but you have to be careful that the tool doesn’t touch the front-most pin. Now, while continuing to apply torque, insert your pick and find and slowly lift the pin stack. As you lift the pin stack with torque applied, eventually its cut will reach the shear line, allowing the plug to turn; the top pin will then be completely trapped in the shell, while the bottom pin stays in the plug, no longer held down by spring pressure.
If this happens, you won’t get the lock open until you release torque and start over. When you feel confident visualizing and using picks to maneuver around the pins in the AR1 and SX keyways, you’re ready to start actually opening locks. The lock will never pick open in this state; you must release torque and start over. If the shear line is within this gap as torque is applied, it may set. You will need a small set of cylinders in various keyways, a board or vice to hold them in while you practice, and a small re-pinning kit (extra pins and springs and a “follower” tool). There will be a slight “backward” pressure on the torque tool. Your goal is to learn to do this with the absolute minimum amount of torque needed to bind the most misaligned pin enough to distinguish it from the other one. Insert the tip of the tool in the keyway, allowing enough room for your pick to enter and manipulate the pins. If both feel springy, you’re not applying enough torque (which is unlikely).
The handle of the torque tool serves as a lever to turn the plug. Picking lever locks generally requires different tools from those used for pin tumbler locks, and high security lever locks often require specialized purpose-made tools. Over time, accumulate a varied collection of practice locks, and study different lock designs whenever you get the opportunity. Only one pin stack should be in a binding state at any given time, of course. It can become very tempting to “cheat” a bit here and move ahead the moment you get a difficult lock open the first time, but that will only make the rest of the course that much harder. The pins toward the back may feel a bit different from the pins in the front. Apply some torque to the plug and feel the two pin stacks with your pick. Take note of the direction the keys turn on doors you use to help develop an inituition about which direction to apply torque.
This keyway is a bit more “open” (it’s intended to allow several different key profiles to fit in it), what is billiards and so requires the use of a larger pick than the Arrow AR1 keyway does. The other should give you a bit of resistance. Chances are the two pins will be reversed — the formerly springy one will give resistance and the formerly stuck one will be springy. Eventually, you’ll reach a point where the plug will turn ever so slightly and the pin will not go up any farther. When you reach the shear line, the plug will turn. It feels much as it does when binding and unset, but will not set (since a binding pin can only move up, not down). Now release torque and try again, but this time lift the pins as little as you can when you test them, while still distinguishing between the two states.