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How do keys work? Explained in one Gif

436 points| macalicious | 13 years ago |theultralinx.com

78 comments

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[+] tokenadult|13 years ago|reply
How blogspam works. This is blogspam upon blogspam. I dare not say that this link

http://delima.soup.io/post/295576131/how-keys-work

is the original link, but it's at least two links closer to the original source than the link submitted here to HN.

AFTER EDIT: Many thanks to the HN reader who found the original source, which deserves traffic much more than blogspam. I flag blogspam relentlessly since another HN user asked about the issue.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4583307

[+] ryen|13 years ago|reply
No site that has a 25x25 count grid of animated avatars to show who "reposted" deserves to get traffic
[+] confluence|13 years ago|reply
That original link grinds most browsers to a halt.
[+] SquareWheel|13 years ago|reply
Locks are a relatively simple a fun mechanism to play with. Lock picking can be explained similarly. It's essentially simulating that key by popping the pins up to the shear line (the horizontal plane) and applying tension via your tension/torsion tool so the pin doesn't fall down. Then move onto the next one. If you get all pins to the shear line, the lock opens.

It's also a pretty cheap hobby to get into. Though the legality varies by country/state so do check into that first if interested.

[+] Joeboy|13 years ago|reply
A few years ago I went and bought myself the cheapest Yale type lock I could find in order to teach myself to pick it. After repeatedly failing I took it apart and discovered some of the pins had recesses that were designed to defeat this kind of attack (I think they're called "spool pins"). I never managed to put it back together again, and that was the end of my lock picking career.
[+] Cushman|13 years ago|reply
It also comes in handy more often than you'd think. Picking real-world residential locks is usually a Bad Idea even if you're allowed to, but with a little practice anyone can learn to open cheap wafer locks (like you find on desk drawers) or padlocks in seconds with nothing more than a couple of bobby pins.

Like when I cleverly managed to mail my apartment keys to myself, including my only mailbox key...

[+] gavanwoolery|13 years ago|reply
When I was in college, I wanted to learn how to pick locks (just because I thought it would be an interesting "party trick" -- I would never steal, having been a victim of theft several times myself). I ordered a set of lock picks and practiced on a knob lock from Home Depot...to my surprise I was able to open the lock within minutes.
[+] philip1209|13 years ago|reply
I ordered lock picks on Thursday. I can't wait for them to arrive!
[+] shocks|13 years ago|reply
Old but still relevant. I learnt about locks here.

http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/MITLockGuide.pdf

[+] brianpan|13 years ago|reply
> ...it is worth pointing out that lock picking is just one way to bypass a lock

A sobering insight after a break-in and a conversation with a locksmith. A lock is only as good as the latch, and door that it's sitting in, and the hinges attaching the door, and the molding surrounding it, and the wall it's in.

[+] artursapek|13 years ago|reply
Learned how to pick locks decently well with that guide. It's a good read.
[+] enneff|13 years ago|reply
As a kid, I learned how keyed locks work by playing the video game ZZT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZZT In "Town of ZZT", one of the built-in worlds, there is a board where you have to move what are effectively tumblers to clear a path through which a column can move freely.

Ah, here's a screenshot of the board! http://tf2tags.com/dr_dos/img/zzt/town/zzt_036.png

This board is show as a whole, but in the game the board was "dark" and so you could only see what was within about 5-6 blocks from your character.

[+] lucb1e|13 years ago|reply
Seen a similar image a while back. Locks suddenly made a lot of sense then.

Perhaps make another one about how walker keys work with locks like these? If I remember correctly, they were keys with filed down teeth. You had to put the key all but one tooth into the lock and then nudge it all the way in while turning, which would knock the top half of the metal rods up, allowing the lock to open.

[+] gameshot911|13 years ago|reply
Same thing as a bump key? Basically you cut down all the notches to the lowest setting (ie the deepest cut for that model of key), and then exactly as you described you put the key in up to the penultimate notch, at which point you apply rotational pressure on the key and knock the key in with some force (aka "bump" it in). The force of the insert bumps all the pins up, and the torque applied to the key catches the top half of the pin in the "open" position as the mechanism falls. If you catch all the top halves, the lock is breached.
[+] nulluk|13 years ago|reply
I have been brought up picking since I was in secondary school (Both Father and older Brother are locksmiths). It's very interesting stuff and once you see the in's and out's of peoples daily "security" you realise it's just about a game of not being the lowest common denominator. If a thief wants in, they aren't going to spend there time picking (or even bumping) they go straight for the snapper, or simply put the window through.

Apologies on the video music, you might want to turn it down but this is the first Video I come across of snapping a euro cylinder on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVeij3jffCM

[+] jjclarkson|13 years ago|reply
This design is a good visual for why lock bumping is fairly easy on most residential locks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_bumping

[+] jjclarkson|13 years ago|reply
On residential locks the tolerances on each pin's traveling cylinder are loose enough to allow you to apply shearing force on the pin by holding the lock tight (as if trying to open it) and quickly bump each pin up so they land on the salient edge of the entire cylinder block and avoid dropping back into a locking position.
[+] nsxwolf|13 years ago|reply
I'd like to see a version of the gif done with lock picks.
[+] jlgreco|13 years ago|reply
The "MIT Lockpicking Guide" covers the subject nicely, if you are just interested in how it works. A slick gif would be nice though.
[+] macalicious|13 years ago|reply
That's what I was thinking. That would be quite nice.
[+] skeletonjelly|13 years ago|reply
If I wanted more content like a single gif in a blog post I'd go to reddit. This is currently #1 on HN.
[+] businessleads|13 years ago|reply
If I wanted more comments complaining about GIFs turning a site into Reddit I'd go to Quora.

;)

[+] superasn|13 years ago|reply
I don't see what is wrong with it. It appeals to hackers and explains it instantly. Would you be happy if it was 1000 word article instead?
[+] unreal37|13 years ago|reply
Did anyone follow that blog post, back to Gizmodo, back to the source it originally came from? (Soup) What a weird site, showing all manner of strange things. The internet is a weird place sometimes.
[+] dougk16|13 years ago|reply
I recommend "Practical Lock Picking" by Deviant Ollam for those whose interest was piqued by this. Besides all the technical goodies, it contains some interesting moral views on locks and lock picking that apply to the digital world as well.
[+] gggggggg|13 years ago|reply
That's a great way to explain it.

However, can anyone explain how lock picking works, that GIF makes it seem like it would be very difficult. On TV at least they do it in a matter of moments.

[+] borlak|13 years ago|reply
SquareWheel explained it very well.

As for the difficulty, you'd be surprised how easy it is. I started picking a few weeks ago for fun and I've been able to pick your basic store bought locks within a couple minutes with the hook tool (where you have to lock each pin individually).

There is another tool, called a 'rake', that tries to set several pins at once -- it basically has several jagged edges, much like a key. With rakes I can beat these locks in a matter of seconds, and I'm a newbie! I'm working on the lower end of locks, but even still, it has made me more wary of home security.

[+] SquareWheel|13 years ago|reply
I just wrote a quick explanation above, but let me know if you want more detail. Picking difficulty varies quite greatly by number of pins, number of security pins (some are tougher!), quality of the lock (the imperfections make it possible), and the tool/experience you have.

I'm also by no means an expert, just somebody interested in the hobby.

[+] gggggggg|13 years ago|reply
From the source this might help explain:

Nitesh - yesterday Related, the flaws in the machining of the pin chambers is what you exploit while lock picking. You turn the lock slightly, then use another tool to push pins up one at a time, and hopefully when they come down they get stuck on the top of the lower pin chamber. Once you do that with every pin, it's unlocked.

[+] brk|13 years ago|reply
This is how the most common lock works, but it doesn't cover side-bar locks, Medeco's, or other slightly more advanced setups. Still, good reference point for a basic understanding.
[+] TheBoff|13 years ago|reply
It makes me wonder how strong the cylinders are. They look quite small, so it seems like with a tool shaped like a "T" with a wide top you'd be able to force a lock open.
[+] run4yourlives|13 years ago|reply
Pretty sure they are stonger than any key you could make, so the key would snap before the cylinders do.

Plus, you need to be able to allow the entire mechanism to turn in order to disengage the lock, which the broken cylinders would interfere with.

[+] jorgeleo|13 years ago|reply
One cut more to every drum and it would explain master keys
[+] jazzychad|13 years ago|reply
I remember seeing this explained on Mr. Wizard as a kid :) He used a giant cardboard key and a poster with moveable tumblers attached to demonstrate it.
[+] JTxt|13 years ago|reply
Since I'm on HN, I was expecting and hoping this to be about public-key cryptography.
[+] esusatyo|13 years ago|reply
It doesn't explain MacGyver at all.