[24] How To Pick Your First American 1100 - Picking Guide

[@juniorco3109]

One thing to add is that the core is spring loaded and when you're first learning to pick these, you feel like you go into a deep false set... This may actually be the lock picked open and you then need to add more tension to turn the core

[@IsaacHashman]

Very good point, and thanks for bringing it up! That's one of the main things I'm kicking myself for not including haha As I become more comfortable with filming/editing videos, I'll revamp all my old videos that people want, and make them better quality. Your point will definitely be mentioned in the 2.0 version haha Thanks again :)

[@LockPickingNewbie64]

Yep, happened on my first 1100 series pick today.

[@JoeC92]

Dude came across your channel from fish picks and thank you thank you thank you. I just have had a good 30hr+ at this lock. I got it from work. Never had a key. So I was always going at it blind. Finally got it open with some of your tips and just understanding how easy it is to over set. Couldn't resist gutting and the 1100 series I have was pinned in the 6th cylinder.

[@IsaacHashman]

Way to go, great work! So cool that my advice was able to make it's way over to you, and that you found it helpful. Thanks for letting me know! How is your progress coming along these days?

[@dazevers]

Really good video my friend. Great idea to add the time stamps, loads of great info to help a lot of pickers. 👍

[@IsaacHashman]

Thanks so much buddy! I've been learning lots from watching your videos! Keep up the awesome work!!

[@shadowshadow2485]

Sorry to add two comments , but i rewatched this video & this has really great & helpful information , I'm been working on white & yellow ranked locks ; trying to move to orange & green , I think this will be very helpful , thanks so much , a 70 great. Old beginner , moe

[@LockPickingNewbie64]

Awesome video! Thank you for sharing. PIcked my first 1100 series today and even ordered a second one. What a great and challenging lock. Liked and subscribed.

[@IsaacHashman]

Amazing work man! Did the second one end up coming? How is your progress going these days? Thanks for the kind words 🙏

[@1970pizza]

I have to agree with every word that SlothPicker said , this is the only video you need to watch in order to crack an 1100 and i'm glad i watched it , Fantastic tutorial video Isaac my friend

[@IsaacHashman]

Thank you brother! I really appreciate the support. :) Feel free to reach out any time with questions, suggestions, or just to say hi!

[@SouthpawPickingPete-qi8qr]

Thanks you for sharing all this information. I’m having trouble with the American 1100!

[@shadowshadow2485]

Great video , very patience explanation , very good teaching , thanks ,moe

[@kiltedcrafter6268]

Nice info and explanation. Thank you

[@IsaacHashman]

Thank you!

[@Arachnaphobe]

I don't personally draw marks onto my picks, but if you did you could transfer the spacings onto a piece of paper or card so if you did rub them off you could reapply them without gutting the lock again.

[@IsaacHashman]

Yup, or you can also use the key as a reference and mark you pick that way. Honestly, that's how I mainly do it these days

[@jcsfrancisco9417]

Came here from Fish Picks. Thank you so much for the tips! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@IsaacHashman]

Very kind! Fish was a pleasure to teach, and is a really nice guy 👍

[@jcsfrancisco9417]

@@IsaacHashman so are you sir! I picked my first 1100 thanks to you both!

[@chriscapune7873]

Super tutorial!!! Every thing very well covered!!! 🐈🐾🐈‍⬛🐾👍

[@IsaacHashman]

Haha very kind!... sorry for all the reply notifications 😂, just trying to catch up on comments I missed. You rock buddy, i love how engaged and supptive you are for so many people ❤️

[@tibielias]

I picked my blue one yesterday and picked it 3 times more today. Interestingly my lock required me to man handle 2 of the pins a bit to get them to set and open the lock. Now, I just need to figure out how to gut the lock and check what is inside. I'm counting two serrated spools that get me two false sets and then an open lock. Of course the rest of the pins - which are serrated by the way - need to be set too before proceeding to the spool pins. I ordered two more American Lock 1100. One just came today - a beautiful gold one - but I coukdn't pick it the same way I picked the blue one. There's a red one on the way, but I'm not sure when it will arrive.

[@LockpickingsGal]

Awesome job and great job explaining!! Love the hints and tips!

[@IsaacHashman]

My pleasure, thank you for your kind words and supporting my videos ❤️

[@norlin76]

Nice comprehensive overview on many methods that can be employed to attack a new lock (can pick and choose which methods to implement, don't have to use them all or even limit yourself to just these methods). One tiny point for improvement, maybe put the pins and key on a flat surface rather than holding them in your palm when you're talking about them.

[@IsaacHashman]

Thanks buddy! I really appreciate the feedback, I'll definitely do that moving forward haha, i did have to redo that part a few times because the pins moving around too much...

[@GiovanniXS]

Excellent explanation on how to approach this lock. And I agree with @juniorco3109 that with these 1100's you sometimes have it open without noticing because you need that extra bit of tension in the end to actually rotate the core. And on a side note, that also applies to many other locks with heavy spring tension, such as the Abus 72/40

[@IsaacHashman]

That is also a very good point, thanks for mentioning, also for the compliment! I appreciate you checking this out :)

[@JoeC92]

I've picked a lot of 72 40s. Didn't find them as difficult with the spring tension not realizing it's open as I do with the American.

[@danielwalter9983]

Thank you so much I have been struggling to open an American lock I have been picking everything pretty easy spools for me are easy but the serated pins I can’t open I guess I’m not feeling the difference between the click and the sheer line click so until I can do that I’m going to progressive pin it I been going by lock picking lawyers skill level and he will set all the clicks on a pin all at once and that trips me up and I overset the pin because I can’t tell the different clicks

[@IsaacHashman]

Practice, practice. It sounds like you are on the right track though! It definitely takes some getting used to before you can feel the serrated pins more clearly, but with prog pinning, it will make everything 1000x more obvious. Then you will be to do it how LPL does 😉👍 Thanks for the nice comment, and for stopping by my channel!

[@entryspecialist23]

@@IsaacHashman yea absolutely man I definitely need to practice more for sure but yes progressive pinning is what allowed me to open it I was able to hear very distinct clicks that were different from the reg clicks

[@IsaacHashman]

I find the same. Once you get used to that feeling, it's so satisfying when the serrated pin sets to shear. It makes me say "Ahhh" every time, like I just drank a sip of a cold beer 🍺!

[@LockSpaz]

Looking forward to tackling my first 1100 next week, so far I've only dealt with spools and maybe one serrated pin (on an ML 150). The bitting on the key for the 1100 looks evil, I'm going to have a challenge on my hands. As an aside, are those Sparrows prybars, and did you put the bend in them yourself? They don't seem to knurl their bent wrenches for some reason.

[@JDStone20]

Great video brother!

[@IsaacHashman]

Thank you!

[@johnchilders1665]

Nice job brother.

[@IsaacHashman]

Thank you! I hope it helped :) I'll redo all my old guides in the future with better video and audio also

[@scorpion2669]

Adding lines is a good idea. Might actually get the picks laser engraved with lines...

[@IsaacHashman]

Ya it helps a lot for sure! I prefer using a sharpie, i couldn't bring myself to actually damage the pick to put the lines on haha. I have seen some people do it, but i think it would just make the pick not feel as good

[@thomaspham8852]

Thanks for the video! Found out that light tension works good for my American 1305. I can get a it into a false set, but after it seeks like the pins are locked up. Even if I let go fully of the tension, it doesn’t spring back. Any tips on what’s next? I think I’m soooo close!!

[@IsaacHashman]

Thanks for saying thanks! Haha Not sure if you are still working on that 1305, but it does sound like you are very close... did you end up getting it? If so, what was the trick? If not, you may want to try "float tensioning" the core once you hit that false set 👍

[@BreakinUpBuds]

Somehow my 1100 series American Lock got screwed up there was no driver pin in chamber 5 and there was a spool pin in the core in chamber 6 and no driver pin. I don't struggle with American 1100 series I struggle with the freaking master Loto locks.

[@IsaacHashman]

Those 410 lotos can be tricky for sure. I find it's all about getting around that odd warding. Then it's usually not too bad. Keep in mind that there is always a serrated pin in slot 5 on those. Regarding your 1100, ya definitely sounds like a factory error. I bet that spool that was in the plug in slot 6, should have been the driver pin for slot 5 is my guess

[@dugy40]

You only showed how to put one line on the pick

[@hellangel28]

If you write the times of the video down in the format 00:00 - Something 01:34 - Something else youtube will automatically show those timestamps in the video progress bar

[@IsaacHashman]

I'll edit it now, thank you!

[@hellangel28]

@@IsaacHashman I'm sorry, i had it wrong,the dash has to go.. 00:00 Something 01:34 Something else

[@IsaacHashman]

@@hellangel28 hopefully it's fixed now? I'll have to look into it more, if not. Thank you for mentioning this feature!

[@hellangel28]

@@IsaacHashman you have to start at 00:00, then it should start working :)

[@IsaacHashman]

@@hellangel28 working now! Haha thanks for walking me through that!!

[@dmourati]

6:40 Swisstool Spirit X?

[@IsaacHashman]

Amazing eye!! Very impressive knowledge on that one. I got it in Israel when I was a kid. It's held up since and is one of the best and most useful tools I own. Absolutely love it! Out of curiosity, how did you recognize it so specifically?

[@dmourati]

@@IsaacHashman I have one and use it nearly every day. Curved handle gives it away.

[@IsaacHashman]

@dmourati I also use mine almost, if not, every day haha. It has become an integral part of my locksmith equipment 👍 Great tool!

[@The_Doc_Rocks]

Wow - looks like this should be a fantastic video, BUT audio level is WAY down low - I can hardly hear what you're saying and I have the computer volume all the way up. Is there any way you can edit the video in Final Cut Pro or whatever, raise the audio track volume - a LOT - and then apply a compressor to smooth out variations in the level? Looks like a great video, but I'm really straining to hear what seems like great information.

[@IsaacHashman]

I will look into this, I am not the best at editing (incase you couldn't tell lol), i just edited everything on my phone tbh.... looks like I need to learn more about it though! Thanks a lot for the criticism, i really appreciate it. I'll see if I can get the audio fixed up

[@The_Doc_Rocks]

@@IsaacHashman You're welcome - and thanks for what looks like a great video. There are many different video editor apps around, both on computer and on iPad, iPhone, etc. Most can edit the audio separately from the video. Just needs a significant boost in audio level, then if your editor has plugins like a compressor, add some 2:1 or 3:1 compression and play with the threshold setting until you get a nice smooth audio level with few sudden jumps or dips - the compressor smooths those out. The other thing is that for the next video (which I'm looking forward to) use a separate mike - can be a small one like a lapel clip-on mike, or a headset mike, for example. Then you don't have that distance between your mouth and the phone mike. I do lots of videos for teaching as part of my job, and I use a separate USB microphone made by Røde.

[@IsaacHashman]

@@The_Doc_Rocks amazing information! It sounds like I have a lot to learn still, but it will all definitely be worth it when I can produce better quality videos!

[@The_Doc_Rocks]

@@IsaacHashman You're welcome - and good to see somebody taking comments as constructive rather than being offended by them. Keep up the good work :)

[@IsaacHashman]

@@The_Doc_Rocks thank you again! Also, I find comments like this extremely helpful, and really appreciate when people take the time to help me know how to improve! No offense taken at all!!