How to Design an Unpickable Lock

Welcome to an exciting journey into the world of lock design! In this video, I dissect the flaws of traditional pin and tumbler locks, exploring the vulnerabilities that make them susceptible to picking. Join me as we delve into designing a lock that addresses the challenges of both security and manufacturing head-on. Who knows? Maybe we'll end up creating something truly unpickable.
The few quick clips at the beginning of the video are from the ‪@lockpickinglawyer‬
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is."
-Yogi Berra

[@CollectiveSoftware]

Great use of CAD (cardboard-aided design)

[@seanrobertson7122]

That cardboard "manufacturing defects" visualization was a genuine epiphany for me as to why locks are pickable

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

Glad that it helped! I hadn't seen anything quite like it before, more something you would find in a manufacturing lecture

[@chmyr]

Yeah this is honestly the best way of visualizing it!

[@hgec]

​@@BuiltDifferentDesigns Just so you know, the design of your lock is very similar to the design of a person named Andy Pugh (who is under that name on KZbin). Just much simpler. I thought you might be interested.

[@BoiledOctopus]

Lock Picking Lawyer: Hold all my beers.

[@simonrz]

He has to send him the lock 👍😎

[@tonywilson4713]

Year that was my first thought before I even clicked on the link to his other video. I checked this video out before commenting. Because in this video he references the YT channel *Stuff Made Here* who also made an "unpickable lock" that the LPL took down with a different attack than tension & pin manipulation. So I am sure the guy who's doing this channel is aware of the LPL. So there's one to watch out for.

[@DBurgur]

3minutes in and this is the best simolified visualisation i’ve seen on why cheap locks are pickable, regardless of “pick-proofing” techniques such as the use of spools and such.

[@paulwoodward982]

The first 3 minutes really helped cement my understanding of why pins "bind" - excellent video!

[@AFailedTuringTest]

Locksmith here, there are locks that are EXTREMELY hard to pick. The issue is price, people aren't willing to spend a hundred dollars or more on a basic lock. Not to mention installation, servicing, etc. The more pins, the more something can go wrong. Just one master pin can greatly reduce the pinning arrangements, I could make a "unpickable" at my shop. The issue is you wouldn't buy it, you might think you would. But you won't. People don't even want to pay for basic security pins, they WILL NOT pay for some hyper advanced lock. We sell Abloy locks, extremely high quality obscene pick resistance for a few hundred. And we also sell commercial master locks with pretty trivial pick resistance. We sell dozens of Masters a month, I've not seen a single Abloy sell in the last 2 months

[@RookieLock]

Very cool. I love seeing people's lock innovations. I totally agree with you.. its absolutely inexcusable that these lock companies are still making locks with vulnerabilities that have been well known for a LONG time .

[@DirtyDeansLocklab]

That's a bit of BRILLIANCE. Definitely got my gears turning.

[@df3_legomocs]

This is one of the best idea and explanation on lockpicking wow I’m flabbergasted

[@1200halo]

Amazing explanation/demonstration of how lockpicking works, that made it so clear

[@IsaacHashman]

Very innovative! I have seen a few people who have shared very similar ideas to this, and I do think there is a lot of potential with it. One major issue I will say (and you touched on it) is if this lock was mass produced, the large amount of masterpins/wafers would cause the lock to fail and get jammed up often, especially in situations where the lock is exposed to the elements. I would be interested and it would be really cool to see how well a lock like this would hold up after a few years in the field! ___ I know it's frustrating to see the same technology in locks, especially when they can be bypassed so easily in many cases. That being said, it's been this way for longer than just the last century and a half, but actually for a few thousand years when you consider warded locks, lever locks, and even the anchient Egyptian locks. This technology isn't going away, especially in today's age that has defined standards and rating for locks and door hardware that has been established and set over the last century and a half. The best we can do is raise the expectations of the quality and effectiveness of the locks that are already in production. You would be amazed at how good tolerances alone can make a lock very difficult to pick... but on top of the good tolerances, if it has a paracentric keyway, high-low bitting, and security pins (especially when there is matched milling in the plug), the lock becomes nearly unpickiable in the field when done right. I personally would love to see the overall standards of locks in NA go up. It is clearly a major issue when companies like Master Lock know about their security flaws and choose to ignore them since they know the general public is unaware and they will make more money that way... I don't want you to think I'm saying that it's not worth the effort you are making... by doing what you are doing, you are helping to educate the public on locks and the security flaws of the locks that exist here currently. Also, if you were to produce these as commercially available locks, you should do it as your own high security company (similar to what Bowley and other major lock manufacturers have done). This is typically how lock companies have developed and grown over the last century. Even masterlock was known for better quality locks a few decades ago, and even produced their own high security lock (#19). As other high security companies were gaining success and masterlock had already captured the basic comercial market, they discontinued their high security line and refocused their development on cheap low quality locks since that's where the money was for them and they didn't care about the reputation of having cheap low quality locks. This is why they don't fix their security flaws today.

[@jameswakham]

Use some graphite to help with friction

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

Good idea. I tried some tri-flow but it didn't seem to work well with the plastic.

[@MrJth3rd]

I'd just bump the lock, eventually you'll get the watchdog pin to move just enough to tension then pick normally

[@xati5135]

awesome video concept would suggest you make videos around 30 mins long or under 10 mins for the algorithm to show more people the video

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

Thanks for the tip

[@boxydragon6645]

I would like to come with a name recommendation of “The watchlock” named after the watchdog pin. just a small thought that crossed my mind and I wanted to share it here

[@spinnirack3645]

Another small engineer channel to collect

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

Lol yea

[@Damisj]

Was thinking the same. Found and used Abloy locks, but now days those are picked. Just when I started tinkering with my own solution, I found your video, and I must say I'm impressed. Plan to make the design "Copy left - creative common - open source"?

[@Lewandd]

Great video! If there's someone that could really try to lockpick it fairly it's the lockpicking lawyer. You could try to contact him because Im curious if someone with his experience could come up with a way to open it!

[@JMMC1005]

Someone else made a really clever 'unpickable' lock and sent it to the LPL. He never attempted it and ignored all comments suggesting he try it - at least, this was the case last time I checked.

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

I saw that too, there are at least a couple of instances of this happening it would seem. However, my understanding of LPL's methodology is to stand up for and alert everyday people to the limitations of locks. So if this is his methodology, he may choose not to demonstrate locks that he thinks won't impact the consumer. SMH of course seems to be an exception to this. Perhaps a lock design that can demonstrate its manufacturability could make it into one of his videos but, who knows?

[@JMMC1005]

Your design is similar in concept but quite different in execution to Tim Hutt's design (I'm guessing from your other comments that you've seen this one) - with yours potentially being more manufacturable. One possible vulnerability would be to shock / vibrate the lock in order to jiggle the pins while applying torque. It would be an interesting challenge to design a mechanism which decouples the inner and outer cylinders if the lock is bumped - I think it would be possible, and it would force you to reset the lock if you tried this sort of attack. As an aside, you've done a really good job in the presentation and pacing of this video - subscribed, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with next!

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

Yes! I have seen Tim's cross-lock. Almost the exact same core principle. I thought his push-in-then-turn concept was interesting for sure. How to ensure the selective torquing of the testing is one of the main challenges with these designs. I decided to target a standard keyway with this design. As far as your suggested vulnerability you are spot on. I haven't been able to test it but I agree that a shock attack may prove effective. I will talk about this vector and another in the next video.

[@braedenhunt3677]

Can't wait till the next video! 🔥

[@AlexanderJay]

Kinetic attack should still work?

[@RookKnight]

Fantastic work. I would love to try picking it 🔓

[@stevebabiak6997]

Looks like you used Kwikset for the keyway and blank (maybe even the pins and springs). To make a 5 pin prototype version that is (mostly) metal, you could use a 6 pin Kwikset and the end pin can be used for the watchdog. You would have to make some modifications, but I think it might be feasible. Some metal rod can be drilled through to make the part that encloses the core. You would have to bore out the outer shell of the lock to accept that double core. But for prototyping, this might do the trick.

[@jallgrety5733]

Wow! Great video! Keep up the great work! I learned so much from this

[@johncooper9887]

How about disc detainer, slider, dimple and combos of those locks

[@ilikesharks2020]

Looking forward to the next part!

[@raginggerman5377]

Really cool lock and also a great video!

[@kosovircek]

Does he have 3d printing files posted anywhere, so we can play around picking the lock?

[@brodymagee8664]

Great instructional video

[@mikemckay7812]

Nice work!!

[@DanielLande57]

Great job!

[@NigelTolley]

This is *exactly* the same as Andy Pugh's design.

[@davejoseph5615]

Yes, this sort of wafer-stack design is probably the most achievable approach. You can actually find expired patents with this type of design. I wonder if any lock manufacturer would consider making this into a real product? I've been pondering this issue ever since the time I had to stow all my worldly possessions in a storage unit (for about a month, seven years ago) and was so worried I could hardly sleep.

[@mcsimeonthefin]

just needs a way to tension the outer rotating cylinder

[@3256323]

Оригинальная идея это хорошо. Пластиковая модель великолепно. Но рабочий образец из метала покажит все плюсы и минусы замка на испытаниях.

[@CaptainSurprizo]

Great Video!

[@BuiltDifferentDesigns]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@isaacschmidt5466]

That's a pretty slick design alright

[@andypughtube]

Isn't this the same as the Priyer lock? Have you seen my lock? kzbin.info/www/bejne/imrYZJpjZdqModE That adds another (non-rotating) layer which I think makes it much harder to pick.

[@jallgrety5733]

Got that sub for sure ❤

[@silverfeathered1]

Very cool idea. You're missing a very fundamental design element. Most locks aren't meant to be impenetrable. Even in their flawed current designs; police and thieves both prefer destructive entry over picking. Making a cylinder that is even more pick resistant would practically guarantee destructive entry. The balance is to make it just hard enough to pick to discourage, but not impossible so that the first thought is going through the window.

[@mikeutube82]

Genius. Get it made in metal and send to lpl. 😊

[@whyme6742]

isnt this just a normal lock just with some additional parts? You can still bind the inner to the middle ring and as soon as the correct stack is selected the lock is picked.

[@lrmackmcbride7498]

The watchdog pin prevents binding in a useful manner. Not saying it can't be done but it adds complexity.

[@MegaLokopo]

If you want to make an unpickable lock, design a lock in such a way that an intruder wouldn't know how to unlock your door. If they can't tell how you unlock your door even if they watch you do it. You have a pretty secure lock. Anything that can be beaten by taking a picture of the key isn't a very good lock.

[@3256323]

Всё верно но замок должен быть в одном экземпляре и только у вас. Если замок производить массово злоумышленники будут знать как его вскрыть.

[@MegaLokopo]

@@3256323 True, which is why you should build it yourself. That way you are the only person who even knows how to interact with the lock. Google translate is awesome.

[@aniano39]

Just don’t pair it with master lock hardware or all that engineering would be for naught

[@hgec]

Just so you know, the design of your lock is very similar to the design of a person named Andy Pugh (who is under that name on KZbin). Just much simpler. I thought you might be interested.

[@joeymason4617]

Insurance companies is the reason tbh

[@piad2102]

Lets hope there are no unpickable locks. Howelse are you gonna get in if you loose your key? Destroy the lot? Millions misplace their keys every day, what then? lol

[@emiliomeregalli2858]

this has way too little views

[@carguy815]

so what you're saying is you won't be sending a copy to the lock picking lawer because he would make it look like a childs toy however average joe smoe whatever trying to bump the lock wouldn't work so better protection than most yes?