Barry in Barcelona …

End of the week I will be visiting Barcelona for a couple of days. To be more precise, from Sunday 10 to Thursday 14 February I will be at the CryptoPhone stand at the 3GSM show.

Whenever I travel abroad I try to estimate the most common locks and order (ten of each of) the most popular blanks. In case of Spain I understood they use a lot of dimple locks like TESA T-60 and T-80, MCM 4SE, CISA, STS (CS-5, CS-6, CS-8 etc), ISEO, Ezcurra S-10 and DS-15 and LINCE. So I collected around twenty different type of blanks. Of course this is not enough to cover all the locks, but I hope it covers some of them.

click on image for bigger jpg

As far as I see, Impressioning dimple locks is the same as impressioning a ‘normal’ pin tumbler locks. Problem is I only tried around ten different locks (Iseo, Lips, Dom, Keso, Abus, Mul-t 7X7 etc). And except the mul-t-lock 7X7 I succeeded in opening all of them. I hope to get my hands on some (used) spanish dimple locks while there and be able to practice some more.

Are there Spanish blackbag readers that would like to meet for a cup of coffee, and maybe trade locks and/or blanks? I will be staying in the Plaza España area in Barcelona.

Advice on what other locks/blanks are popular in Spain is welcome too, please use the comments (or mail me: barry at toool.nl) if you have any info….

10 Responses to “Barry in Barcelona …”

  1. rukwind says:

    The pictures of the dimple-success-locks are great! Is there any chance to update that list with a keso, abus, mul-t, …. ?
    Have a good one!

  2. Barry says:

    Rukwind: Thanks for the compliment. The problem is these impressioned dimple locks make great gifts, and I already gave away/traded most of them.

    And for the record: I tried and tried on the Mul-T 7X7 but just could not get it to work. And since I had to open the lock, I used a bump key and opened the lock in less then 30 seconds…. sigh …

    P.s. Already one meeting is scheduled with a locksmith in Barcelona …

  3. PickPick says:

    How long does it take you to impression these? Especially the keso?

  4. Barry says:

    PickPick: The Keso took me around 40 minutes, but I am sure that with some practice, and a brass blank, these times can come down.

    The Dom took about the same time, but that blank also was made out of very hard material. This even forced me to use a marker to get my first marks. If you look closely you can still see some ink residue on the blank.

    The Iseo and Abus were done under 30 minutes. The brass blanks are so much easier, and the Iseo only has six pins.

    I spend a lot of time on the Mul-T 7X7. But after wasting four blanks I just bumped it open ….

    Anyway, I am in contact with some spanish people who will bring used locks and blanks, so I can practice some more on impressioning dimple locks …

  5. next says:

    Hi again Barry!
    I´ve published both post in the two spanish lockpicking forums, to help you to find people here, in Spain.
    Have a nice stance in Barcelona, I can´t go to meet you, is a pitty.

  6. David says:

    Nice job Mr. Wels! I didn’t realize impressioning a dimple lock works just like a standard verticle blade pin tumbler. Good to know!

  7. Barry says:

    Next: Thank you for posting 😉

  8. mh says:

    Is that a DOM ix5?
    How would you approach a DOM ix10, with two pin rows beside each other?

  9. Barry says:

    mh: You are right, it is a DOM ix5 KG. And yes, the fact there is only one row of pins (per side!) makes it possible to impression it with a file (and cutting over the complete width of the blank).

    To do the same with an ix10 KG will be very difficult, as it uses two rows of pins next to each other (like you pointed out). Not impossible, but quite a magnitude more difficult to file. Or maybe you could use a computerized key cutter to cut the keys if filing becomes too difficult.

  10. victor says:

    Can someone help with Bump key for Keso 2000?
    Thank you