John Loughlin of Stanton Concepts came all the way to Sneek to show us
his invention. Together with his Bob Loughlin (his dad) they have invested quite some
time and money on this lock. And now John came to Sneek. To show us
how the lock works (with prototypes), and to maybe learn more about how
we would attack a system like theirs. First of all about the lock: it
is in fact a combination lock, as one would find on a safe. But
looking at the internals of the lock it does remind of Abloy too, with
all those disks and the sidebar. Look at this video to see the lock in
action, it really is a piece of art (or click on the image below to view the video).

The nice thing about this lock is that the combination is dialed with
a robot dialer. So the person controlling the key does not necessarily
need or have the combination. The key will dial it. It is also
possible to dial the combination by hand, using a special tool.

We have given John some suggestions. From covertly trying to record
the sequence with a contact microphone, and trying to figure out the
combination by listening closely how long it takes to rotate a disc,
to using a surface sander (abrader) to make the discs turn externally
by vibration. If the sidebar is in the top of the lock, the discs
might vibrate in the right position because of gravity. The part with
the cuts is the lightest of the disc, and will rotate cut-upwards when
vibrated. These are the kind of things you want to know before going
to mass production…

(Images by Eric Schmiedl)

I promised some exclusive video’s shot at the Dutch Open 2006.
At Sneek I met a guy named Paul, who was from the UK. Man did he have
nice tools to show. I am glad he was willing to also show them to you.

Here are some of the nicest tools on the market! Click on the image to see the video.

Falle decoder pick for the UK Chubb 110 lever lock. Clever tool!

Falle decoder pick for Ford Tibbe disk locks. Also a clever tool!

 

Please do not pay attention to the noisy environment these videos
where shot in. After all, it was the Dutch Open… humming and buzzing
with interesting people exchanging the latest tips and tricks….

I hope you will enjoy the videos since I do not know how often I will
have time to update this webblog the following week.

The remaining voting computers in the Netherlands are going to be
thoroughly inspected and, for the first time in history, sealed.
At the meeting in Dutch Parliament our minister refused to answer
questions on how this sealing was done. All information was
classified, and members of parliament who wanted to know more could
only be informed behind closed doors. In other words … highly
sensitive stuff. Not what I have in mind with transparent democracy!

But the information leaked out already. All municipalities have access
to a closed off website from the ministry of internal affairs. One of
then decided to put the login information on their public website. Thanks!

Needless to say the files are mirrored on our site. Looking at them we
found they really outdone themselves. For every situation that might
occur during the elections there is a scenario what to do. And we
learned what way the voting computers are sealed. I was curious what
company actually made these seals. The answer is in the comments…

Berend Eggers won the Dutch Open 2006. Many people wonder what’s the
secret of becoming a champion. If you look at Toool.nl’s FAQ you can
find the answer. It has to do with the ‘Three O rule’ (the reason
Toool is spelled with three O’s).In order to become a champion you
need to practise Over and Over and Over again. Unfortunately the
Germans seem to follow this rule more then the Dutch.

At the ‘party of the champions’ on Saturday we learned Berends secret.
I must say I am very impressed, picking locks right after you have
been competing all day… amazing. These Germans just don’t know when
to quit. Respect!

If you want to learn his secret take a look at this video (2 minutes WMV 9 Mb)

It’s over. Most people are home now, others are still in a plane,
flying back to the other side of the planet. If you will ask them how
it was the answer will probably be they had the time of their life.
Ok, maybe there are one or two out of this crowd of 100 people that
have something to bitch about. But I keep in mind they can only be
truly happy if they have something to bitch about (yes, you know who
you are). So my conclusion is that everybody is happy, one way or the other.

The image above is that of gold plated bump keys for Schlage, Yale and ASSA twin.
A gift from Babak, Eric Michaud, Eric Schmiedel and Schuyler from Toool USA.
I don’t know what to say to receive such nice gifts …. thanks guys!

There is a lot to tell about the open, and I promise to make some nice
and exclusive video available online in a couple of days. For now you will have
to do with Eric Schmiedel’s impressive photo collection (day 1, 2 and 3) and a Dutch
television item (Windows Media 16 Mb).

I now need to get some serious sleep, Wednesday I am flying to Dubai for the GITEX exhibition.

Another mystery solved. Regular visitors of this weblog might remember
I mentioned something about the police investigating a ‘burglary
tool’. They had no clue what it was or could be, and asked lots and
lots of people in the lock industry. And many of them asked me.

I am sure we would have had hours of fun speculating what it could be in
Sneek at the Dutch Open today. But Eric spoiled the fun and mailed the
answer. Thanks Eric!

Here a picture of the mystery object. If you want to find out what it
is click here, or read the comments.

Eric Schiedel of Toool.US is in town. He is currently staying in
Amsterdam to visit the Dutch Open saturday. One of Eric’s passions is
photography. I invite you all to look at his open directory and see
some of his art. If you go there you will find some nice locks and
lock technology. And since of last night there is a toool Amsterdam
map. Below a picture where you can clearly see Toool is a sportgroup.
On the left you see some ladies playing volleyball, on the right the
lockpickers.

The atmosphere in Amsterdam was excellent last night. Maybe we should
organize more Dutch Opens….

P.s. For our Dutch readers: een PDF van het stukje uit het Parool over deze gezellige toool avond

This Bump key story is getting a little out of hand. It just popped up in China! 

Headline: 80% locks can be opened by a special-made key.

PLC, one of the biggest local lock agencies, said that they learnt this 4
years ago in an international exhibition, but they tested the loophole until
last year. As the effect would be huge, they didn’t disclose it to the
public. The Hong Kong Locksmith Society said that 80% locks could be opened,
and the situation became worsen after this news is disclosed to the public.

In our test, our reporter, who had known nothing about lockpicking before,
successfully opened the first lock with a bump key in two minutes. This
method has shocked experts in the industry, because it required no
expertise, it leaves no clues that the lock was opened and the tool looks
like a normal key.

Barry Wels, chairman of Toool.nl in Netherlands, had described the
vulnerablity is one of the serious loophole in locks, but as it would affect
the interests of some locksmiths and lock companies, people tend to not to
discuss it.  In the tests conducted by Toool.nl, some police-certified locks
were opened with a bump key. (Image copyright Paul Boven)

Just one more week till the Dutch Open in Sneek is going to happen.
An exiting time. And a very busy one. Today I collected 50% of the
locks we will use for the games. Since a lot of sportpickers always
want to know what they are up against here is some info:

For the regular games we bought a bunch of ISEO 8209 locks. A nice and
decent lock. Time will tell how pickable they are, but I expect each Ssdev and Toool
member to at least open a few of them.

For the finals and semi-finals we have bought ‘federal locks’. These
locks are much tougher to pick. Six pins and some of them serrated. Only
the best four lockpickers of the Dutch Open will face these locks.

 

 
To also give the less talented (or lucky?) pickers a chance to win a
nice price, one of the federal ‘cut away’ locks will find a new owner by
a small lottery (among with a some other nice prices!). So please join
the games! You can keep one of the official locks used in the games too.

For the real diehards close up images of the keyways are available here.
Close observers will see both keyways look similar. The Federal keyway
is a little more narrrow. Iseo keys do not fit Federal, but Federals does fit Iseo.

More on the Dutch Open 2006 coming up this weekend. You can still
register till Monday (if you are an Ssdev or Toool member).

Always wanted to know the exact spacing en depths of one of the
following locks? : Arrow, Corbin, Dexter, Emhart, Falcon, Ilco,
Kaba, Kwikset, Lockwood, Medeco, Medeco Biaxial, Medeco Keymark,
Russwin, Sargent, Schlage, Segal, System 70, Weiser, Weslock or Yale

Too bad. The site hosting this wealth of information decided to remove it.

 

Fortunately there is http://www.archive.org and the ‘wayback machine’. There is no escape …
Just try: http://web.archive.org/web/20050215102400/http://dlaco.com/spacing/spacing.htm

Or download a .PDF file with the exact spacings here.