"XPUZMAG" Lock- Creative new lock design! (Pics + Video)

[10ringo10]

Marduk, that is an amazing lock, I don't care what others say. The design reminds me of a Van Lock with that key. However I like the idea of the floating face plate and extra false pins. I have to wonder though how hard it would be to drill, is that face plate hardened? Like others have said, if indeed the housing is cast zinc, I would think it wouldn't take a whole lot to have it cast in a better grade of aluminum or a bronze for not much more in cost. One thing I will say is that, it kind of makes me sad to think that all these new lock designs are being designed overseas, when originally all the latest ideas were coming from Great Britton and the good ole USA. Thanks for sharing all these locks, I do enjoy seeing them none the less. Mark

This is the K- type made in the uk in the 1950,s by one Cyril kieft the first to try a new lock design and interesting to boot - add another row of pins and cover plate
and there you have it

[mercurial]

With only 6 possible pin locations, the decoding attack I described above (use a probe to measure how far the pins can be pushed in & deducing the bitting from that information), combined with a buildup key, becomes an easy & devastating attack on this lock.

The idea that 40 different bitting depths are available is fanciful at best, in my opinion. There is no way that cheap die-cast zinc alloy can accommodate the level of precision required for this! I think the claim that the tolerances are so good that they negate the need for security pins is foolhardy.

Marduk - do you know if the lock uses only one size of driver pin, or are you able to measure how far each active pin can be pushed in? A probe with a scale marked on it would suffice.

Also, it was stated that only some of the extra pins can 'possibly' be overset, blocking the shear line. I think it is safe to assume that the location of these pins does not vary from cylinder to cylinder. That being the case, the lock can be tensioned very easily by pushing a peg into a hole that houses a pin that cannot block the shear line & then using the rotating plate to tension the lock.

...Mark

[Marduk28]

Totally agree with you Mercurial~

Some of these designers don't know much about lock sport. I think their main idea was to make a lock that looks and behaves in a unique and confusing way that a random person with a rake or standard pick set would be left flabbergasted.

I took a rough measurement of pin depth and it looks like each pin can be pressed down to about a maximum depth of 3mm. Something must have definitely been lost in translation about the key cuts~ because I can't wrap my head around that.

One thing I will give them though is that without any prior analysis of the key or explanation about how it works~ It's quite hard to figure out how this lock works exactly. I was staring wide eyed and drooling for several minutes before I got the key to analyze further.


I know opinions on this lock are mixed, but hey~ without interesting Taiwanese Lock designs~ what the heck would I talk about in my videos!!??

[GWiens2001]

Think every design has some sort of flaw. Personally glad that Marduk and others bring these unusual locks to our attention. It allows us to exercise our minds and try to figure out how they hypothetically work.

But yeah... 40 bitting depths? Kinda have my doubts about more than six, eight at the outside on a die-cast lock.

Gordon

[escher7]

Some design ideas:

Key,
A spring loaded retractable shroud over the pins instead of capm.
More of a thumb turn bow with colour inserts for identification.

Lock:
Other than hardening the cylinder as already mentioned possibly miniaturising the entire assembly. I imagine he's already working on that.

Smaller pins/holes and squashing the key into a flatter shape would make the key much easier to carry. Also, the cap is guaranteed to get lost. Maybe just have a locator peg exposed and then once lined up, just push on the key to advance the others which would be spring loaded.

[escher7]

Would something like this which is adjustable tension it but made on a smaller scale the two lugs would grip the side of the part that rotates, this is from a vernier gauge (which I photoshopped)...

123.jpg

With rubber tips to create friction against the rim.

[mercurial]

I know opinions on this lock are mixed, but hey~ without interesting Taiwanese Lock designs~ what the heck would I talk about in my videos!!??

Regardless of the security it offers, this is an interesting and unusual lock & I really appreciate the time you take to find & share them all with us! I for one hope that you wouldn't hesitate to share an unusual lock, just because it has some vulnerabilities or dubious claims made about it by the inventor/manufacturer.

When you pushed the pins in as far as possible, were you able to notice a difference between how far they could be pushed? Could you compare how far the pins corresponding to the longest and shortest pegs on the key can be depressed? I would expect the pins corresponding to shorter pegs on the key cannot be pushed as far as those corresponding to longer pegs on the key.

...Mark

[Farmerfreak]

I know opinions on this lock are mixed, but hey~ without interesting Taiwanese Lock designs~ what the heck would I talk about in my videos!!??

Regardless of the security it offers, this is an interesting and unusual lock & I really appreciate the time you take to find & share them all with us! I for one hope that you wouldn't hesitate to share an unusual lock, just because it has some vulnerabilities or dubious claims made about it by the inventor/manufacturer.

+1
I think it's a pretty cool lock. Yes, it has some flaws, most/all locks do.

[Marduk28]

Could you compare how far the pins corresponding to the longest and shortest pegs on the key can be depressed? I would expect the pins corresponding to shorter pegs on the key cannot be pushed as far as those corresponding to longer pegs on the key.

>> Yup~ You are absolutely right! The shorter the peg, the less it can be depressed. Good thinking!



I am really glad to be able to share and discuss with the community! You guys always offer great ideas and insight!

Don't worry ~ I got some more interesting stuff I want to show on my channel!

As long as I keep finding them~ I'll keep sharing them!

Thanks for your support guys!

[mercurial]

Bosnianbill has made a video about this lock : http://youtu.be/-9k4pn0P3cI

As suspected, it is easily picked.

In addition, my suspicion that the pins that are not touched by the key cannot in fact be overset, blocking the shear line, has also been confirmed. These pins cannot interact with the shear line in any way whatsoever.

It seems to me that the designer of this lock has a fairly flexible relationship with the truth! Did it not occur to him that given these locks were going to people who experiment with locks, his dishonesty would soon become obvious?

The decoding method I described above could easily be made into a very quick opening tool. The tool would be like a key, but with movable elements in place of the pegs. The tool would be put onto the lock, the elements would then each pushed in as far as the lock allows & then locked in place.

The tool can then be used as a key, by inserting it gradually whilst applying torque. This would open the lock in mere seconds! The use of balanced driver pins would obviously render this approach ineffective.

...Mark

[jharveee]

There you have it!
Lock Picked.
Thanks for sharing the video.
It was interesting to see the guts shots, cleared up some false claims.

[jharveee]

http://youtu.be/wjZPohFzyJg
Found this video on Youtube.
Boy...it makes me want to put this lock on my house.
Looks pretty confusing.

[oldbiscuit]

Marduk, are all the locks set up the same? By that I mean, are all the key pins in the same order? I would think that the manufacturer would use different holes and configurations on different locks to add to the security. If they do use different configurations, I don't think one would be able to make a tool like Mark is suggesting. I also would think that the addition of security pins, either spool or mushroom would have made this a much more difficult lock to pick. Not to take any credibility away from Bosnian Bill, but if one were to be presented this lock, mounted horizontally, in a door, without a key to look at, so one would not know before hand how many pins needed to be picked. I think it would be a pretty tough task, much harder than the video presents. We really don't know for certain whether or not BB opened the back of the lock before his first successful pick or not. I'm just a skeptic at heart, and I don't always believe what I see on Youtube. Mark

[Marduk28]

A couple things have recently been clarified:

1. The Pin positions are fixed to those 6 spots
2. The dummy pins cannot block the shear line (This was a big surprise to me as the manufacturer implied otherwise-- [possibly a language barrier thing, but I can't be sure]).
3. There are no security pins
4. The lock in the very least looks resistant to bumping.

It seems like this lock is so close to being a real toughy-- they just need to tweak the design a bit! (i.e. Add security pins + allow multiple number of pins to be used + add real trap pins that will block the shear line).

I hope the Designer can learn a good lesson from Bill's analysis.

Creative and cool looking lock for sure~ but would benefit greatly with some revisions.