curious alternative to impressioning
Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:34 pm
On Saturday in the shop I made my first attempt at impressioning a key. The other guys looked on, incredulous. None of them use this method, and most don't even know about it. Ultimately I validated all their doubts by failing to produce a working key.
But then the one co-worker whose Spanish I never understand decided to show me a different technique. After picking and rotating the lock, he took out a box of matches and tore off the heads of about five of them. One by one, he put them in his mouth, gnawed on them a little bit, and then stuffed them into the keyhole. I guess he expected the plug to turn freely once he got enough matches in there. But he tested it too soon and the upper pins snapped back into place when he spun the plug around. I had to disassemble the lock to dig the soggy matches out of it with tweezers and picks.
My question:
How was this process supposed to work, and what's the term for it in English?
But then the one co-worker whose Spanish I never understand decided to show me a different technique. After picking and rotating the lock, he took out a box of matches and tore off the heads of about five of them. One by one, he put them in his mouth, gnawed on them a little bit, and then stuffed them into the keyhole. I guess he expected the plug to turn freely once he got enough matches in there. But he tested it too soon and the upper pins snapped back into place when he spun the plug around. I had to disassemble the lock to dig the soggy matches out of it with tweezers and picks.
My question:
How was this process supposed to work, and what's the term for it in English?