From: D.Morgan@bradford.ac.uk (D MORGAN)
Newsgroups: alt.locksmithing
Subject: Re: Historical Questions on Locksmithing
Date: 28 Jan 93 05:55:38 GMT
Organization: University of Bradford, UK
Originator: 92191459@muser

warlord@MIT.EDU (Derek Atkins) writes:

>I'll try to answer this as best as I can.  I've also played role-playing
>games with the same "technological limits" as your situation....  However,
>I'll answer from the present and try to provide a guess for the past, as
>I'm not an historian....

>   1)  What material(s) were lock picks frequently made from?  Is there
>       a general "order of quality" involved?

>Basically any type of springy metal.  Spring steel is the best, IMHO,
>but others have made make-shift picks from bicycle spokes or similar-
>consistency metals.  Lockpicks basically look like a bunch of short
>pieces of metal with various cuts, twists, bends, etc.

If you want to set a range of values, set cheapo picks to be the ones that 
bend, wear etc. I dont know if anyone would be seen dead nowadays using 
picks that are easy to bend ouy of shape, ie soft metal, but in thise times,
metal had to be hammered into shape, and could only be joined by 
forge-welding, an art in itself. It is to be expected that the picks of those
times were frequently of an extremely low standard. 
For cheapo picks, a test should be made every attempt (2% cumulative sounds 
right, to show the wear on the pick) to see if the pick breaks in the lock.

>   2)  Can one learn to pick locks alone?  How do learning rates compare
>       with (a) working as a locksmith apprentice, and (b) having a personal
>       tutor in the field?

>I've found that the best way to learn is alone.  It helps to have
>instructors to get the knowledge of how locks work, but the actual
>ability to get one open is a personal-experience thing.  You can have
>someone there to kind of help you along, and give suggestions, but you
>have to figure out your own technique:  how much torque, style, etc.
>And this cannot be taught.  Basically, the more practice, the better
>one will become.  However if its not used in a long time, the "feel"
>can be lost, but it can be picked up easily.

I hope one can, as I intend to.
As I see it (everyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong; I probably am),
it would be easyer to obtain a wider range of locks to dismantle, and therefore
understand, as an apprentice. 
However, if the locksmith does not teach his apprentice the art of lockpicking,
then the apprentice would have to reinvent the wheel; design his own picks, 
etc.

>   3)  I would guess that the most effective method for opening chests
>       and coffers would be to destroy them rather than pick the lock;
>       is this the case?

>Depends on the chest, and how subtle you want to be.  If you don't
>want anyone to know you've been there, I highly recommend spending the
>time to pick the lock rather than destroy someone else's property.
>Also, destroying a metal chest might be quite difficult!

The destruction of a chest, or the smashing of the lid, etc. could also 
be ruled to have a detrimental effect on the objects inside; breaking 
bottles, etc. 

>   4)  Given that my imaginary world is made up of several races with
>       widely varying histories and cultures, is it reasonable for me to
>       claim that elvish locks are significantly different from dwarvish
>       locks?  What sort of re-training (on the spot, a few days, etc.) 
>       would be required to acclimate to the new locks?

>There are many different types of locks even in our own human-only
>world!  However, the way a lock works, physically, is the same across
>all types of locks (one piece of metal stops another piece of metal
>from moving, and a third piece of metal is used to move the first one
>out of the way of the second).

Thos does nit mean that each race would not have its own preffered method of 
lockmaking; I see dwarves as generally fairly clannish and tending to live as a
group, so internal locks would be unnecessary. However, their external defenses
are always sturdy and reliable, with extremely good but not fancy workmanship.
Weak picks would rarely be capable of moving the heavily-sprung tumblers.

Elves would, i envisage, have much fancyer mechanisms, involving much fancyer
keyshapes and intricate routines that need to be enacted (3 turns right, 2 
left...)

>   5)  Locks become physically harder to pick with age, correct?  But does
>       the level of locksmithing advance quickly in this time period or 
>       are locks from the 1600's roughly equivalent to locks from the 1790's?

>Depends on the lock.  A well-maintained lock will last a long time.
>However one left out in the wind and rain will quickly rust and bind!
>I don't know about the technology.

It depends on the machining, as I see it; if your lock is made by forging,
filing, sawing and rivetting by hand then you will not get a Yale.

Also, new techniques of picking will need to be countered by the better locks.

>   6)  Can "unpickable" locks be fashioned with this level of technology?
>       If so, what does "unpickable" translate to in terms of time span?

>No.  There is no such thing as an "unpickable" lock.  There are locks
>that are EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to pick, but no lock that I know of is
>*impossible* (although many come close ;-).  Some locks can be opened
>in 5 seconds, and others can take over 10-15 minutes or more!  Or, one
>can just fail totally!

Hmmm. The Elves may well have some difficult ones that the average thief 
would not have the tools to pick.

...stuff deleted...

>   10) Is it possible to pick locks with one hand?  Does ambidexterity help?

>Its fairly difficult to pick with one hand, but its quite possible.
>Ambidexterity can help only in that when one hand gets tired of
>picking, you can switch it for the hand thats torquing, etc.

At this level of technology, i should think 2 fingers and a thumb. 
Elves are differnt, of course; they need total concentration.
Dwarved locks probably need a lot of force, so a minimum of 1 haand.

BTW, I should think that having 3 or more hands would be a definite advantage,
with any lock. Time penaltys for using only 1 hand).

>   Thank you in advance,
>No problem.  I hope this helps.  If anyone else has any comments,
>please share them.

Most of what I say is total speculation, but thats life. Happy RPGing...
-- 
|ok, this is a test of a 4 line sig to see if anything happens;            |
|fat chance  |TO EB OR NOT TO EB.\what is that wiggly line just to the left|
|slim chance |That's no question /side of this piece of writing there for? |
|Whatever.   |   -Shakespear(NOT)\Well, to be quite frank, I have no idea. |
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