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Modifying a SouthOrd 8-Pin Tubular Pick to a 7-Pin

All lock picking content is for educational and informational use only.

This was taken from a PDF and put into a more SEO friendly post.

Recently I purchased the SouthOrd Tubular 8 pick and the rubber handle just spun freely which seems to be a defect that another member also encountered. The loose handle actually worked in my favor. I removed it completely and was able to clamp it together between 2 pieces of wood to hold it steady while drilling. I used a drill press with a 1/16th drill bit and bought a 1/16th spring pin. The original pin and hole are just slightly smaller but replacing it with a 1/16th works just as well with NO difference. Below are some pictures of the procedure.

To hold the pick steady all I did was drill a 11/32 hole, which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the pick, and clamp it between two pieces of wood.

This close up picture sucks but I’m hoping to use my buddy’s camera that’ll take excellent close-up shots. If you look carefully you’ll see both pins in there.

Depending what type of lock you’ll be picking, you’ll have to remove one of these pins. I’ll try and have the new close-up pics posted by Tuesday.

Please note that removing the pin is easy enough with needle-nose pliers but putting it back in takes some time. To make it easier, I squeezed/squished the very tip of the pin so that it could be inserted easier in the hole. Once it’s there, just push the rest of the pin in by pushing the pick against a hard surface.

On the original 8-pin model, the spring pin is located between two of the sliding blades while on a 7-pin model the spring pin is located directly under one of the sliding blades. I drilled the whole about 90 degrees from the original spring pin.

The final product is an 8-pin tubular pick that will work on any 7 or 8 pin tubular lock!

To do this mod, it took me about 30 minutes and cost me less than $5.00 Cdn. The Crazy Glue was $1.69 and the 1/16th cobalt drill bit was $2.29. Not bad at all considering a new pick would run about $70.00 US.

Pdf of procedure can be obtained here.