Tony More - Lock Picking Made Easy (Locksmith Instruction Book 1)

The warded lock is one of the oldest lock designs still in usetoday, it is thought to have been developed in China and spreadto Europe during the middle Ages.

In elementary warded locks, a set of obstructions would block the rotation of any key not designed for that lock, they mayhave one simple ward, or many complicated wards with bends and complex protrusions but the principle remains the same, unless the keys shape corresponds to the wards in the lock, it will hit an obstruction and will not turn at all.

When a correct key is inserted inside the lock, it will clear thewards and rotate about the center post, then it will strike a lever activating a latch or sliding bolt to open the lock.

Warded Lock function
The key enters the lock thru a keyhole, and when the key if fully inserted a cavity in the tip of the key fits over a cylindrical post inside the lock. This provides a pivot point, about which the key can rotate,

Te notches in the key align with the obstructions or wards allowing it to rotate freely, thus the key will activate a lever or sliding bolt to open the lock.

In a pin tumbler lock an outer casing has a cylindrical hole in which the plug is housed and in order to open the lock, the plug must rotate inside the hole.

The plug has a slot at one end known as the keyway which allows the key to enter it and at the other end the plug mayhave a cam or lever that activates a mechanism to retract the bolt in order to open the lock. A series of holes are placedvertically in the plug which contain key pins of various lengths, there may be five or six holes containing pins and these are rounded to permit the key to slide over them easily.

Above each key pin is a corresponding set of spring-loaded driver pins. The outer casing has several vertical shafts, which holds the spring loaded pins.