How to Pick a Baldwin Door Lock

If the door to your house is protected by a Baldwin lock, you can still pick it.

If you are locked outside your home and need to pick your Baldwin door lock, you need a few items to help you try to unlock all of the pins inside the tumbler. Although there are a few basic tools and skills, much of lock-picking comes down to a combination of luck and patience. You must only pick locks that belong to you, whether it is for amusement or if you are locked out.

Things You'll Need

• Pick
• Tension wrench

Instructions

1. Insert the tension wrench into the tumbler lock of the Baldwin door lock assembly. You need to keep a slight pressure on the wrench, so that when the pins are all picked, you are able to turn the lock.

2. Insert the pick into the keyhole and slowly rake it back and forth and up and down in order to set the pins into their pin holes. Depending on which type of Baldwin lock you have installed on your home, there may be a variety of pin and pin hole combinations. Continue to rake the pick backward and forward across the key hole until the pins reach the "shear" point, at which they are locked in place and permit the lock itself to turn.

3. Use the pick to feel around for each pin. Baldwin locks typically employ four to six pins depending on the lock's model and design. If you release and remove the tension wrench, you ought to hear slight clicks as the pins release from the shear point and the lock is reset. Although you have to use the pick to set each pin back to the shear point, at least you know that you are doing it correctly. If you have set each pin, but the lock still does not turn with pressure on the tension wrench, then the pins have been pushed too far up into the shaft interface and you have to start over again.

4. Apply less pressure on the tension wrench if you have had to start over. Since Baldwin locks are made with a higher quality of craftsmanship than standard door locks, you will need more tension and must try to set multiple pins at a time rather than doing one at a time.

References

• Baldwin Hardware: Baldwin Lock
• LockPick Guide: Pin Tumbler Lock
• Gunslot: How To Pick A Lock

Resources

• Tech FAQ: How To Pick Locks
• Lock Pick Library: Lock Picking Techniques & Lockpicking Guides.
• MIT Lock Guide
• The Document Which Used To Be Called The MIT Lockpicking Guide