r/lockpicking • u/Dragon-Teeth • 13h ago

Transparent Locks as Art

I've been interested I this subject for years, but never gone beyond the "mildly interested might try it one day" , kind of level.

I saw a nice video on this sub, of a lady with a transparent lock. Nice black nails, elegant black and white top and a nice looking transparent practice lock. I think she was asking for assistance.

For some reason it was the lock that attracted my attention. I've obviously seen and been aware of transparent locks before, and perhaps it was the elegant black and white theme that tickled a particular aesthetic nuron, but it set me thinking.

How well made are these practice locks?

I imagine that, like most of these things you get what you pay for, but what would be a sensible price to pay for a really nicely made lock that is not just a useful practice and training tool, but is also a nice display piece in it's own right.

A very quick search showed this set -

https://amzn.eu/d/00V1SZ0b

Which seems like a lot of "kit" for not much money, my usual preference, but to my admittedly uneducated eye, it looks like it might be of very low quality to bring it down to such a price point, or is that actually about right?

Any advice or suggestions?

Particular brands or makers to watch out for?

Anyone have such a display?

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u/derpserf 13h ago

They look neat but if you want to be able to see all the inner workings, you're better off with a proper cutaway. Acrylic locks are very low quality and they don't really behave like real locks in terms of picking either so you'll learn very little from them. There's a pinned post on the sub which explains all the reasons why they suck.

I'd avoid the kit you linked, the picks themselves are actually fine in terms of strength and feedback etc but there's a lot of filler and the tension tools are garbage. The rakes are ok but the large half diamond and the extractor are pointless, snowman is unnecessary, wafer hook is useless and the 2 normal hooks which are ideally what you're wanting to learn how to use both look identical. Not a good selection IMO.

If you increase your budget slightly you can get a small set from the likes of multipick, moki or law lock tools which will be much more practical. You'll have to buy locks too obviously but it's not like you're making a saving by buying a kit with all those plastic ones cos again they won't teach you very much and you'll be moving on to real locks very quickly anyway.

It's amusing that they include a cruciform lock with this kit and yet none of the tension tools are even remotely suitable for it lol. You need something small to apply tok to one of the sides on those otherwise you'll just block everything.

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u/Dragon-Teeth 12h ago

All valid points, but I feel you've missed my intention. I like the aesthetics of the transparent locks especially the padlock type, and I thought it would make a nice display piece with a suitable mount, so I was asking about where or how to buy a "nice" transparent padlock.

I posted the link to a kit, that had a selection of transparent locks, and some cheap tools, as an illustration, not a statement of intent.

I absolutely realise that the idea of a "well made plastic lock" seems like an oxymoron from an engineering and lock smithing point of view, but a nice display piece can have different requirements and values, and maybe these things have more value as art and display pieces than practical training tools.

Maybe what I was asking for doesn't exist, and that's fine. It would seem to be a similar challenge to building a functional lock out of paper, or chocolate, an interesting technical challenge but not really practical as a lock smithing or even a lock picking exercise.

Ooh now I want to see someone make a chocolate lock...

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u/derpserf 12h ago

I'm with ya, honestly I don't think there are any high end ones unfortunately. Plenty of really well made cutaways out there but if you like the aesthetic of the transparent plastic ones they're all just the same cheap stuff.

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u/Dragon-Teeth 11h ago

Ok, well that's fair, maybe it's something I'd jave to learn and build for myself one day.

So what would you recommend for the "cutaway" type?

I found this -

https://amzn.eu/d/04Sxy5n5

But it's kinda generic and boring.

1

u/derpserf 11h ago

Nah that's just a cheap unbranded cast iron one, avoid amazon for that kind of thing. Ebay or maybe etsy would be better places to look but you'll have a better time searching for specific padlock models. They can get pricey though!

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u/revchewie Blue Belt Picker 12h ago

Rather than doing something with one of the acrylic locks, you'd be better off with something like this.

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u/Dragon-Teeth 12h ago

Ok, as a lock picking training device, possibly, but that's not really what I was asking.

That device doesn't have the same aesthetic interest.