Dimple Lock

A pin-tumbler variant. The bitting is milled as dimple pockets into the key's flat faces rather than cut into a toothed edge, and the pins read those pockets at a shear line just like a normal pin tumbler. A top row travels straight down onto the top face and a second row pushes straight up from below; some high-security models add a third row that acts from the side. Cylinders often have 6-12 pins and tighter tolerances than a residential deadbolt.

• Dedicated dimple picks (flag picks) that enter flat and lift a pin from the side.
• A dimple tension wrench that grips the flats of the keyway.
• Dimple rakes for budget cylinders.
• Bump keys exist for some formats (Mul-T-Lock, ISEO).

1. Insert the flag pick and dimple tension wrench and apply light tension.
2. Single-pin pick each pin to the shear line as with a pin tumbler, but expect weaker feedback and go slower; solve each row.
3. On budget residential dimple cylinders, a dimple rake with light tension and quick passes may open it.

• Trying to use standard pin-tumbler picks — wrong geometry.
• Too much tension kills the already-weak feedback.
• Skipping clear-cylinder practice to learn what "set" feels like on this format.

High-security dimple locks add brand-specific secondary locking: Mul-T-Lock uses a telescoping pin-in-pin (the Interactive model adds a sprung "interactive" pin, MT5+ adds a sidebar element), ABUS Bravus uses profiled sidebars, and EVVA uses sliders or magnets — plus anti-bump measures across the category. Budget dimple cylinders are a different story.