Day 1

First day.

I spent most of this time just messing with the different tools, seeing what does that and just fumbling around with the tools and a cheap $15 kwikset deadbolt I bought.

I tried picking the lock but it didn't seem to work out. I could get some of the pins to stick but I couldn't get more than 2.
I read a little bit and saw that most people start out just raking the lock, so I tried that.
I started off using a full rake and the tension wrench.
My first attempt took several minutes, but I was finally able to get the lock open.

I spend a few hours practicing and got my times down from 5 minutes to about a minute, and now I can open the lock with one or two rocking motions. As I got better, I found that I could also rake the lock with a c rake, which felt like if gave me more control. It's a good start, but also a rather lousy lock.

I tried the same technique on a master padlock but I couldn't get more then 3 pins up, and even that was hard.

I also ordered some clear locks so that I can practice picking and so I will be able to see what I am doing.