So far, we've been picking locks "a pin at a time," with a single pin stack set at the shear line in the sequence dictated by whatever misalignments are present in the cylinder. Cushions: The cushions are designed to provide a more controlled and less bouncy rebound than pool tables. Ceres, the solar system's largest asteroid, has less than 1/40,000th the mass of Earth; the Moon, a mere 1/80th. These objects are the heaviest you're likely to find - there are heavier moons and entire planets you could consider using, but to be honest from this point of view it looks more like using a succession of hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of smaller asteroid impacts would be a better bet. Suppose that they all jumped ten metres in the air (a huge overestimate, fifty centimetres is more likely and probably much less). Players agree ahead of time that they will reach a set number of points to be considered the winner (a typical game is one hundred points, whereas a professional game is usually one hundred fifty points). Only one pin stack should be in a binding state at any given time, of course. The "on" balls are those that can be pocketed on any given turn.

For example, Medeco locks use special wedge-shaped bottom pins that are rotated into one of several possible positions by the key cuts (which can be cut at different angles). One of the pins should be unset/binding ("squishy") while the other should be unset/not-binding ("springy"). Once you do this, one of the pins will be in the unset/binding state while the other (the one you set) will be in the set/not-binding state . The Y1 keyway is one of the toughest you are likely to encounter in real lock installations in the US. These are typically pin tumbler locks, but their orientation is "upside down" with respect to the convention for locks installed in the United States. It feels much as it does when binding and unset, but will not set (since a binding pin can only move up, not down). The magazine's content includes some of the best instructional columns anywhere (with such high-caliber names as pool legends Mike Sigel and Nick Varner), professional and amateur coverage, industry news, personality profiles, billiards history and culture, and much more, including many unusual, innovative and highly informative billiard articles found in no other publication of any kind. Better quality locks are less forgiving of too much torque.

The lock mechanism can open when the notches on the disks are lined up at a particular rotation. Spend a lot of time playing with the three pin lock so that you can recognize the pin states easily and naturally. Learn to pick this lock one pin at a time. As you progress, you should know the state of the lock at all times: which pins are set, which aren't, which one is binding. All collisions are elastic, in other words, no energy is lost, so the billiard ball computer can run forever. 8-ball is one of the most popular billiards games, played with a total of 15 numbered balls and the 8-ball serving as the game-winning ball. You may find one of the smaller LAB hook picks to be easier here than the larger Peterson picks, although you can usually still pick this keyway with the small Peterson hook. You'll probably want to use one of the smaller LAB picks, although the small Peterson hook will sometimes do with care and practice.

However, it is worth experimenting with different rakes and raking techniques to find one or two that work well for you. For this exercise, you'll use your torque tool and pick on the two pin lock to put the pins in each of these states to learn what they feel like with your pick. Instead, they use flat "wafers," typically extending across the full height of the plug. If pushed up, it eventually sets and the plug turns slightly (and the pin stack's state changes to set/not-binding). Note that these locks have been deliberately pinned with a short pin behind a long one. Do not assume that the next pin will be adjacent to the one you just set. Learn what a pin in that state feels like. It feels "springy," as it does when no torque is applied. If this happens, what is billiards you won't get the lock open until you release torque and start over. In a lock with six pin stacks with a uniform chance of a pin setting at either shear line, the probability of a picked lock actually opening is only 1/64. Picking techniques for these locks involve the use of special torque tools designed to put torque on only one of the two concentric plugs.