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Unlimited Lock Cylinder Shims

Buy new stuff and get free lock shims!

Almost everything purchased from a physical store these days has a magnetic anti theft device attached, or more often recently, inside the packaging where it is harder to remove while in-store!  Regardless of type, color, or placement, there is always at least one thin metal strip free floating inside each.

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Recovering the shims

Tilt the security device on it's end, then tap it on the table a few times to shake any free floating bits to the bottom of the container.  They are rarely clear on the back but it made for nice pictures!

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I use scissors to cut open the container, but try to get as close to the top as possible; static can prevent the strips from moving even when shaken.

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Make certain to cut low enough to fully open the top of the container.

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Turning it over and shaking is usually enough to drop out the 1 to 3 strips inside.  There will often be a strip or two, that is stuck inside the container... leave it/them, it's not worth the effort to remove unharmed, there is always another security device.

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These shims are incredibly thin at one and a half thousandths of an inch (0.0015")(0.038mm), making them great for cylinder shims but less good for decoding as they are too floppy for my taste.

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Saving every single security device from everything I normally buy would provide literally hundreds of these in no time!