How I made some picks

[WDPaladin]

PSS: My bad, the "soap" that I mentioned is the sculpy; I just browsed right over it.. Sorry!

PSSS: We need an edit button!

Paladin

[Tutrigo]

Thanks. I'll use this as a reference guide when I make my own tools.

[r0b0t1]

Hey, I was just looking to make metal handles like you had done and I was wondering how you got them so straight. I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong, but the metal always seems to go crooked (torqued sideways, probably due to the grinder but I've been trying to be careful) or it seems a bit irregular no matter what I do.

Not sure if this is something anyone can explain, maybe I just need practice...

[Olson Burry]

What I did was to make the handles slightly bigger than needed and then glued them. After the glue is set they can be carefully ground back, flush with the main body of the pick and finished.

[r0b0t1]

Right, thanks. Seriously good pictures though .

Maybe I should invest in a larger grinding wheel. At the moment I'm using a motor that has a dremel-like device attached to it, the metal cutting wheels are fairly good but are a tad small, maybe removing more material more smoothly would help.


Thanks though .

[Olson Burry]

A grinder with two wheels on it shouldn't cost more than $30 I should think and would be a worthwhile investment.

The wheels will last so much longer than any dremel style tool would - years if you're just grinding hacksaw blades and bits like that down.

It is easier to grind straight lines on a wider tool as well and it's also surprising at the detail you can achieve just on the grinder if you take time and be careful.

Thanks

[PickPhooey]

Awesome work! Kudos for the originality and design!

Phooey

[Darrylportelli]

Hey I too make my own picks(theres no greater satisfaction than to open a lock with a pick you made) but when I sand them down and polish them with autosol metal polish after a few days they tarnish and after months rust!!! do you think its from the brand of blades I use or do they all do it??

[Auselesspick]

Umm..I'm kindof new to this stuff and i don't have a grinder and don't have room for one so, just wandring if there is a different way of doing this without the grinder?I know you mentioned a dremel but i have a compressor dremel, would that do the trick?(Desperate for some picks after my old set went mysteriously missing for 3 weeks now )

[lsphinx]

Such a great Post. Really nice

I've made some myself but they are a bit flexible sideways, I mean they aren't very hard and straight. And I thought in making some thermal processes of hardening.

I don't know for sure the metal composition, so I don't know if it works well, but I have to try it soon.

[xBMW M3 GTR]

Ive made a few pics and tension wrenches out of engine dip-sticks. With the length you get, you can make alot of pick out of 1 stick. I also used an old stainless steel butter knife to make a rake (probably not the best to use a really hard material like that to rake against soft metal pins. Ive done a heavy amount of wear on my locks with that) Though with the butter knives, the sides may need to be ground down with a grinding wheel just a bit since some knives are wedged and not completely flat.

[peo82]

hello
I wanted to ask for information regarding the FIMO
we need an oven to heat the purpose fimo?

[femurat]

Hi peo82,

you can cook fimo, sculpy, cernit... in a oven or in boiling water. I prefer a pot of boiling water but that's just a personal choice.

If you're not willing to cook your handles, use a bi-component resin like milliput. This consists of 2 parts which you'll need to mix together. After a few minutes this resin starts curing itself so you don't need to cook it. You can find this in many modelling or DIY shops.

Cheers

[peo82]

thanks for the information!

[slimjim123]

Such a great Post. Really nice

I've made some myself but they are a bit flexible sideways, I mean they aren't very hard and straight. And I thought in making some thermal processes of hardening.

I don't know for sure the metal composition, so I don't know if it works well, but I have to try it soon.

I found the hacksaw blade metal to be a bit flimsy, (at least the blades I used to make the pics.)