My newest picks

[Josh66]

These are the first picks I've actually made handles for. Now that I know what I've been missing, I'm making handles for all of my other picks.

The handles are aluminum (7075-T6), the picks are made from a band saw blade (about .025" thick).

[femurat]

Cool handles, I like them

I guess you riveted or screwed them to the pick and then ground away the bolt head.

Cheers

[Josh66]

Thanks. Yeah, I riveted them on (countersinking them a little first) then sanded away the head/tail.

Here's another picture that shows the whole handle:


I should have spent more time sanding and polishing the handles... Oh well, I can always finish them better later.

They both work good. And, I have to say that it's nice having a handle.

[Josh66]

I just made some new ones - wow, those first handles look like crap now!


IMG_9260 by J E, on Flickr


IMG_9259 by J E, on Flickr

The middle one in the second picture, I saw a picture somewhere on here of a pick that looked sort of like that and thought "What a great idea!".

OK, now that I'm done making them, time to go test them out.

[edsmiley]

Looking good Josh. Let us know how well they work!

Cheers,
Ed

[atticRR]

those look amazing! how did you end up with a mirror finish like that? how long, what polishing methods? i wanna try it!

[Josh66]

Thanks. They seem to be working pretty good so far!

those look amazing! how did you end up with a mirror finish like that? how long, what polishing methods? i wanna try it!

I cut out the rough shape of the handle on the band saw, riveted them together, did the rough shaping with 100 grit sanding discs on a die grinder, smoothed that out with blue (fine) Scotch-Brite pads (also on the grinder), then 400 grit sandpaper by hand.

After that, I did some polishing with my Dremel's buffing pad, and the polish that came in the kit with the Dremel, "Dremel No. 421 Polishing Compound".

Then I polished by hand with Flitz polish (it's kind of expensive (a little cheaper on Amazon), but it works good). I've been using Flitz for years - that stuff is great.

I think the hand polishing is what really made it shine.


If I had any sandpaper finer than 400, I wouldn't have had to do so much with the Dremel.

For all three of them, together - I'd say I spent about an hour making the actual picks, then for the handles - 2 hours with the grinder, 1 hour sandpaper, 1 hour Dremel, and maybe 45 minutes hand polishing.

[atticRR]

right on, thanks for that info. this is definately something i will be trying out, i cant get over how much i like that look. Keep up the good work!

[Josh66]

Here's what they (two of them, anyway) looked like before I put the handles on:


IMG_9251 - My next project by J E, on Flickr

The holes are #40 (.098"), for a 3/32 rivet.

[raimundo]

I noticed in the "before" pictures that you seem to have a bit of the ripple edge of the hacksaw on that tang, does that interfere with the fit along that edge,? and do you just then grind deep enough to make that go away?

[Josh66]

I did sand that surface down a little though (any ripple that was there was gone by the time I put the handles on), I just didn't worry about getting a perfect finish on it since it would be covered by the handle.
(That picture is 'before', but not 'right before'.)

[Josh66]

I just finished 2 more today (and I made 2 last week that I haven't shown).

Sorry for posting so many pictures (hope none of you guys are on dial-up, lol) - hopefully it's worth it though.
If the color looks 'off' in some of the pictures, I didn't spend much time on them, and I did pretty much no editing. And my sensor is dusty and needs cleaned...

This one broke while I was forming the handles (it was vibrating like crazy, and the tip flew off) - I had to figure out something else to turn it into...
(It works great too - very small, but very strong (titanium) - great feel with it.)








This one came out really cool. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures, but the handle is wide and flat near the pick end. Basically the opposite of how a regular handle would be. If you hold it with the handle flat in your hand, the pick points up (or down).








A new rake:


And an old rake that didn't have handles:



I explained earlier a little on how I make them. I wish I could take pictures as I go, but I do a lot of the work on my free time at work (and I'm not allowed to take pictures there - even with my phone).
I guess I 'could' do step-by-step pictures, but each 'step' would have to be shot at home - making it take a few days to finish one. As soon as I get an air compressor that's quiet enough to run inside an apartment, I'll be doing all of the work at home. step-by-step pictures will be much easier then.

Anyway - here's a little more detail on how I make them. First, I cut/file out the 'blanks', and then drill 3 or 4 (depending on how long it is) equally spaced holes through the handle area. I use either a #30 (.1285") or #40 (.098") drill bit - for 1/8" and 3/32" rivets, respectively.

Next I get the material I'm going to use for the grips. I drill a hole in it (the first hole doesn't have to be in exactly the right spot - just close), then cleco the pick on. If you don't know what a cleco is, imagine a clamp that goes inside a hole - there are different sizes for common hole sizes. Then I drill another hole, cleco it, drill another hole, cleco it - so on. After it's all drilled up, I outline the pick with a fine point sharpie (any 'marking instrument' would work fine).

Then I flip the pick over and repeat all of that. After that's done, I cut them out on the band saw - leaving a little extra material.

After that, I cleco the whole assembly together and sand down the "nose" (where the pick sticks out from the handles) till I get to the pick material. Now, I take the clecos out, take the pick out, then cleco the handles back together (without the pick). Now I round off the nose and shape it a little. I do it this way because it's much easier without having to risk hitting the shaft of the pick.

After that's done, I rivet (double-flush - countersunk rivets, with a countersink on the tail side too, shoot it till the tail fills the countersink) the whole thing together - everywhere but the nose is still rough at this point. I found that it's easier than trying to work around the clecos. Now I just sand the edges down till I get to the pick material all the way around.

Now the fun part starts - I do all of the shaping and round everything off.

Now you have a lot of sanding, and then a lot of polishing to do. And then you're done!

[raimundo]

beautiful work. once you start making picks you will never buy them again. (except the specials that are for only one brand like abloy or multi)

[Josh66]

My latest pick.

Enjoy.

[atticRR]

freekin awesome. i'll be trying this once i get set up at my new place. Can you take a pic of the cleco thing? i googled it and still dont really understand what it is/ how it works. a picture of the rivet you use would be great as well. Ive been stocking up on random aluminum stock as i come across it, im assuming pretty much any Al will work.

Again, great work, those picks look so slick and professional!