About metal, its treatment for making better picking tools

[pickmonger]

I came across this site on blacksmithing.

http://anvilfire.com/

They have an excellent collection of FAQs for those who are interested in understanding the different properties of steel and other metals, and how they can be fine tuned to make the best lock pick material.

Of course many lockpickers have no interest in learning about steel and how to fine tune it.

But to learn some basics about tempering and annealing, rockwell hardness, effect of carbon content on the properties of steel etc etc
this site is a helpfull start.


Heat Treating
Hardening, tempering. Selected Q&A and metals heat treating specifications. Added Salt Bath information 11/23/2003
Links to materials information resources.

Temper Color Chart with Steel Hardness
UPDATED! Standard temper color names text plus HTML color with Fahrenheit and Celsius. NEW Steel Hardness Temper data for four common SAE carbon steels.

Steel product types
Commercial forms of steel, hot roll, cold drawn or finished (HR and CF bar)

[Wolfe]

hey thx for the links.

In my opinion metallurgy has many uses.

[fsdhy]

I came across this site on blacksmithing.

http://anvilfire.com/

They have an excellent collection of FAQs for those who are interested in understanding the different properties of steel and other metals, and how they can be fine tuned to make the best lock pick material.

Of course many lockpickers have no interest in learning about steel and how to fine tune it.

But to learn some basics about tempering and annealing, rockwell hardness, effect of carbon content on the properties of steel etc etc
this site is a helpfull start.


Heat Treating
Hardening, tempering. Selected Q&A and metals heat treating specifications. Added Salt Bath information 11/23/2003
Links to materials information resources.

Temper Color Chart with Steel Hardness
UPDATED! Standard temper color names text plus HTML color with Fahrenheit and Celsius. NEW Steel Hardness Temper data for four common SAE carbon steels.

Steel product types
Commercial forms of steel, hot roll, cold drawn or finished (HR and CF bar)

Locks, Safes and Security has some really detailed info on this subject.

[kspec]

cool, thanks for the link. I hear alot about LSS, unfortunately thats about all it. LOL, I applied to get a preview version, but im waiting on an approval. unless i filled it out wrong or something.

[quicksilver]

This is a very interesting subject from a unique perspective....What does friction or lack there-of have on the picking of a lock? It would be very easy to Teflon coat a pick. Powdered Teflon is available to do just that via kits for certain machining operations.

Using a Bump-Key & raking (w/ a pick) as an example; if the BK were smooth (as in buffed on the contact points of the blade) or freshly made from the duplicating machine would there be more or less kinetic energy imparted through the action of the bumping process? With a pick as an example: if the pick were smooth as mercury would the raking/scrubbing action of the pick on the pins impart more of less energy?

It seems that the logical examples would be the physical angles of the key cuts and the pick design as the over-riding factors in such an experiment but certainly surface friction should play a part in the distribution of energy through contact & impact.

If altered, would surface friction play a substantial role in successful picking? What would the variables be & are they worth the effort to alter?

[jujitsu84]

Quicksilver,

From a mechanical standpoint, friction is always your enemy. Unless you are trying to stop a movement, such as breaking a car, the only thing that friction does it turn some kind of energy (kinetic, potential, ect) into heat. The second law of thermodynamics states that you can take an amount of energy and turn it into heat but you can’t take an amount of heat and turn it back into the same amount of work. That’s were entropy comes in to explain the randomness of the universe and so on.

But on to more practical information. When it comes to picking a lock the friction in the lock just stops you from smoothly moving your pick in whatever direction you want. If you were bumping or scrubbing a lock and your pick had no friction on it, you would be able to move your pick faster and impart more energy to the pins. That would mean that you would be able to move them faster and easier, which would mean you would be more successful in picking the lock. Just think about it this way: which is easier to pick an old rusty lock that has been out in the rain or a new shiny lock right out of the package?

Thanks for your time
Jujitsu84

[jujitsu84]

Quicksilver,

From a mechanical standpoint, friction is always your enemy. Unless you are trying to stop a movement, such as breaking a car, the only thing that friction does it turn some kind of energy (kinetic, potential, ect) into heat. The second law of thermodynamics states that you can take an amount of energy and turn it into heat but you can’t take an amount of heat and turn it back into the same amount of work. That’s were entropy comes in to explain the randomness of the universe and so on.

But on to more practical information. When it comes to picking a lock the friction in the lock just stops you from smoothly moving your pick in whatever direction you want. If you were bumping or scrubbing a lock and your pick had no friction on it, you would be able to move your pick faster and impart more energy to the pins. That would mean that you would be able to move them faster and easier, which would mean you would be more successful in picking the lock. Just think about it this way: which is easier to pick an old rusty lock that has been out in the rain or a new shiny lock right out of the package?

Thanks for your time
Jujitsu84

[raimundo]

If you put a common propane torch and turn it on an anvil, it will not heat the anvil very fast or get it red hot. this is because the heat source is small compared to the mass of iron, however, if you heat a lockpick, with the same torch, it will become red hot under the flame, while loosing some of this heat away from the direct flame.

Simple rule, compare the mass of metal to the btu s coming from the heat source, and the smaller piece of metal will heat more and faster.

If anvil fire is about blacksmithing, they are bending horseshoes, and hammering basic tackle out, these items are large pieces of metal, and are heated in a furnace/forge, therefore far more evenly than what a hand torch can apply.

there is a real difference when you are treating something as small as a lockpick, you want even heat, and it will heat so fast that it could overheat quickly.

I usually bend cold, and heat the bend on a pick with a bic lighter for about 30 seconds, and I only heat the bends or twists, this sets the metal memory. (crystalizes the molecules in a new arrangement)

[TMIB]

Anvilfire is a great site. Blacksmithing has been a hobby of mine for some time now, and that site has always been a great resource.

Just a few real basic concepts here:


Annealing:
This is the process of softening metal. Ferrous metals are annealed by heating them up then letting them cool down very slowly. This can be done by buying them in wood ash or other insulation. I generally just leave my items to be annealed in my gas forge, as the lining takes several hours to cool down.

Normalizing:
This process isn't quite as extreme as annealing; it helps relieve work stress in a piece of metal. You heat it up to the point where a magnet is no longer attracted to it, then let it air cool. Traditionally with blades you point them along the North/South line when cooling, so that as they cool to the point of being magnetic again the minimum amount of stress is imparted.

Quenching:
Steel over about 40 points carbon can be hardened by heating to nonmagnetic and quenching. This makes it very brittle, but very hard. Steel below 40 points carbon will not be hardened in this manner. If the metal is thin, it's better to cool it a little more slowly; for example quenching in oil rather than water. Otherwise it can crack or warp.

Tempering:
This is the process of selectively re-softening metal that has been hardened. It's particularly useful when you want varying grades of hardness on an item. For example on a knife you probably want a hard edge, but a tough blade that won't break. To do this you would temper from the back of the blade and draw the temper colors to the edge, stopping when the correct color reaches the edge of the blade. Different types of items will need different amounts of hardness. An axe for example needs to be tough and able to hold and edge, but you don't want the edge as hard as a knife blade for example, or it will chip quickly when you chop wood.



For small items such as lockpicks, you can probably heat them in something like a toaster oven or over a stove burner. They are thin enough that it won't take a lot to heat them up.

I'm still new to lockpicking, but I'm guessing you want something that will spring a bit without bending yet not break when in use. You should experiment with drawing temper colors to get what you want. If you draw the colors too far and it becomes too soft, you can reheat and quench, then draw the temper again. If you don't draw the temper colors enough and it's too hard, you can just draw the colors further by applying heat again.

Realistically though, this is probably overkill for something like a pick. Drawing temper colors probably isn't needed, since you are not trying to put an edge on it (though if done right would probably make a very nice pick.)

Just normalizing the pick after shaping is probably enough to relieve stresses in the metal, and can be done easily.

--TMIB

[Jaakko]

why not just use cryogenics. You get the same hardening effect with alot less effort and in a shorter period of time. Put you pick in some liquid nitrogen for a few seconds let it freeze then remove it and let it warm up. It's used alot for the internals when building high performance motors.

Could you provide some background info for this, as I don't believe steel changes its crystalline structure without going past Curie temperature or something other high temperature, depending on application.

Sounds intereting, nevertheless

[criminalhate]

http://www.metalscience.com/techinfo_ASM.php

Here's a link I ran across searching out the info because it peaked my interest also.