Who is "Eddie the Wire"

[lockstocknbarrel]

Ok
You knowledgeable folks in "Picking Land" who is EDDIE THE WIRE and how good is are his books, and what other written information or publications are there, on making mortice lock picks.

[j_quigly]

I have two books by "Eddie the Wire". The Complete guide to Lock Picking and How to make your own profesional lock tools Vol. 1. The "How to" book was my first introduction to lock picking and I found it very informative on making picks but no techniques on how to use the tools. Pictures were lacking in detail, but diagrams were good. Left me wanting more. "The complete guide" gave a lot more on all aspects of lock picking and was a good companion book to the first one I got.
As for who he is, the most I found was an interview with Mike Hoy the president of Loompanics unlimited (a publishing and book selling company) saying that "Eddie" used to by books from him and when he was looking at the lock picking section he claimed he could write a better book and the challenge was on.

If anyone knows more about him please post. I'm also interested in finding out more about the man.

[pick_maker]

I don't own a copy BTW:

http://www.startechoutlet.com/subcategory_27.htm

'Personal Picks'; "Getting lock picking tools from commercial suppliers can be difficult, and many pros prefer the quality, precision and custom designs of handmade tools. by Eddie the Wire "

is a VHS so you can hear eddie speak aparently. That'd be cool.

[Ben WV]

I bought the VHS video version of his system for making home workshop lockpicks (it sucked). Anyway, eddie the wire is an amazingly nerdy looking guy who wrote a good book on lockpicking (complete guide to lockpicking). You can get it through delta press, paladin press, or loompanics.

[pick_maker]

sucked. rrrriiiight.
can you elaborate on that? How does it compare to pyro's video?

[Ben WV]

I didn't see pyro's video. But the eddie the wire video was a dissapointment mainly because I was comaring it against his pick making book which was very good. I was hoping that the video would clarify some of the points that the book didn't go into enough detail on.

But the lighting was so poor that it wasn't possible to see the layout lines. And he only completed two picks in the video. The first was the diamond pick (no brainer). The second was a riffle pick. But instead of goind to the trouble of etching out a pattern and filing, he just heated the end of a wire, bent it up, quenched it in lard, and filed it flat (so much for maintianing the temper of the material).

HIs finished picks were embarrasing to look at. THey were burned and discolored, and his riffle pick looked like it got run over by a bicycle. Then he proceeded to demonstrate the quality of the picks by using the diamond to rip (??) a pin tumbler lock.



The good points of the video if you never read the book is that it promotes using feeler gage strips as pick material (greatly superior in temper to scrap like hacksaw blades and streetsweeper bristles). It also gives you a visual look at how to etch lines on steel w/ a scribe and layout dye. It shows a fantastic way to cut steel strips (cold chisel/mallet). And most importantly, it stresses using a micrometer or dial caliper to ensure accuracy (as opposed to just eyeballing things).

But don't buy this video if you're looking for a demonstration of how to scribe and grind curves with precision.

[MrB]

It shows a fantastic way to cut steel strips (cold chisel/mallet).

I wonder if many people realise that the primary purpose of a cold chisel is for cutting metal, rather than brick or masonry?

[Ben WV]

I was amazed when I saw how fast it goes through a cable (kryptonite) bicycle lock. Position chisel, whack with mallet, done.

one swing to cut though a 1/2 inch steel cable lock.

[pick_maker]

sheesh! sounds pretty crappy. thanks for sharing.

I thought about ordering but guess I'll spend the 29.99 on old soldier of fortune magazines.