15min lock picks+tesnion wrench.

[The_Swede]

Hi there!

First of al I am completly new to this started about 8 hours ago looking on youtube. And after that i decided to make my own lock picks and tension wrenches.

So the things i used are the following.

3 old feeler gauges to make the picks from.
2 nails and one torx key to make the tension wrench.
Bench grinder.
Heat shrink for the handle.

Picks:

Tension wrench:

And the first lock i have ever picked 1 hour and 45min:

Took me about 15 minutes to make the tools. They are ugly but works just fine. But i will buy som "Real" picks in the end of this month.

[cheerIO]

Lookin good!!!

[cheerIO]

Hit the send button too quickly.

I really should comment.

This post is so great because it shows so much initiative. And you obviously understand what is going on and what needs to happen and you realize that at least on some level, it's not that hard.

There are so many posts here on what picks to buy, what tension wrenches to buy, what tools to buy, if i don't have the fancy-est most expensive tool it won't work well, ect.

Just use something, if it fits then it will work. Won't be as pretty and sometimes the material could be better, but I won't let that stop me from getting into this lock.

So anyway, good on you Swede. Welcome to the forum

[nick08037]

The_Swede, you are certainly off to a good start, if you enjoy the fabrication/metalwork you may want to continue to develop your tool crafting skill as you develop your picking skill. Using commercially made tools is only part of the hobby for some.

Keep up the nice work & welcome to the community,
Nick

[deolslyfox]

Good job !! Just goes to show that a little initiative goes a long way !!

One tip: Whether you make your own picks or buy a commercial set, polish them !! If its a home-brew, start with about 400 grit. If they are commercial, start with about 600 grit and work up to 2000 grit. Some guys go all the way to 5000 grit, but I can't find any improvement in performance beyone 2000.

You'll have a mirror shine and picks that will "glide" thru the lock much easier, improving feedback !!

Keep up the good work !!

[smokingman]

Good job! it is good to have some picks on hand but mostly I just use them as templates to make more picks.
You already show that you can make your own, so you can save a lot of money using the purchased tools for copying.
They last longer than paper templates , and it is easy to scribe around them and make replacements for your favorites.
Rock on.

[Valdo]

Great job! a little advice on the heat shrink for a better finish use a cooking oven set on 170F and use the same size as your pick handle, it should be a tight fit.
Nice to see someone beginning with making his own tool that's awesome!

[The_Swede]

Hit the send button too quickly.

I really should comment.

This post is so great because it shows so much initiative. And you obviously understand what is going on and what needs to happen and you realize that at least on some level, it's not that hard.

There are so many posts here on what picks to buy, what tension wrenches to buy, what tools to buy, if i don't have the fancy-est most expensive tool it won't work well, ect.

Just use something, if it fits then it will work. Won't be as pretty and sometimes the material could be better, but I won't let that stop me from getting into this lock.

So anyway, good on you Swede. Welcome to the forum

Thanks for the kind words. I thought exactly that if you don't have top end tools it won't work but then after watching some videos i thought that i could use almost anything.

[The_Swede]

Thanks for the tips everybody!