My Latest

[cowbite]

Heya. I haven't posted any of my work on here yet; mostly on keypi[edit]om but here is the most recent.
Like I mentioned at the other place, I don't have an anodizing setup yet and the screws are too large, but otherwise I'm very happy with it





[edit-killed link-unlisted]

[raimundo]

I see a very interesting design in the signature block. You ought to get more photos up.
the hook looks like it could become a favorite pick, thin shafted, it will be good for euro locks with the paracentric keyways.
Thanks for posting, are there a lot of pickmakers at keypicks? cant remember last time I looked there.

[mr2nice]

hi cowbite luv yer stuff esp your sig got any more at home been wotchin yer stuff 5***** m8 cant wait tll you get anodizing all us quiet guys love your stuff wot stock do you use and wot power tools by for now mr 2

[cowbite]

Thanks for posting, are there a lot of pickmakers at keypicks? cant remember last time I looked there.

Thanks Ray! Yeah, it's pretty active over there. There are some really decent makers there as well.

Here is the pick in my sig.
Please keep in mind that most, if not all of these, were made for personal use and not intended to be 'ready to sell' or anything. So there is a lot of unpolished work, tooling marks, etc that don't get addressed. The one above is a few steps from product ready.

All that crap said ....




This one was my first foray into "composite fabric handles". I simply took some semi-heavy fabric, soaked it in epoxy resin and rolled it tightly onto the pick blade then shaped it. It's a really tough handle but kinda ugly.


These are the oldest ones I have. These were made over a year ago before I was on any picking sites.


Cowbite

[eppiotic]

I'am pretty sure I'am in love with the pick in your sig.

[cowbite]

I'am pretty sure I'am in love with the pick in your sig.

rofl

[cowbite]

hi cowbite luv yer stuff esp your sig got any more at home been wotchin yer stuff 5***** m8 cant wait tll you get anodizing all us quiet guys love your stuff wot stock do you use and wot power tools by for now mr 2

Heya. Thanks alot for the compliments!

Generally, I use a 6" bench grinder for shaping pick blades and general shaping. I use a dremel with reinforced cutoff disks for removal of larger chunks and for some shaping, and I use a 3" wide hand-held belt sander for the rest. The belt sander works but it's all I have. Ideally I'd use a table mounted belt sander.

Wishlist:
Table belt sander
Table band saw

If anyone has any of these items on the cheap or willing to trade for something ( a couple/few sets of picks made by said tools) by all means let me know.

[cowbite]

hi cowbite luv yer stuff esp your sig got any more at home been wotchin yer stuff 5***** m8 cant wait tll you get anodizing all us quiet guys love your stuff wot stock do you use and wot power tools by for now mr 2

Oh as for stock, it depends on what I have on hand. Generally, I try to use stainless steel for the pick blades and 1/8' aluminum stock for the handles. The pick blades are usually knife blades but someone recently sent me some feeler gauge stock and I *love* it.
Right now I'm an unemployed MCSE so money is almost non-existent but when I get the chance I intend on stocking up on it.

Cow

[cowbite]

Here are some better images/views...

[femurat]

Very nice aluminium handles! You made me willing to try myself to make some...

Cheers

[raimundo]

I don't see any screws holding the handles on the signature pick, must be epoxy.

the fabric and epoxy handle are great looking, I can imagine that the feel is very nice too.

Hes says he made some of them before he was on any of the lp sites, its hard to believe that he made those without at least looking at some of the sites.

The work is all beautiful.

keep it up

[Schuyler]

My only concern about your picks is the extraordinary thickness of the handles. The few thick-handled tools I've used quickly fell by the wayside, no matter how attractive or well made they were, because they were awkward and uncomfortable to pick with and often impeded feedback from the lock.

The picks are certainly beautiful and look like they have a high level of craftsmanship, but I have my doubts about their efficacy.

[cowbite]

I don't see any screws holding the handles on the signature pick, must be epoxy.

the fabric and epoxy handle are great looking, I can imagine that the feel is very nice too.

Hes says he made some of them before he was on any of the lp sites, its hard to believe that he made those without at least looking at some of the sites.

The work is all beautiful.

keep it up

Thanks buddy. I think, back then, I googled custom picks or something and found Ratyoke's and others. I wasn't implying that the designs and concepts came from my own imagination. Just that I made them forever ago before I was active on any boards and before I had much of a consciousness as far as quality went. The old ones are kinda beat up and icky by comparison to the stuff I've been trying lately. Some of them were created without any other designers picks in mind, but the Ratyoke style ones certainly are. He's one of the best and the best serve as inspiration for the rest of us.

Cow

[Schuyler]

the Ratyoke style ones certainly are. He's one of the best and the best serve as inspiration for the rest of us.

His are actually precisely the ones I was referring to when I was talking about thick handles & lack of feedback above. His picks are beautiful art pieces, but save for a single set of wooden handled ones that were tolerable for intensive picking, I have found them unwieldy at best when it comes to the job of actually opening a lock.

And I hope this isn't coming across as jerky or anything, I love the picks. They are stunning, both your original designs & the Ratyoke inspired ones, but I have always interpreted his work as art.

[cowbite]

the Ratyoke style ones certainly are. He's one of the best and the best serve as inspiration for the rest of us.

His are actually precisely the ones I was referring to when I was talking about thick handles & lack of feedback above. His picks are beautiful art pieces, but save for a single set of wooden handled ones that were tolerable for intensive picking, I have found them unwieldy at best when it comes to the job of actually opening a lock.

And I hope this isn't coming across as jerky or anything, I love the picks. They are stunning, both your original designs & the Ratyoke inspired ones, but I have always interpreted his work as art.

Everyone requires different feeback. I haven't ever noted a muted sense of feedback when picking with a metal pick. Even epoxy resin picks I make work fine for me. I have picks made from just about everything and never once skipped over a pick because I felt that it didn't provide the right FB. Seems to me that a pick would have to be really porous and airy (ie rolled cloth or styrofoam handle) to really mute the experience for me.

cow