What would be the ideal metal for custom picks?

[Drifty Flintlock]

I've seen plenty of suggestions for where to get materials like wiper blades, drain snakes, etc. However, I have a bit of a unique situation. A friend of the family own a local metal distribution shop, and he's agreed to set aside some scrap for me. I can get pretty much any kind of metal, within reason, at very low prices, cut to any thickness. Seems like a lot of pickers have a good deal of machining knowledge, but that's not really my background, so I need some guidance here. I am interested in making my own picks eventually, and I know people with grinders and such they wouldn't mind me using.

So, with that in mind, and while realizing that this is probably very subjective... what's the dream metal for a lock pick? And what thickness?

[MBI]

For most purposes I like picks around .020" thickness, and once I sand and polish them they end up around .018" thick. Occasionally I run across locks that are stubborn, something is jammed, or it needs heavy tension or it's really dirty and I have to give the pick a bit more of a workout so I like to keep a heavier pick or two around, maybe around .022" or .025" thick.

As for the type of steel, I'm not enough of an expert to give any specific input there, except that I like picks that are relatively rigid, very little flex to them, but not so brittle that they can actually snap.

Some pickmakers advertise what steel they use, some keep that info very guarded. Peterson is one company who is very secretive about what their "government steel" is, then one day accidentally released a scan of the receipt from their supplier for what steel they use and what temper it is. As far as I know though, out of respect for the company since most pickers really like their products, the few people who saw that info quickly took it down and kept the details to themselves.

That's pretty neat that you have that access to get quality steel of your choosing.
I tip my hat to your good fortune.

[mechanical_nightmare]

Hi,

After some experimentation, I now use Bahco Sandflex shatterproof hacksaw blades. Here is a link so you can see what they are:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-x-BAHCO-Sandflex-24TPI-Hacksaw-12-300mm-Bi-Metal-Saw-Blades-3906-300-24-100-/290937230126

I do not know exactly what kind of steel this is, as I am not that knowledgeable in the field of metallurgy, but the picks you make out of this material turn out excellent. You can't deform or bend them except with a ridiculous amount of pressure, and as the name implies they are very resistant to breakage, even if you completely bend them around and try to break them they don't. They are also fairly resistant to corrosion. They are about .6mm thick when the paint is stripped off which is good for a lockpick, but you can file/sand the blade of the pick to less then that without degraded durability. Just my .02

[Abuckeye]

I experimented with Monel on a few picks. Unlike regular metals Monel is hardened by work hardening. The more you work , grind , and bend the harder it gets. I can lever off a ward and not bend my pick anymore. It's corrosive resistant and will never rust.

[kmh]

I have been an enthusiast of knives for quite some time and have even made a few. I think the type of metal one should use is one of the most debated things in the knife world. I have also seen a few of these topics when it comes to picks.

bosnianbill on YouTube has a nice set of videos about making picks in which he discusses types of metal and such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znYrGX7OU80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPS4GDKoyyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL8ms8c5mVI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgyuKAvaSUo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SQhJ6bBHOk


In all honesty there are some great steels out there that I think would be great for picks but, require proper equipment to heat treat them which the majority of us do not have. Without properly heat treating your steel of choice it won't matter what type of steel you choose. Heat treating is what allows you to make the steel to your specified hardness so that it is not to soft and bends or to hard and breaks.

That all being said 1095 is a easy and cheap steel to get a hold of and can be heat treated with a torch and a toaster oven. I've seen swords made from this that were properly heat treated and the maker was able to bend the blade to almost 90 degrees and the blade popped right back straight. It is a high carbon spring steel though, so it will rust but, as long as you take care of your tools like you should, you won't have any problems.

I personally have went with bosnianbill idea and used feeler gauge. I went to each manufacturers website and found steel types and hardness levels till I found one I liked. If you follow bill's instructions and keep the steel cool while working you will preserve the majority of the temper and not ever have to worry about it.

[mikus]

i bought 1.4310 grade spring steel but it is too soft, they said it was hardened but picks still bend easily maybe some additional hardening will help it but i dont have enough knowledge and workshop for that

[kmh]

As I am unfamiliar with that grade of steel I did a quick Google search and it appears to be a grade of Austenitic stainless steel. According to one of the sites I looked at it cannot be hardened by heat treating. Here is a pdf with info on that particular type of steel.

http://www.dew-stahl.com/fileadmin/file ... 310_en.pdf

If you end up deciding on one of the high carbon gauges look for something between 1075 to 1095 with a RC hardness of around 56 or so. The steel I got was RC of 60 so I just let it heat up a few times while grinding to soften it just a tad.

[mikus]

Maybe checking on the properties of the Steel before buying it is a good idea... I have to make a good research now before buying next piece of Steel, other that checking if its a spring Steel... Thanks for the advice on Steel grades and the Steel hardnes it should have for picks making!

[Drifty Flintlock]

Thanks for the ideas so far. Monel sounds very cool, but that one might be out of my reach. As far as equipment, I'll probably be doing my pick making at a small gunsmith shop. So I do have access to basic heat treating equipment, though no idea how to use it, which is why I'll have some supervision.

Another question that's come up is the handle. Is thin metal really best? I've been thinking about trying some plastic dip or something like that maybe.

[kmh]

I actually have some plasti-dip rubber for tool handles that I tried on mine. It works fairly well and is durable but, I cannot get the stuff to not create bubbles in my handles. I've tried thinning it and waiting longer between coats to no avail. You might like it but, my OCD can't stand it lol.

I would go with whatever it most comfortable to you honestly. I've seen pics with almost every type of material handles on them. I wouldn't go with to soft of a material though just incase it dampens the feedback to much. I leave the tip of my middle finger at the tip of the pick on the metal when picking so I can feel feedback better and have better control. So I don't really rely on feedback through the handle to much.

I've been toying with the idea of wood handles for mine. I just need to get up and do it but, its cold outside and my garage isn't heated lol.

You can see the plasti-dip handles with the tiny bubbles in this pic.

[Drifty Flintlock]

Those handles look really nice, even with the bubbles. They'd probably bug me too, haha, but I may give it a try anyway. I've tried the Southord regular metal, rubber handle, and preimium thick metal, and I'm not quite happy with any of them, so I thought I'd try something a little different. Wood probably isn't for me, but it sure sounds like an interesting idea. I may dip one of my cheap Southord picks and see how it goes, but I definitely like the look.

[mikus]

Ive ordered some c100s steel strips, i will have it next week. Data on the sheet looks promising - up to 61 hrc

[Drifty Flintlock]

After actually sitting down and talking with the guy, things aren't quite as great as I was lead to believe. I would have an abundance of choice when it comes to STAINLESS steel, but other than that I can't really get all that much. I may end up having to go for more conventional sources.

Dang, got my hopes up for nothing.

[Luissen]

I am also not a metalurgist, but I do say that I like the picks that my more technical friends with no experience made for me. I showed them one of my cheap and beloved southord picks, and they used some scraps from one of their projects and made me a few variations that are usable. The picks don't bend much, and eventually return to their proper shape (except in the case of the one that got under the cushions, was sat on for a few weeks, and then was found during cleaning, which has a permanent bend) though when I use them, they tend to release more 'pin dust' than other picks I own.

I figure each picker probably has qualities in their tools that they prefer, which others might find a detriment.

[mechanical_nightmare]

+1 for the plasti-dip handles. I also use plasti-dip, but my handles are much uglier for some reason. They work to soften the pick just a little bit, but more than that I was getting annoyed at the handle parts of the picks getting rusty (from perspiration probably). Plasti-dip solved that pretty well.