keychain lockpick set

[Beanybaby]

Yeah it was better than the first (luckily )

Not since i made a king and queen have i had this much trouble with a pick design .

I think i will try and make a template.

Dremel *mutters in the corner*



Beany

[Mad Mick]

The more you make, the easier it becomes. If you have a decent scriber, mark out the basic shape. When roughing out, stop just short of the lines you have scribed, then as you progressively use the finer stones, you won't be taking metal away from the proper design shape. A good finish is important with any pick, and especially with raimundo's Bogota rake as it is designed to be used as if you have the DT's. You don't want to be filing the pins down with your picks...

[Beanybaby]

Yeah thanks man.

I did try and mark out the basic shape before and roughed it out but when it came to refining it it kinda warped it into a double snake then. I guess its just a matter of practise. Its kinda cool but i like making picks more than picking at the moment

But thanks for the advice


Beany

[Mad Mick]

Lol, I know what you mean...I spent the morning on the lathe and screwed up a few items before I was satisfied.

You can't beat making your own tools, then successfully picking a lock with them. Re the Dremel...if you can get yourself a small hobby vise, use that for the workpiece and remember to hold the Dremel with both hands. This gives you a lot finer control than holding the workpiece in one hand and the Dremel in the other...also reduces the chances of tears, or worse. Remember protection too. (and I'm not talking rubbers)

[Beanybaby]

Hehehe yeah .

Yeah i did think about securing the dremel somehow but i will look into the vice thing.

I have been using the picture of the bogota rake in your auction as a guide. All the picks in that pic are amazing, it puts one quite to shame .


Thanks again for the help



Beany

[Mad Mick]

Use the real thing...right-click and "Save as" the two pics from earlier in the thread, then print them out. Better to do that, than make a copy of a copy...sorta like playing chinese whispers.

I traded with raimundo for a couple of his rakes...mine works fine, but his are something else.

[Beanybaby]

I secured the dremel to a work bench and used the pictures and my third attempt came out like 100% better! Its still a bit scrappy around the edges but it actually looks vaguely like the picture now


Thanks for the help



Beany

[Mad Mick]

Well done, keep smoothing away until...well, smooth.

And, you're welcome.

[Gaian]

Getting back to the keychain, I just got one the other day.

It needs a little tweaking with the edges (looks like stamped spring steel). After going over it with the dremel and polishing wheels it works pretty good.

Haven't tried the 'jiggler' yet, but the feeler and rake type thing work nice. It used to take me 2-3 mninutes to get my apartment door open, but using the rake I can get in in under a minute (should get better with more practice, only been picking for about a week now).

The tension wrench works ok, and fits in the 'case (which I think is heat-shrink tubing), but i'd rather have a normal one.

While the shrink tubing makes an ok case, I think it would make pretty good pick handles, you can even get it a few different colors

[Xerty]

Is there any difference between street bristles in different countries? In the bogota-manual it looks as the're quite thick.
The swedish ones measures about 3 x .5 x 150-300 mm.
I think they're a little thin to be used as tensors, but will they do as picks?
And how long shall the part between the twist and the rakes' end be?

I have access to a very good metal-workshop and high-qualitative steel, if the bristles aren't good.

[Chucklz]

Ive found a wide variety in thicknesses/widths in the US. Perhaps you can do the same?

[Red]

Gaian wrote:
"Getting back to the keychain, I just got one the other day.

It needs a little tweaking with the edges (looks like stamped spring steel). After going over it with the dremel and polishing wheels it works pretty good."

Thanks for your comments everyone. I'll pass them along to the manufacturer. There is always room for improvement and he'll appreciate your feedback.

Clearly there are many members that can fashion their own lockpicks...the entire point of the manufacture of this little item was the dozens of emails received from guys that wanted something that was very small (this one is 2.25") ,compact, and could be concealed in a wallet compartment easily. The specific requests were for a keychain tool kit that was better in design than the HPC model ot the Japanese made Majestic model , smaller and lighter than the SouthOrd models, had a auto pick (the others don't) and that was inexpensive.

The company that manufactures this is the same company that produces the best-selling "The Locksmith" cd-rom.

We decided to offer the lock pick keychain as a contest prize so everyone could get a look at it. It's only been on the market for around 7 weeks now. So please - ENTER the CONTEST! Remember the email address for members 18 and over is lp101contest@lockpickshop.com

Good luck everyone!

[toomush2drink]

Good to see your still lurking around red. Its actually quite reassuring that someone in the trade takes notice of the consumer market at this level too.

[Red]

Toomush,
I generally read what others have to say; I am an admitted lurker
I haven't as much time as I'd like to stay on the board and banter with everyone so I go in and read up late in the evenings.

The truth is that I can only offer (very) limited advice and insight from a business owners perspective. You guys have it all over me - it astounds me every visit just HOW MUCH you all know.

Between the hobbyists, locksmiths, hackers etc. on this site there is a wealth of information. We send a lot of our visitors this way for guidance.

Possibly I'll have the time necessary, someday, to read some of the books and courses we have and learn the how-to's of lock picking. I look forward to it!

Take it easy!