Lockpick set created from drain snake.

[MrRusswarez]

Nice work and nobly tutorial, I liked.

[Darrylportelli]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but it's better than starting a new one if there is already one open ... I have a question about the drain snake ... in time does the material rust ?? ... I've been making picks from hacksaw blades for a long time but they rust and it's very frustrating having made a nice set of picks only to have them rust away !!!

Thanks

[mseifert]

If I recall the The hack saw blades and the Drain snake are the same type on metal.. Any carbon steel left untreated (painted, oiled, etc) will get a layer of surface rust .. Usually wipes off.... Unless you just want to make some more picks I would look into what weather, environmental condition is causing them to rust.

[bembel]

Try some gun blue or a thin layer of paint.

[Tygart]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but.......

Thank you for doing it, that is what I have been making my picks out of, I still do not have a nice set that I am proud of yet. This has given me a couple of ideas.

[BbGenesis]

Since ya'll are talking about material I couldn't help but jump in. I too was having problems with my picks rusting so after I polished them the last time I started coating them with a little 3-in-1 oil and putting them in a zip lock bag to keep the moisture out. My issue with this is I cannot stand my hands getting oily with the tools now and the oil never completely wipes off when I'm cleaning them before I pick.

After seeing someone on here using feeler gauge to make picks I decided that was the way to go since I could control the thickness. Well I broke down and finally ordered a southord set the other day and when I did I noticed they make theirs out of 302 if I remember correctly. Mcmaster sells feeler gauge in 302, 304, and 316 stainless so I'm thinking about ordering a couple test pieces to try out and see how they are. I'm thinking 316 is what I'll get since it's hardness is negligible and it's more corrosion resistant than the lower 3xx's. Anybody tried these out before?