Wallet sized picks

[master in training]

i have some cheapo wallet that my young sister bought me a few years ago, it looks ok and does the job though i have my picks in the clear bit of the wallet meant for an ID. they're awful picks, but oh well, they're there!

[omelet]

i made a flat L torky with the thickest of the feeler gauges. very stiff and strong, though limiited in application, would be good for storage in a wallet

[master in training]

how do you make flat wrenches? even if you heat them, surely the metal would crumple on the inside of the bend could you post a picture of it please?

[Mad Mick]

Since a feeler gauge is pretty wide and flat, the width can be reduced to produce the shank, whilst still leaving enough at one end to make the prong which goes in the keyway.

[master in training]

aaah, ok, so you dont bend it, you grind out some of the width from it to give the L shape. looks like another little job for me...

[Mad Mick]

You learn quickly grasshopper.

[master in training]

aaah, that i do, you should open a business in the UK and give me a job in it lol!

[tarzan]

I think it's more about how you place your picks in the wallet. I have a half diamond and a normal wrench in my wallet and it fits fine.

both tools are home made, the pick is 9cm (3.5inch), which fits diagonally in my coin compartment of my wallet and the wrench, which is 6cm (2.5inch), I place where the fold of the wallet is. So imagine a wallet open lying on a desk (ordinary leather bifold wallet) the shank of the wrench lies in the fold and the prong which enters the keyway is pointing up. When you fold the wallet to put in you pocket etc., the prong is sandwiched between the two flaps of the wallet.

I find this perfectly fine and the thickness of the wallet remains fairly unchanged. If you have problem with the wrench falling out, just get your girlfriend to sew a little pocket on the fold to slide your wrench into.

Tarzan

[master in training]

i tend to find my wallet bends a bit though, so anything too big would end up with a curve to it or snapped totally. my tiny pick is quite nice to hold, the only problem comes when you actually try to pick with it, i only had poor quality files to make it, so the pick head is really bad.

i'll have to make a new one when i get some time and go from there.

[skold]

i have 6 wallet picks..stunning things they are, ill take pics for templates if anyone wants them?

my variety are 11cm long, double sided picks, both tangs are 3.5cm, each pick has a rake one end and a single pin pick on the other.

they also have nice comfy silicon handles

[master in training]

they sound quite nice skold, did you make them yourself or buy them? posting a picture or two cant hurt really, its always there for the future then if someone wants to make some.

[PYRO1234321]

I have a credit card set that I keep in my wallet that I made quite a while back, I'll post picks when i get to my own computer. They consist of 9 double ended picks and 2 wrenches. The picks have virtually no handle, but I did manage to get some heat shrink on some (1/2-3/4 inch). They are lined up and taped to a folded piece of clear plastic and easily fit in a wallet. Its about 2-3 credit cards thick. The wrenches are flat and in the shape of a capital "T" and "J" which allows for 5 wrench ends total of various widths and lengths.

I consider these to be a 'last resort' tool, but they have come though for me on a few occations. The flat wrenchs are not a natural feel/position and the small pick size makes them hard to use. The best thing I can think of for this style of pick kit is that rakes are going to be the performers since there is not much handle for any feedback in more precise picking.

My set was made from slivers of scrap hacksaw blade, but any other suitable flat metal could be used. I can understand why people would want the make/buy a small set to avoid the "dam if I only had my picks" syndrome that we all suffer from at some point in our lives.

*Pictures comming soon*

[master in training]

they sound small but a nice set PYRO, im looking forward to seeing those pics!

[DeadlyHunter]

Why not use those jumbo bobby pin picks that someone make a bit ago? they looked like they could fit in a wallet.

http://tinypic.com/29uzip


as said before just use a flat tention wrench.

[stick]

It's hard to find bobby pins wide enough to make an actual pick out of, at least in this area. The few I've tried filing down get much too thin at the shaft and bend and snap far too easily to be of any use.