I have a box of "failures" - Locks that I have not been able to pick. Some are because they are too small for commercial picks, some because the keyway is too restricted, while others just seem to refuse to be SSPed (Single Pin Picked).
One lock in particular has frustrated me since childhood, so eventually I lost patience with it and a few months ago I made a special pick to fit it. The result was that a lock that hadn't been opened for perhaps 40 years, opened in under five seconds. An incredible feeling, since I've had that lock since I was a child and was never able to pick it.
This made me realise that commercially-made picks are the right size for normal locks, but smaller locks, say under 40mm (about 1 1/2" for padlocks) are too small for normal picks and rakes. So I've been busy making lots of "micro picks" to try out. Some were failures, while others were wonderful. I've been optimizing their design, until I've got them about as good as I can - These are those designs.
They have come from designs I've seen over the years, especially inspiring were the various emergency credit-card pick sets that have been made and several rakes posted in this thread already.
You can just right-click on the picture to save the image. It should save as 600 x 900 pixels and should be printed out "original size" "1:1" or whatever your printing software calls it. To make sure, they outside of the red oblong should measure exactly 2" x 3" (or 51 x 76mm approx.).
These templates are only the "business ends" of the picks, so they can be transfered onto whatever metal stock you make your picks from, whether bristles, feeler gauge, hacksaw blades, etc. and you can use the design of handles that you prefer with them.
They are quite fine in places, so will be difficult to grind and file. I have found it easier to make the "teeth" or "top side" of the rake first by rough grinding first, then filing to the final shape. The flat side of the pick can then be ground.
They are suprisingly strong for how thin they are, but you will still need to be a little careful with them, they will break a little more easily than normal picks with them being so small. I have thickened the shafts in the places where most stress builds up, so they should be as robust as their size will allow.
These picks have allowed me to pick about 80% of my "failures" already. Even some larger locks have proved a lot easier to open with them. The problem is that although normal picks will fit in a lot of locks, they are slow to pick the lock because the keyway is so cramped, they become difficult to manipulate.
If you are fairly new to picking, these picks will not magically make you a better picker, rarther they are an extra set of tools for your kit that are especially helpful with smaller/restricted keyway locks.
thanks.
