Polishing

by **herroldj** » 22 Feb 2008 22:59

I am new to the forum, but when I was younger I picked locks with paper clips and screw drivers, not my brightest of ideas. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on, one thing that stands out to me is polishing, and I really should give some thing back for all that I have taken. You all say polishing is important, and makes picking both easier and less harmful to the lock. I am but a lowly computer tech, but polishing the processor heat sinks is important for optimal heat dissipation. Ok I'm off the soap box now.

Tiny Metal Mirrors

1. Lay the pick flat on 1500 grit wet sand paper to to minimize ridges work the pick in forward and back motions (not circular) and rotate 90 degrees every few strokes, spinning the pick 360 degrees.

2. Polish the with wadding metal polish, and you should have a near perfect mirror finish.

3. Put a very light film of mineral oil or other such oil to help prevent rusting.

I don't know if this will help anyone but anything is worth a try right?

by **Safety0ff** » 22 Feb 2008 23:33

Thank you for the contribution to the site. You're referring to the process of "lapping" if I'm not mistaken. Does wet sanding/lapping with detergent make a big difference?

I've got near mirror finish by (dry) sanding @ 600 grit, grit paper then buffing with emery black, tripoli brown and "coloring" with diamond white.

If you want to see the results I achieved with the aforementioned process check out the thread I made here.

I had 1500 grit, grit paper when I made that tutorial but I thought the difference it would make was marginal.

Cheers.

by **herroldj** » 23 Feb 2008 10:51

I have never noticed any difference with detergent, but I might have been using to much or too little

by **herroldj** » 24 Feb 2008 0:07

I just had a brilliant idea. I have read many complaints about homemade picks starting to rust, and recall some one talking about coating picks in Teflon. Has anyone tried that Dupont Teflon car wax on picks? In theory the wax would prevent rust, and the Teflon would make it slide nice and easy. If anyone tries it let me know how well it works :lol:

by **bumber** » 24 Feb 2008 2:25

It may work but as much of it as you would want to rub off to reduce gunk build up in the lock may make it useless, unless somehow the teflon stays on your pick. Like wax 'em up and put 'em in the oven for awhile on maby 300-400. They do cast iron pans that way with lard, you lard it up real good let it set then bake for a few hours, remove wipe down and your good.(I dont know why they do this, many to keep them from rusting? :lol:

)

by **herroldj** » 24 Feb 2008 2:31

i dont know how much would rub off

, but i know it works real good on my truck

i wonder how i would fit that in the oven sry just a thought

by **Safety0ff** » 27 Feb 2008 19:28

I forgot to mention that polish for mag and aluminum rims(it says on the side suitable for all metals) usually leaves a silicone film to prevent rusting. These polishes usually come in small round tins with a weight of 150 to 200 grams. I used it on one of my picks but not the others. While I was at the store I bought some more because the other one belonged to a family member. You usually apply it by rubbing some on with a terry cloth and then buffing with a clean cloth once a black residue appears.

by **herroldj** » 29 Feb 2008 21:44

would it possibly cause the pins to stick or the locking mechanism to jam?

by **bumber** » 29 Feb 2008 21:56

I would say it would end up rubbing off the pick because they scratch up against the pins, and yes I think it will gum up the lock because it will stay better on the pins than on the picks and collect dust, dirt etc.

by **Safety0ff** » 29 Feb 2008 21:57

I wouldn't know. It doesn't seem like the film is visually noticeable (to me.) I don't think there's much advantage to these types of polish other than looks and for rust prevention (if it's an issue.)

by **herroldj** » 1 Mar 2008 9:22

ok thank you kindly

by **taracor** » 10 Mar 2008 19:21

You know, I am definitely going to try this. My homemade picks look pretty grungy..(That's why I get for taking paint off with a 120 grit sanding drum).

Do you think this will work on picks that are fairly..rugged, or should I just let my grungy looking picks be, and then just use the 1500 grit on my next set of picks?

by **herroldj** » 10 Mar 2008 19:43

Its should work, it may take a few more passes on the sand paper but it should work none the less

by **Safety0ff** » 10 Mar 2008 20:08

taracor wrote:You know, I am definitely going to try this. My homemade picks look pretty grungy..(That's why I get for taking paint off with a 120 grit sanding drum).

Do you think this will work on picks that are fairly..rugged, or should I just let my grungy looking picks be, and then just use the 1500 grit on my next set of picks?

If they're thick enough you can sand them by hand and then work your way up to higher grit. I'm just going to leave mine be ( I experimented with the drum to, learned from it and left a warning in my tutorial.) In the future, to remove paint you could use sand paper or medium grit synthetic steel wool. Personally I like the synthetic steel wool even thought it's more coarse.

by **taracor** » 10 Mar 2008 22:28

Yeah, I recently read your tutorial and almost smacked myself when I read that haha. There are a few rust spots on my picks so I was going to sand them a little anyway, so I guess I could just go all out and sand the whole things..What would you recommend sanding them with from the start before using a higher grit?

Polishing

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