pseudo jack knife set

[jimmythelock]

Just a quick idea for those who want to try and look cool with their lock picking with little cost.

The jack knife set (pictured above left) has some great picks on it and should cover you for quite a few locks. However, it is overpriced for what it is. Most people (in my opinion) only but it to look cool.

Well now you can do both for a much cheaper price. My idea is this. Go to you local hardware store or car accesories suppler and purchase a set of feeler gauges. these are the thin pieces of metal of varying thickness used to set spark plug distances for example. Some will be very thin, too thin for pick, but would make great shims. Medium sized ones are slightly too thin for picks, but when bent are good, although springy, tension wrenches, almost feather like. It is the thicker end that were are interested in to make various shaped picks.

All the 'blades' from the feeler can be removed usually to allow for shaping etc and to store tension wrenches. They of course all fold away so you can still look great with you comapct, fold away pick set.

Jimmy

[mbell]

Great idea...but it's been mentioned and made before.

Personally, I hate those jackknife picks. I bought my Southord one for £10 when it was on offer when buying some other tools. I only used it for experimenting with & I soon discovered that they looked cool but normal picks were far better.

[skold]

me and Hojo were looking at them in the local hardware store.. they seem alright for shims but nothin else

[S3rratedSp00L]

I have a feeler gauge set that I need to eventually take some pics of. I use the first thickest couple of gauges to make picks and then make more picks with hacksaw blades to fill the rest of the space. The hole in the hacksaw blades was the right diameter, luckily! I even made a forked end on a tension tool to fit under the nut. I can tighten it down a little and keep a tension tool with it! These have been mentioned several times and there are a few pics of a set or two floating around here someplace. Definitely do a search. I haven't tried the jacknife set, but I am not used to having a big handle like that. The feeler pickset works fine for me, personally though!

I would recommend making a set like this if you wanna try something compact. The metal used for holding the feeler gauges is a little soft and bendable, though... It would be entirely possible to bend your own piece of better material, drill some holes and put a screw and nut on it as well as make the picks for it all from the same sheet of metal. So you don't really have to buy feeler gauges if you aren't gonna use the thin ones for shim stock. (PLus you may get a set of superior quality!)

The thickest couple of feeler gauges are just fine for picks, so you could go the other way and buy a bunch of feeler gauge sets and use just the thick ones for picks. You would then gets ome extra shim stock, I have found that some of the fairly thin feelers make a great little mini-knife tool for Master 175/177 and sesamee bypass when gound dow to the desired shape. To me, Non-Destructive Entry just as interesting as picking, because the skill is in being Non-Destructive! The less destructive, the better. (You are opening the lock by manipulation without using a key. Why not!)

Also, there are different style of the flat feeler gauges. There are some small ones and some that are basically equal to 1/3rd of a normal hacksaw blade. I use the latter, but I have seen the others used.

Just keep in mind that holding these may be a little different. I find it plenty comfortable, but others may not.

If you get bored and feel like grinding on a couple dollars worth of metal, give it a try! If not, just buy some picks Either way, have fun!

[S3rratedSp00L]

Wow, pardon my spelling... Looks like I forgot some letters or have a broken keyboard. I am gonna start previewing a little better from now on..

I am looking for my digital camera to take a couple picks of my simple feeler pickset.

[jimmythelock]

Dear all.
I am sorry that this post has been discussed before.

I did search on this site but to no avail. Prehaps I made some spelling mistakes in my keywords

Sorry to repeat. But thank you S3rratedSp00L for the tips.

Jimmy

[Cameron Flint]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it.

[S3rratedSp00L]

I borrowed a digital camera for about five minutes and took some pics of my feeler guage set!

I also have a half diamond that I lost the pic of, sorry guys. I like half diamonds, but that particular one came out badly. I will make a new one in the future, anyway...

I don't use that tension tool much anymore, but I made it to go with the set. The forked end fits under the nut of the holder to keep it all in one. After making this tool, I realized that in the spirit of being multi-use/multi-purpose I could bend the forked end and have a 2-prong tension tool at one end and standard or twist-flex on the other! The 2-pron end could even still secure the tool to the rest of the set! If I ever get around to doing that, I will have to take more pictures.


This, of course is a rake... It is rather large, but I have opened a few locks with it. I don't use it all that often. Just for fun!


Here's a short hook. This thing works pretty well for me on BEST padlocks.


Here's one of my favorites lately! I use this one for almost everything! Works really well for neutralizing spool pins on American Brand, and ABUS locks with keyways that I am more familiar with. If I had to carry only a single pic with me, this would probably be it.. The tip is slightly rounded on the edges, and flat on the top, but I like to experiment with the angle of the flat part sometimes. (This wasn't one of those times, hehe)
Note: when using a tall hook on American brand or anything similar, I like to put the tension tool at the top of the keyway. Some people do not like larger hooks because of the way that they fit into the lock. Things can get a little cramped, but they work well for me on security pins as long as I can get them in the lock. Where there is trouble getting to the back pins, a pick more like the peterson reach may be the best. I made a similar shape but I made it too thin.. soory, no pics of that one.. it broke. I know what to do next time I make one though! (Worked well, btw)


For Those nasty ABUS keyways I like to use this deforest-like tip for wedging the back pins up! Then I may go in with a tall hook or just continue with the deforest if it feels right! A "reach" shaped tool works as well, but the point on the tip can be used as a wedge. A half diamond may also work this way on a hard to get back pin that sets really low. Just gotta
get the right tension.

Hehe, I have no idea what was on TV in the background at the time. probably "Law and Order" or something....

Anyway, these things may be a little different as far as usage goes, but I find them to work pretty well and they are my primary picks at the moment. I like to leave all the picks loose when I am using it so I can do a "Quick-Pickchange(TM)" HAHA! I like the fact that I can just select what I want at will! I have gotten so used to them that I can select my pick without using my other hand so I can keep tension while I switch

Just tighten it all down for storage and it take up very little space. Someday I might make a small leather holster/case for my belt.

The auto jigglers thread brings up another idea.. a feeler guage set of mini-jigglers, auto jigglers, warded, or a combination of everything! You can never have too many of these! They are so cheap to make!
I even tested a theory and took the batteries out of a mag-lite, and my feeler set slipped right in! There was a thread here someplace about flashlight pick holders or something similar. Might be worth another look!
(Hint: it involved LEDs.)

I need to go raid the junk drawer for some more materials, this is giving me ideas!

So, my advice, make a feeler set if you feel the urge! If you don't like it, you are only out a couple dollars (or your preferred currency). You can always trade it or give it to someone who would like to try a set. You will then know for sure whether or not you like them!

Feel free to make comments, I am always trying to improve my pickmaking!

[pick_maker]

Nice set spool. That is one well-made reach pick- looks original manufacturer. Great wrench idea. I'm on it. So, it rides on the exterior of the gauge fitted under the screw?

This is an old set. Kinda scummy. I will polish them up some day. I swapped the knob on mine for a bigger brass one. Much better control:



I fell for that mag lite case idea last spring. The white radioshack led's are bright enough and work great only, in order to make it functional and hold picks, some kind of durable plastic battery holder is needed for the cramped space inside the light head. I had the battery stationary with the led contacts coming in contact by twisting the light head thereby reversing the light function- twist down for 'ON'/ twist up for 'OFF'.

[S3rratedSp00L]

Very nice! I don't think those things look scummy at all! It just looks like you actually use them, meaning they are probably good picks! I think that set has style! I must say, nice pic as well! I had to quickly take my pictures so I didn't get all the shots I wanted.. I wanted a fanned out shot like what you put up, but I just kindof took individuals. Except for a couple seperate picks, these are the first homemade picks I made. I have some single picks that I made afterward and ever since I started cooling them properly I haven't had any broken picks. (It helps to go easy on the tools, too )

I was going for the simplest and hopefully strongest shapes. I basically just eyeballed pictures of picks that I found here on LP101. I made mine entirely with a grinder, wire wheel and sandpaper, except for the forked end of the tension tool where I drilled a hole and then dremeled out the rest of the slot. You have the right idea as to how it fits under the screw!
Maybe you can try my other idea and turn the forked end into a 2-prong tool and still functional for holding the tool to the set! If you do, please take a pic! I would love to see that!

Nice sawtooths! Do they work well for you? Oh, and are those two picks that are fifth and sixth from the left jigglers? Nice warded pick as well!
That rake sixth from the right is interesting looking! Does it work well on anything in particular?


Looks like you have a little of everything. I guess great minds thing alike, but some are lazier like me! I should have done that too a long time ago.

I really like the thumbscrew on your set. I am assuming that it came with the feeler gauges. I am going to have to look around for a deluxe set of feeler gauges like that, hehe Mine were $2 U.S.

As far as the mag-lite thing, I am lucky to live in northern california. I have some really cool electronic surplus stores near me! I can get some nice super-bright red, blue and white... Maybe other colors if they make 'em super-bright as well. I just need more cash, but don't we all!? I really want to try that out now

I still need to make some sawtooths and W rakes just for fun... So many shapes that I still want to try! I need to put the sawblades to the grindstone and start turning out some new picks! Thanks for more inspiration!

So to pick_maker and all you other pick makers out there, Keep up the good work!!

[pick_maker]

Thanks spool. #5 & #6 are one-of-a-kind picks for a cable type gun lock. more like key duplicates than any kind of pick per se.

I was able to fit a tension tool in this feeler gauge set. Now I can carry this set again. Thanks a lot!

[S3rratedSp00L]

Glad to be of some help! Have fun with your new custom tension tool!

[unferth]

I've made quite a few of those over the years. When I use them, I much prefer removing the knob and using the picks individually rather than trying to manipulate the entie clunky jackknife body. I keep a rubber band around the jackknife and wrap it around the individual pick to provide an instant handle.