pick size

[Garrett]

What is the best hight on the body of home made lock pics? I use them on standar european locks.
I used the wipers from a car and a drill to eat the metal but i am not sure how much i should eat it. To 2mm, 3mm....?

[Murph]

From my own experience, I never had to heat the wiper blade spines, I just bend them slowly. Also, in your post, I'm not following you about what you mean about using

a drill to eat the metal

Can you clarify that?[/quote]

[Garrett]

i use a mechanic drill with an cylindrical shaped stone (like sand paper) to shape the metal as i need.

[Murph]

i use a mechanic drill with an cylindrical shaped stone (like sand paper) to shape the metal as i need.

Gotcha, I use a similar process. When I asked for more clarification, I didn't have enough coffee in me. I use a flexible shaft tool with my stones to grind (eat) the metal.

[Romstar]

On average,

The handle should be 9mm wide, 8.5cm long
The body should begin to shoulder down at 8cm to a shaft that starts at 3mm, and tapers along 3.5 cm long until it is almost 1mm thick. At this point, it should increase in size again depending on the type of head.

IE: Diamond, lifter, ball, rake.

These dimensions are aproximations only, and will change based on the picking tip. Diamonds are shorter than rakes, and therefore will have a longer shaft length, whereas the lifter and ball picks have a shaft that is almost the same length because of their radiused design.

A total pick length should be aproximately 12.5 cm long. Based on that length and width overall 12.5cm X 9mm your blanks should allow you to picture where the shafts should begin, and the tips should end.

The picture below is an example of what you can do with common hacksaw blades. These picks are unfinished, and unpolished, but you get a very good idea of the quality of tool you can acheive with very little work. Don't ask me what the pick at the top is made from, it was an even bigger experiment.




Romstar

[WhiteHat]

now you can't just say that and not have us ask - so spill it - what's the top made from?

and: does this mean you have a digital camera now?

[Romstar]

Nope, no digital camera. Just really lucky with the scanner that day. I think it liked the blue background.

You tell me what you think it was made of. I'll bet you can get it with your first guess.

Romstar

[S3rratedSp00L]

Would that be a butterknife, perhaps?

Makes a nice looking handle! I think I have a butterknife lying around here that might look cool! HMmmm.. Nice smooth lines on those picks, by the way!

[randmguy]

Butter knife. It makes a really nice looking handle.

[Romstar]

Give these two guys a prize. They figured it out.

It is indeed a stainless steel butter knife. Oddly enough, its HARDENED stainless steel. After I decided to try these things out, and discovered what they were I went back and bought a gross of the things.

The handle is balanced perfectly at the center of the handle. I have had a dozen different pickers try it and the majority of them liked the feel of the thing.

I think that any tools I make in the future utilizing these knives WON'T have the lines in the handle. This will make a lighter more responsive tool.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment there spool. I try to get all my blanks as close to production standards as possible before I make tools from them.

Romstar

[S3rratedSp00L]

I could not have said it better myself, Randmguy!

Romstar, Are there any pix of your blanks lying around! I will do a search, of course, but I don't remember seeing any. I think I can figure out what they look like, but it's cool to see what people start with!

I usually just grind it all out at once, but I don't produce a lot at a time and they are mainly just for me. I have an unfinished sawtooth rake that I left as a pickblank. I just need to make the dips. it looks a bit like a scalpel! If I sharpened it up I could probably shave with it!

I have broken up a whole batch (30 blades!) of saw blades into the 1/3rd lengths. I am probably going to take them in batches of 5 or so and make some pickblanks. Some with the tang in the center for rakes and some with the tang on the bottom for hooks, diamonds, etc.. I may take the middle sections (with no holes) and make some double sided Falle style progressive hooks. I can always use more ideas! There are still a lot of shapes that I have never made as I am relatively new to pick manufacture. The metal working and welding I did during high school sure does help for this sort of thing.

Do you sand your blanks or wait till they are at final shape to do all the finishing. A little off topic, but what method of paint removal do you prefer?

I like the gentle taper as it adds strength and looks good too! Form and function! That diamond looks to be a good height as well!

Nothing quite like homemade!

[Romstar]

Romstar, Are there any pix of your blanks lying around! I will do a search, of course, but I don't remember seeing any. I think I can figure out what they look like, but it's cool to see what people start with!

Nope, no pictures of my blanks anywhere. I just never thought to take any. If I am using hacksaw blades, they are first cut into two 5" lengths. Then, they are group ground down to 5/16" wide.
If on the other hand I am using plumbing snake, they are cut to 5" lengths, and then drilled. I used to be able to get plumbing snake that was wider than 1/4" but not anymore. So, the snake is almost always drilled for handles. Whether they are rivited, or cast resin handles.
Spring steel almost always comes in 5/16 wide by 6" long strips. If they are 1/2" wide, they are ground down to the required 5/16 width. Most of my stainless is 1/2" when I get it, so that means grinding some more from that as well.

I usually just grind it all out at once, but I don't produce a lot at a time and they are mainly just for me. I have an unfinished sawtooth rake that I left as a pickblank. I just need to make the dips. it looks a bit like a scalpel! If I sharpened it up I could probably shave with it!

That somehow just sounds nasty. I can almost imagine a minature straight ravor in your pick set.

I have broken up a whole batch (30 blades!) of saw blades into the 1/3rd lengths. I am probably going to take them in batches of 5 or so and make some pickblanks. Some with the tang in the center for rakes and some with the tang on the bottom for hooks, diamonds, etc.. I may take the middle sections (with no holes) and make some double sided Falle style progressive hooks. I can always use more ideas! There are still a lot of shapes that I have never made as I am relatively new to pick manufacture. The metal working and welding I did during high school sure does help for this sort of thing.

The only time I cut hacksaw blades into 3rds is if I am making mini picks. There isn't a lot of call for them right now, so that means I am losing an inch on the blade after I cut the holes off.

Do you sand your blanks or wait till they are at final shape to do all the finishing. A little off topic, but what method of paint removal do you prefer?

Since most hacksaw blades are about .025-.026 inch thick, I use a belt sander to get rid of paint. This allows me to remove a few thousandths of an inch from the thickness. I also do this before I grind the picks, as it gives me a clean surface to mark if I want to use a template.

I like the gentle taper as it adds strength and looks good too! Form and function! That diamond looks to be a good height as well!

Thank you for the compliments. I have been using that diamond a lot lately getting used to them again. The height on that one is actually very, very good for almost all pad locks I have tried it on, as well as several key in knob locks.

Nothing quite like homemade!

Nope, nothing like it at all.

[Luke]

hmmm someone stabbed them selves with a scalpel today and got rat
SH!# in the wound!!

[maldotcom2]

Oh really, we disected a chicken today, quite disgusting, seeing as the blood was still warm and the heart was still pumping and we had to cut off the head with a pair of seceteers (cant spell it)

[Luke]

your school sounds a little scary, cutting its head off with secateers!! I had to remove the uterus, after locating it by inserting a probe in to vagina and push till i saw movement. Poor ratty, had a blood nose and u could smell the chloroform.