My First Attempt at Pickmaking, and a Question

by **milligan** » 12 Dec 2004 15:15

Let me start off by saying that I am a 16 year old locksmith enthusiast, and I have a great respect for the trade. I have done a lot of research, read the MIT guide several times, and managed to pick a few basic desk locks. I've found, however, that I love making picks just as much as I enjoy using them.

This image is a night's worth of grinding down plumbing snake with a dull, worn down bench wheel (the stores in my area don't have any replacement 6" bench grinder wheels, or I'd have gotten a new one). The wrenches are made of a hairpin wrapped in electrical tape, a hex wrench, and plumbing snake. The picks (barely visible) off to the left are my new project, a jacknife pick from a feeler gauge set (a bit more challenging).

Now, my question is regarding SouthOrd's order cancellation policy, and ordering from other distributors. I purchased a pickset (just so I can have something to compare my homebrew set to, and see how I can improve them), and when I was trying to find out who to make the Money Order out to, I noticed their "no underage sale" policy. I realize that I should have caught that in the first place, but I assumed that because I am allowed to own a set where I live, I should be able to purchase one online. Anyway, I'm going to call and try to cancel the order tomorrow, and expain why. Are there any online vendors in the US that will sell to minors? There is no criminal intent involved, I'm simply trying to pursue a hobby.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this, and I will contribute as much to this board as I possibly can. I can post pick templates in powerpoint format, if anyone needs them. That way you can open up the file and print to label paper without resizing anything.

by **toomush2drink** » 12 Dec 2004 16:04

You have some nice picks in that selection well done. The feeling of opening a lock with a tool you have made yourself is a real good buzz so keep it up.

by **poisoned** » 12 Dec 2004 16:19

Are there any online vendors in the US that will sell to minors?

viewtopic.php?t=1423

No one really cares how old u are :wink:

by **GA_LockIt** » 12 Dec 2004 20:21

I'm curious about the third pick from the right on the bottom row. It looks like a diamond on the back of a medium hook. What prompted you to do that?

As far as age for ordering - most companies will not check. That is a statement for their own liability/legal requirements. When I ordered my picks, I was not required to prove my age.

Keep up the good work! We have a need for people to create tools. It looks like you have the rare talent for looking at a challenge and coming up with a tool to solve the problem.

Ben

by **milligan** » 12 Dec 2004 21:00

GA_LockIt wrote:I'm curious about the third pick from the right on the bottom row. It looks like a diamond on the back of a medium hook. What prompted you to do that?

It started out as a half diamond, but I was going for a thinner tool, and just decided to make a groove in the back. I had considered using it as a hook on one side and a diamond on the other, but as you can see it bends forward slightly, so the hook end of it is a bit useless. It's extremely fragile, but it's got terrific feedback.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. And thank you for the quick answer about the age thing, I'll definitely be in touch with SouthOrd tomorrow about it. I'm setting up a few powerpoint files with all of the templates I've collected so far (a lot), I'll post them with a tutorial one day this week.

by **xodishox** » 12 Dec 2004 21:15

welcome to the club lol, thats a nice set u got, i like the jackknife thingy, keep us posted with pics along the way

by **Tacild** » 12 Dec 2004 22:30

Nice to see that i'm not the only young lockpicker here

. I don't know if you find templates for those pick or you create it but I'm really impatient to see that template that your are talking about.

by **P1mpF0x** » 12 Dec 2004 22:40

Tacild wrote:Nice to see that i'm not the only young lockpicker here . I don't know if you find templates for those pick or you create it but I'm really impatient to see that template that your are talking about.

Im only 13 :lol:

by **bembel** » 13 Dec 2004 9:20

They really look good. Even if you were 18 or 25 or older they are still great. Well done.
You should also post a picture of your jackknife pick when finished.

by **bembel** » 13 Dec 2004 9:44

Sorry. Mixed up the age of milligan and P1mpF0x.

(Would like to edit but as always I can't :roll:

)

Anyway I'm interested in the feeler gauge jackknife pick as I'm permanently working on my own.

by **ne0nerdz** » 13 Dec 2004 12:56

P1mpF0x wrote:
Tacild wrote:Nice to see that i'm not the only young lockpicker here . I don't know if you find templates for those pick or you create it but I'm really impatient to see that template that your are talking about.

Im only 13

me 2....theres been a curious increase in 13 year olds wanting to pick locks.....

by **milligan** » 13 Dec 2004 14:20

http://www.wallofsoundrecords.com/lockpicks.ppt

here is the rough version of the template package I'm constructing. It's got all the basics, some computer generated picks, odd rakes and balls, and some of pick makers' picks (the finger, triple ball, etc). I photoshopped them all individually so they would be more printer friendly (i.e. make them outlines rather than pure black shapes). I'm hoping to add a new version with the regal series, warded, jigglers, gas cap opener, and King/Queen picks this week. Let me know if there's any other ways I can improve it.

by **milligan** » 13 Dec 2004 14:23

I forgot to mention, this is a powerpoint file, so the easiest thing to do would be to right click, hit save target as, put it in your My Documents folder, and open the file in MS powerpoint. If any non-windows users have trouble viewing it, I'll do my best to convert it to a more convenient format.

Also, these don't need to be resized. No matter what resolution your computer screen is, these should be able to print out at just the perfect width/height.

by **Tacild** » 13 Dec 2004 15:23

I lockpick with an half diamond and it work with most of the lock that i try but i don't know the use of the picks in hook or the others in S. Can you inform on that please.

by **milligan** » 13 Dec 2004 15:27

Tacild wrote:I lockpick with an half diamond and it work with most of the lock that i try but i don't know the use of the picks in hook or the others in S. Can you inform on that please.

Hook picks, from what I've seen/heard, are used to push each individual pin down, and the rakes (the picks that look like S's) are pushed in and out of the lock in order to set multiple pins faster.

My First Attempt at Pickmaking, and a Question

My First Attempt at Pickmaking, and a Question

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