Any bristle sources?

[1mrchristopher]

I would really like to get my hands on some sweeper bristle, but my little city doesn't seem to use steel brushes. Short of spending big money over at that auction site (not a viable or realistic option, even for a lifetime supply) and buying a set of new brushes, I'm at a loss. So far I've only used wiper insert, and have only built two picks (one of which brought home the bacon yesterday), but I would like to try bristle for tension wrench building. I did see an etsy user selling 24 for $4.25 but they were so severely rusted and pitted, that they didn't seem likely to be worthwhile. Any ideas?

[KPick]

Have you tried going onto a busy street in your town/city and searching there. You'd be amazed how many I've found.

[GWiens2001]

Have you tried going onto a busy street in your town/city and searching there. You'd be amazed how many I've found.

The problem he faces is the same one I have around here. The street sweepers here use nylon bristles, not spring steel. Have not seen a single street sweeper using steel bristles here in my area, and I have been looking at every street sweeper I come across for that very reason.

Luckily for me, being a mechanic, I have a decent supply of wiper inserts.

Gordon

[1mrchristopher]

Have you tried going onto a busy street in your town/city and searching there.

As I stated

... my little city doesn't seem to use steel brushes.

I initially went looking for bristles and had no luck, then I decided to watch one of the sweepers go by -- some kind of plastic bristle on the gutter brushes.

[KPick]

Hmm. If you can't find any, go for hacksaw blades! They're strong durable, and alot of DIY'ers seem to have great success with them.

Just a suggestion.

[YouLuckyFox]

If anyone will pay for shipping, I always have them in pretty good supply and can send them anywhere in the US (this offer is for those of you in nylon brush neighborhoods, if you can scour your own city for them get 'em yourself ) PM me for details, just be sure to pass a favor on to someone else!

[critmass235]

are bristle really better than wiper blades? ive only seen the plastics so i gave up. but wiper blades are everywhere

[GWiens2001]

Some wiper blades are quite good, and there are some that are cheap cheap cheap. The good ones seem to make exceptional picks.

Gordon

[ckc123]

As people have mentioned.. WIPER BLADES.. you can get 2 different sizes depending on the size of the wiper..

also the style of wiper can have thicker metal.. I like the "reflex" ones that have very little "plastic" the metal tends to be thicker to give it more rigidity due to the thiness.

[1mrchristopher]

For purposes of fashioning tension wrenches, I started cutting strips off of an inexpensive GB Fish Tape. I really despised using it because of how hard it was to get the tape in and out of the reel, so it has officially been re-purposed. I think that I will be able to make some fairly decent wrenches, esp. for top of keyway tensioning.

One piece of advice for those who are new to this fabrication stuff: Fit your tool before you temper it, especially if you plan to do any work with cheap needle files.

[cuttinedge1]

Try hammering a nail flat on the end. These make amazing bottom tension wrenches

[mattc]

I was hoping for a good score of bristles recently, with the Tour de France passing through near where I live, but sadly while the roads were groomed to within an inch of their lives there were none to be found. Must've been the possibility of punctures

[Joe Gerardi]

Umm...

Has any one looked in http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=59213 this thread? I just bought a whole bunch of bristles from a fellow member.

..Joe