How are picks mass produced?

[ufd538]

It started with an idea...I thought I had a product that I may be able to be sold to locksmiths, and then I realized that I had several tools that may benefit locksmith that could be marketable. Most of my ideas are easily made and could more easily be reproduced with jigs, a little bit on the grinder, and such.

Now, most of my ideas are very simple and could easily reproduced....but I think that with volume material purchases I could make a viable product for locksmiths that they may not want to take the time to make...and aside from that I realize not all locksmiths are fabricators.

Back to the original point, one idea maybe a pain to make. I am a big proponent of sight reading...and while I have a 'economy' design for some readers, I would also like to offer a more professional design, that I hand make for myself that is along the lines of petersons readers. I have owned a few sets of peterson readers, but after losing one here or one there or a whole set who knows where...they are just expensive.

I would like to offer a cheaper alternative. While I currently cut mine out of one inch strips of spring steel, I am just exploring how something like this would be mass produced. Right now, my main idea is to get a mini table saw that harbor freight has that takes 4 inch blades and make it work with cut off blades, but this would leave unfinished edges, and I would like a nice fit and finish to the tool....but if this is the best way...I am also trying to make the tools affordable. My idea is also to write some books and bulletins for locksmithing that would coincide with my tools, but I do not wish to reiterate books that are out but offer information that is not readily availible. It may not be ground breaking info...but I see enough people running around being 'locksmiths' that do not have a clue...that maybe it will be beneficial to more people than I think.

The tools I have in mind are not necessarily ground breaking, the designs are not super innovative...but alot of these tools I would not want to be without myself. They are tools that one could make theirselves, but I am banking on the idea, that alot of people do not have the desire and or the capability to.

Rambling, rambling, rambling...anyways, my main question...how are picks mass produced? ...like say an hpc pick? Is it cut out of a piece of metal and treated with black oxide or something, or is it molded...or what. Excuse my ignorance in this area.

[UEDan]

Majority of lock picks are usually stamped out of sheets of metal =)

[EmCee]

Yes, most are stamped out, leaving a poor finish which is why they need to be sanded to smooth them.

A CNC waterjet or laser cutting machine would do a nice job for mass production, giving small batch flexibility but suitable for volume production and consistent/repeatable results.

You get slight burring with water but not laser, but water can cut more and thicker materials and does not heat the metal.

'Mass production' is a relative term, of course. Waterjet/laser machines are not cheap (although against that you don't have the high cost of manufacturing the press tooling needed for stamped tools), and the market for lockpicking tools is 'relatively' small.

Might be worth contacting a local contract shop that has waterjet or laser cutting machines and asking for a price to manufacture your tools from drawings.

Cheers...

[Ortin468]

If you are serious about mass fabrication, try these guys. They do great things with metal.

http://www.milgo-bufkin.com/index.html


Look at the laser cutting section.

[Poff]

Stamping parts is really cheap once you buy the tooling which can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a couple grand. Waterjeting may be a little pricey on a small item like a pick or similar. Waterjets are kind of expensive to run so they are not the cheapest method. The down side to lasers are that they do not like to cut shiny metal so you would need to factor this in to your plan. You will definitely have to deburr stamped of waterjet parts.

[weilawei]

Just as an aside, NDE Magazine (Issue #1) has an article by Matt Block, entitled "A Southern Specialty," where he visits Southern Specialties, a small lock pick manufacturer based in Cleveland, GA. It's definitely worth a read (though it's a short article). There are pictures showing some parts of the process, as well.

http://ndemag.com/issues/nde1.pdf

[cds333]

I would imagine you wouldn't want to spend what a flowjet costs, but a cheap 50-100 ton press and a surface grinder should be all you need, you can get the dies made by a machine shop and then punch and grind the picks as needed at home. Ease in manufacturing is the key, and if you are using a table saw you will be putting way too much time into quality control by making sure that each successive unit is identical to its predecessor- best to take yourself out of the equation as much as possible.

[raimundo]

and actual 100 ton press is huge and requires a special floor under it. I once worked on setting up a 150 ton punch press, it could stamp parts out of 9 guage metal thats thick as or thicker than the height of this line of type. and a part could have exterior and internal cuts that amount to several feet of cutting. all cracked out in much less than a second when the punch strikes the metal on the die. the punch forces the metal into a precisely cut hole in the die with a punch of corresponding shape and a few thousandths of an inch clearance.

the metal starts to shear leaving straight stria where it is force into the hole in the die, then when the metal is sheared halfway through, the rest of the cutline just breaks off leaving a fractured area below the cutting stria.

a five ton press with little floor preparation would suffice to cut picks out of 20 guage metal.

that 150 ton press also needed a high ceiling because it stood two stories high,

presses are rated not by how much they weigh, but by the force of their strike.

[ufd538]

Thanks for everyones input....I know my I have some time, and alot of work and research before I can really get something going. I originally figured that pieces were probably stamped out, but also figured that would make for a big start up cost, but I would also prefer the consistancy that would offer. What I really don't know is if you are stamping a material that is hard enough to be worthy of a long lasting tool, what does the die need to be made of and how long will it last, and if there are any machinists out there....what will it cost?

Thanks for the link to the article.

Lets talk materials for a minute, I use spring steel .032"....holds up well....other options? How strong are southern specialty tools? From pictures, I always imagined them being comparable to southord...which I am not wild about the overall strength. Any ideas on what hpc picks are made from? I would prefer stainless for a nicer finished product...looks like I need to order some stainless steel to test out.

[raimundo]

Knives are produce from stamped blanks which are then ground to edge and hardening is the last stop unless some honeing is done after hardening.

punch and die tools are made by t&d makers of unhardened steel which is hardened after being cut down to tool dimensions.

you will pay for the tool one time and the shop that presses out your order on its presses will keep the tool in its tool crib between orders for more parts.

if you are considering making one single shape of pick, the tool might be relatively inexpensive, but if you have a line of picks you would like to make, it could be cheaper to make one tool with five or six different punches that make a full set of five or six picks at a time. that would be a more expensive die.

[ufd538]

OK...I think I have gathered enough info to start mass production of bagota picks.....just kidding....really these readers are a small part of the big picture, I've gotta to get alot of wheels in motion, and alot to think of before this can come to any fruition, just something to think about in the mean time. Thank you for all your input.

Next up for my consideration, costs of trademarking, copyrighting, and all the good legal stuff....not too worried about patenting, as most of my ideas are simple...and I am sure they could be changed enough to get around the patenting. I am not all that worried about copying as far as tools.....but copying literature is easier to do than copying a tool design and producing it. Also stealing a company name is easy if it is not trademarked.

Just trying to think it all through before spending alot of money....I am sure others here have considered the same, if you have any input, or conclusions you've reached.

I have half thought about going to existing companies and presenting ideas to them, but I think it might be hard for them to first listen to me and returns would be at most...minimal, not that it shouldn't be that way, after all it would be all on them as far as risk.