Question about making lock picks.

[tedwasright]

I am new to lock picking and am interested in making, rather than buying picks. I notice that many people have pics of some they made. I made a few but they are pretty much all too big. (I think.) My questions is simple. What are the dimensions of pick heads? What is the height, etc? Also, for the torque renches, how lon should the head be and how wide should it be? Many people have great templates. Thanks for those, by the way.

Thanks in advance.

[cppdungeon]

It really depends. I make my own picks and they tend to come out different sizes. If you want to get your hands on a cheap example of some picks i reccomend the dealextreme picks, because they are cheap. as far as grinding your own, it depends on the material, the pick and the preferences. It does take a few tries to get it right even with guides like these: viewtopic.php?t=10715 and I know that if you look there is a whole sticky (i cannot remember where it is for the life of me) on templates. There is a lot of information out there, but personally I think the best way to learnis to make your picks carefully in groups of 2-3, all the way through polishing and use, so you can analyze how you want your picks through experience.

--Cpp

[LocksmithArmy]

good info above

http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17326
here is the collection of templates thread.

just print out what you like and most of 'em should be the correct size

look in lockpicks-manual thread for much much more info on pick making

[milkman22]

Make sure the pick is thin enough to fit into the key way you are trying to pick or use the pick for. The pickhead should be longer than from the shoulder of the key to the tip or at least be long enough to fit into the back of the key way. The head should start at about 2-4mm tall and then narrow out into the shape that you desire. Try looking for some templates, they are really helpful.