Homebrew Hall of Fame!

by **bitpusher** » 20 Jun 2005 13:20

Just Dremelled my first set out of hacksaw blades, I think they came out quite well.

I started fiddling around with the snap gun about a month ago. After a little practice, it works pretty good. The top row is what I just made, from left to right:
1. First pick, a small hook I just eye balled.
2. Another hook.
3. Small half diamond.
4. Large half diamond.
5. Random snake.
6. And another.
7. Bogota! Picked my first lock (front door deadbolt) with this one, in 20 seconds. Thanks Raimundo.

And with the short pieces left in the middle, I made a "wallet set":
8. Hook.
9. Half diamond.
10. Bogota.
11. Tension wrench with tapered end.
Not as comfortable to use, but quite functional.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this forum, answering all my questions before I had to ask.

by **Mad Mick** » 20 Jun 2005 19:46

Nice work bitp, and a tribute to raimundo to boot.

Great finish on the handle of the med hook - far left. (was it intentional?) People pay serious cash over here for paint jobs looking like that on car mirrors, motorcycles etc. They lay the base coat (metallic), then the colour, then dab it with scrunched-up cling-film (saran wrap?) before it is dry, then apply the lacquer coat. Fantastic results can be achieved.

by **cracksman** » 20 Jun 2005 20:36

Very nice Bitpusher, agree with Mick on that first one

For your wallet set, you may find they fit nicely in an x-acto knife, gives a nice handle and feel.
regardless, excellent job

by **bitpusher** » 21 Jun 2005 14:04

Thanks for the feedback.

The interesting thing about the finish on that hook (and the wallet set, though that cannot be seen as well in this pic) is that it came about through laziness. I decided to use a polishing wheel on them (Dremel #425) without first sanding off the original hacksaw blade paint. The result, due to polishing with the edge of a small wheel spinning fast enough to jangle it around erratically, is a sufficiently smooth surface that looks pretty cool, with the metal showing through in that irregular way.

I think I will continue to experiment with the results achievable in this way.

by **cracksman** » 13 Aug 2005 0:04

It is a bit stubby

The tip is like a half diamond, but it faces 45 degrees, err...northwest? Seems a bit too thick at the base as well- What a S*&$Y F$*#kin job

Just kidding, it might be a bit tight for smaller keyways if anything, thin the neck a bit, you may not need the diamond either, but it has a very nice look to it, unusual but quite proffesional actually. Let us know how it works, the angle on the bottom might actually be helpful if you want to rake a couple times before picking pin by pin.

I'd give it a B+

by **vector40** » 13 Aug 2005 0:17

I'd recommend thinning the shaft and flattening out the top of the hook to be perpendicular to the pins.

by **Ghost327** » 21 Oct 2005 21:39

alright,...ive been at this for,...umm,...a couple of months now i think and ive made all my own picks so here they are. what do you think so far?
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a184/Ghost327/lock%20picks/86c46a4d.jpg
the bottom 3 still need polishing and the bottom 2 are my pathetic atempts at a king and queen.
Oh,..almost forgot the bottom 3 are from stainless stock i got from work and the rest are from wiper blade inserts from a school bus, there alot wider than those from a car or truck. I also folded the handles over on themselves for a heftier grip withough loosing feel

db edit: *sigh* Will the page stretching never end?

by **Ghost327** » 21 Oct 2005 21:42

hmm,...no edit button. anyway sorry to all the mods if the picture is too big im kinda new to playing with a computer (still figureing out the picture stuff

)

by **Chucklz** » 21 Oct 2005 21:50

Really wonderful stuff. Your polishing is right on... Try making a hook like your diamond hook, but invert the diamond. It should look more like v than ^. This really gets a grip on pins.

by **quickpicks** » 29 Oct 2005 9:50

Theese are all of my picks right now. The one that resembles a rake works the best.

by **lancoff** » 2 Jan 2006 9:47

Thanks for all the photo of picks people made. They were great. Gave me a lot of ideas. Thanks again. Lancoff

by **illusion** » 3 Jan 2006 17:48

okay.. well I went away and made a kind of "proto-type" pick in the ergonomic style using a hacksaw blade.

nothing special to say about these really, except for the different shape.

pick flat:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/j ... CF0200.jpg

pick on side:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/j ... CF0199.jpg

pick next to a SO slimline pick:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b25/j ... CF0201.jpg

when I make the rest I'll post them all up here :wink:

enjoy

by **peachey16** » 6 Jan 2006 13:19

well here's wot ive been up to the last couple of hours and i pretty proud

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/PEACHEY16/P1000691.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/PEACHEY16/P1000696.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/PEACHEY16/P1000705.jpg
didn't know what will be better /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ :roll:

by **illusion** » 6 Jan 2006 13:25

hmmm... the shafts of those picks look a bit thin... but if they work that's fine.

try roxcking those saw-tooth rakes in the lock whilst bouncing tnesion gently... i've had considerable success with normal Yale type locks...

the bogota replicas are pretty cool from what I can see... nice work..

I like the snow-man kitchen-towel you used... that's pretty cool.

oh yeah, and the size of your sig is gargantual!
it needs to be 4 lines of text in height. :wink:

by **stlbolt** » 6 Jan 2006 16:53

wow some awkward shapped snake picks but hey thats what makes them unique! Nice work

Homebrew Hall of Fame!

great homemade picks

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