Shrub wrote:Euopean picks dont break easy and if your homemade ones are doing then you are making them wrongly either by size or method.
No I think I'm doing them correctly.
I copied the templates on some transparent sheets(I don't know what they are called in English, we call them acetate copy). Then I carve the blanks on my bench grinder and shape the details using my dremel. I'm not using the grinding tip of the dremel, instead I bought a tip used to sharpen motor hacksaw blades in order to prevent extra heating. They carve the material more slowly, so I don't make mistakes. I quench and compare the pick with the template after each individual stroke. After that I use a 800 degree grit paper first with water and then with paraffin.
The picks are not exact but I don't think I can make any pick more exact. They look the same when I put it near the template, although they differ by tenth of a milimeter, or so. Is this error too big for a pick with a tip of 1.2mm? I bought oven paint, but while cutting the templates, a greater error is intruduced!
One more question: I need to use too much force to insert the full hook further than 4th or 5th pin (6th pin is really very difficult to reach and I broke the pick while I was trying this!). The distance between the pins and the warding inside is less than the height of the hook. Even if I can insert, I push the pins a bit while moving the pick over the pins. Will this hinder the picking process? Is there any tip you can give to insert the pick easily in such a case.
