making your own picks, with what?

[possamai]

Hi,

I was just wondering..
What material do I use to make my own picks?

I've seen the howto video by Pyro (GREAT!) and he uses sawblades (or however it's called).

But since this is the european part, are those sawblades thin enough for european locks? It sounds like a very american howto so the sawblades are probably too thcik for the european locks

Is this right? And if so, what material to use for european picks?

[Dosk3n]

hacksaw blades are ideal for european lock picks i live in the UK and have southord european picks I also have home made picks with hacksaw blades and there basicly identical in thickness, there maybe about 0.02mm thicker but the hacksaw blade still works perfectly the same as the correctly made european picks. just have a play around and have some fun trying to make the picks as hacksaw blades are cheap (about 60p for 6) so if any thing goes wrong you can easily try again

hope this helped you

Dean

[quicklocks]

[possamai]

Cheap if you have a grinder maybe.. But all I have is a dremel tool...
So I'm afraid I'll need some extra pieces for that one...

But about those hacksaw blades.. are there no differences?
I mean I suppose there are different companies making those things and they don't all use the same metal I think, or do they?
My HPC pickset has 0.20 inch thickness (0.51mm)
if that's about the thickness of the hacksawblades than I geus there's no problem...

[Dosk3n]

well different metal is used on some hacksaw blades, ive used a make called blackspur for the hacksaw blades but ive looked at other makes and they seem the same size. also i have a bench grinder which was only £20 which works just as well as my more expensive ones just look in small hardware stores for cheap grinders, but i think the remel tool should do the same thing if you have the right tool ends and a good vice to hold the mettal in

[PYRO1234321]

if you are going to use hack saw blades, use cheap carbon steel blades (generic multi packs usually - made in china). do not use brand name 'bi-metal' or 'high speed steel' they are soft and bend and are thick. once picks are sanded and polished they are great for euro style locks. the cheap saw blades are actually thinner than a more expensive one and easy to modify with a dremel.

in this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=1882

i mentioned how to use just a dremel to make picks by cutting out the shape with a cut-off wheel (emery disk).

good luck