Indica wrote:True many people dont have the machines to cut large sheets of metal. Maybe this is why the popularity of finding the scraps is seen though out this forum.I have yet to actually order any sheets metal from the builders supply because i wanted to read more on different types of metals and their flexibility and strength. Im sure where ever you can buy the metal they can cut it into square like tiles that can easily be stored in a small space.
I would be interested in a discussion regarding metallurgy as well. Hacksaw blades are fine but what really bugs me is their looks. I have not found a good way to get the finish (paint) off easily, without wasting huge amounts of sandpaper (beacause it gums the paper up) so I leave the handles and only remove the paint from the tips. Looks shitty. Another thing is the removal of the remaining teeth on the handle area, which really takes me ages.
I think the best way would be to go for a sandwiched design: have one kind of steel that is already machined into a "pick blank" form including handle and tip in desired thickness, say 0,4mm. For this use a really good kind of steel, whatever that might be. Then have another, maybe cheaper sort of steel, premachined into a form that just resembles the handle. Depending on how thick one likes his picks you could for 0.55mm. Then take two handle pieces, add the pick blank piece into the middle, clamp in vice, drill two holes into the handle area and put a rivet through them. That way you have a new pick in a matter of minutes (minus shaping the tip) and this would most likely look pretty nice and professional. You have the desired thickness for whatever tight keyways you are manipulating, but a handle that has some substance to grip (in the above example the handle area overall woult be 1.5mm).
A picture would say more than 1000 words, but I am too lazy to set up hosting and draw something right now.
Actually, what about "knife steel"? What kind of steel is usually used to make the blades of pocket-knifes? One day out of sheer boredom I dremeled a bogota rake pattern into an old swag knife, the size of a micro-Leatherman. I have o admit that the rake got out thinner than intended but it is still rigid like nothing I ever made from hacksaw. I think whatever metal is used for this should make a good middle part in the design described above.
Or is more rigidity automatically equal to "it will break, not flex, when abused"?
) there is a pretty good discussion here regarding steel choice