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tempering picks

Having read the FAQ's you are still unfulfilled and seek more enlightenment, so post your general lock picking questions here.
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Do not post safe related questions in this sub forum! Post them in This Old Safe

The sub forum you are currently in is for asking Beginner Hobby Lock Picking questions only.

tempering picks

Postby darrel.h » 2 Jun 2006 15:45

hello all,

I have read that if you gradually heat metal and suddenly cool it in oil or water (quenching), it will harden the metal. Now how do you temper it or make it springy again?
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Postby ThE_MasteR » 2 Jun 2006 15:47

What do you mean ? The metal is already springy at it's original state.
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Postby SFGOON » 2 Jun 2006 15:47

The metal will take on different properties depending on how hot the metal gets when it is quenched. With picks, tempering is genreally not important as long as the metal doesn't become brittle - it is advisable to quench any picks you are grinding every few seconds.

In short, don't worry about tempering :wink:
"Reverse the obvious and the truth will present itself." - Carl Jung
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Postby ThE_MasteR » 2 Jun 2006 15:49

Well, you heat the metal to BEND it to any shape you want, you don't just heat it and quench it right away, serves no purpose. But to anwser your question, well it really dosen't make any sense lol.
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Postby pinsetter » 2 Jun 2006 15:53

To anneal it (soften it), you heat it cherry red and let it cool gradually.

To harden it you heat it cherry red and cool it very quickly.

To "temper" it (make it springy) you heat it chery red then cool it quickly, then re-heat it until a film of oxide forms on it, long before it becomes cherry red, then cool it quickly again. The temper will depend on the heating times, obtaining the correct temperatures, and cooling times. It's pretty tricky until you know what you're doing.
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Postby pinsetter » 2 Jun 2006 15:59

And to add to my last post:

For picks you don't want to get it *too* hard. Getting the metal too hard will make the picks brittle. Getting them too soft will cause them to bend easily.

It's best to find a material that is *just right* for picks, and quench often when working the metal. By often I mean every 2 or 3 seconds. If you get the metal hot enough to burn yourself, or hiss when you stick it in the water, you are not quenching often enough.
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Postby illusion » 2 Jun 2006 16:00

Oh yeah, when you dunk the pick into water make sure it is icy cold, and that you LEAVE the pick in, untill it has FULLY cooled. If you jeust dunk it in for several seconds it may not have cooled down enough, and will ruin your hard work. :)
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Postby Shrub » 2 Jun 2006 19:15

Search this site on the ways to heat treat metals, i know ive typed it at least once a month so theres plenty of material to read.

To temper is to remove the stress in the material after hardening, on most steels used with picks this is easily done by heating the metal up again to a straw colour (yellow) and quench again.

When quenching it is adviseable to stir the water instead of just holding it there but as illusion stated it should be in the water until cool again.
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