great material for making picks!

by **Chucklz** » 14 Mar 2004 22:19

The materials handbook will be able to answer those questions for you. Be aware though, when an engineer says "approximately" take that with a great deal of caution. I know engineers who use 3 as an "approximation" for pi.......

Material testing? Anyone with access to a tensile testing machine willing to take the time to test a Giraffee (Just a joke).

by **plot** » 14 Mar 2004 23:46

i use 3 as an approximation for pi if i'm coding something in assembly that needs it. :shock:

by **Dukemurmur** » 15 Mar 2004 21:21

don't want to bother with the points lol. That will throw some stuff way outa wack won't it? U must not be working very close tollerences?

by **plot** » 15 Mar 2004 22:53

decimals can be a real pain in assembly..

anyways, i'm an electronic engineer technology major

and in electronics, there isn't precision like people think. sure, 1+1=2 on a calculator. but in the electronics world, 0-2.5 volts = a binary 0, and 2.5-5volts = a binary 1. you'll very very rarely get an even 5 volts out of a power source... at least, not with your average everyday equipment.

also, when calculating the values for resistors and capacitors and inductors, you'll come up with numbers like 105.532 ohms... well, there is no resistor like that, you can use a 100 ohm resistor, and even hten it'll have a 1% tolerance, so it can be 101 or 99 ohms. now, most resistors are 5%, or 10% tolerance, so it could be 110ohms, or 90ohms and still work fine.

so... using 3 as an approximation for pi works on most stuff in electronics, as, it's within a 5-10% range... which is all we actually look for

by **Dukemurmur** » 15 Mar 2004 22:56

Ok, Iknow this as i over clock comps and am into elctronics i thought u where an engineer like with metal or what not making things for a large precision companny.

by **i_want_to_pick** » 17 Mar 2004 16:23

Has anyone used Aluminum for making picks?

In mountain bikeing another of my hobbies, bike frames made from it are known to have a harsh ride meaning that the frame dosn't absorb the bumps well, and you really feel the terrain you ride over, but this would be good with lock picks I would think due to the good feeling of the pins you'd get.

One downside might be that it could be too stiff and crack or snap? Any thoughts anyone?
Matt

[/u]

by **Dukemurmur** » 17 Mar 2004 16:32

yes, it would be to "stiff" and it would crack at stress points such as where it meets the handle form te pushing on the pins. And it will crack if u bend it to the sides :cry:

but hey if u want u can u will just have to make a new pick when one breaks :shock:

but o well i fu like the "feel" then try it and tell us.

by **hozer2k** » 17 Mar 2004 19:41

OK, Duke maybe you should refrain from answering.

Aluminum is about one-third the stiffness of steel so is it considerably less still. Some aluminums are more ductile/brittle than some steels, it just depnds on the type. However, aluminum in general is more ductile than many steels.

And again, stiffness and brittleness are not the same, they are two totally different things.

by **hozer2k** » 17 Mar 2004 19:42

Meant to say considerably less than steel. Steel is 3X the stiffness of aluminum.

by **Dukemurmur** » 17 Mar 2004 19:55

KNow i don't care what u say very few steels that i have seen will break as easy as Al at these thicknesses i would LOVE to c u prove me wrong!!! Al is malleable yes but it DOES and WILL break if bent trust me i have craked my MT bike frame b4 and have had to weild it back together(and yes it was with an Al weilder) Al will crack and then fall apart when bent steel u can bend back and fourth a few times. i don't care what u have 4 degrees in this I AM right!!

by **plot** » 17 Mar 2004 20:44

Dukemurmur wrote:KNow i don't care what u say very few steels that i have seen will break as easy as Al at these thicknesses i would LOVE to c u prove me wrong!!! Al is malleable yes but it DOES and WILL break if bent trust me i have craked my MT bike frame b4 and have had to weild it back together(and yes it was with an Al weilder) Al will crack and then fall apart when bent steel u can bend back and fourth a few times. i don't care what u have 4 degrees in this I AM right!!

i've never broken a popcan in half. have you?

by **salzi684** » 17 Mar 2004 21:47

Dukemurmur: Please, if you want to write â€œyouâ€ type "y..o..u" not "u" same goes for "b4" and "c" instead of "see".

Ok now, how much you can bend something back and forth doesn't really matter. What matters is how much stress per strain you put on that material. If you take a piece of aluminum and flex it back and forth but not so much as to plastically deform that aluminum you can do it all day and its not going to break. But, if you take a piece of aluminum and bend it to the point of plastic deformation and keep doing that it will break quickly.

Steel and Aluminum have different stress vs. strain graphs. Hell, even different types of Steel and Aluminum have different stress vs. strain graphs. So for that matter if you were using a certain type of steel and a certain type of aluminum, the aluminum might out perform the steel.

As for pick making the best material would be one that could take a lot of stress (force/area) without a lot of strain (change in length/original length) without plastically deforming. That means a stiff material that doesn't plastically deform at low stresses.

by **i_want_to_pick** » 17 Mar 2004 22:01

I've cracked my Aluminum bike frame to, but I think it was from a micro fracture in the metal that was undetected during manufacturing.

My only experiance with AL. is on bikes, and alsmost every Al bike frame has a 5 year(or less) warrenty where steel has a life time warrrenty almost always. If Al didn't wear out quicker it wouldn't have a shorter warrenty. The reson Al is used over steel on more expensive bikes is because its lighter but not stronger.

Anyway, if I find some Al thats thin enough i'll give it a try, but right now I don't know where to get it that thin.
Matt

by **Dukemurmur** » 17 Mar 2004 23:09

and what is the plastic deformation rate??0.01mm?? that is nothing. It will happen ing picking.

by **hozer2k** » 18 Mar 2004 10:48

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Duke, I am sorry...but I have to say you are clueless. Yes, I do have a few degrees and almost done with a PhD (from a top 5 school) specializing in lets see, EXACTLY these kinds questions. Not to mention several years of work experience and I am a P.E. to go with it. I do this type of work on a daily basis, but yes of course you owned a mountain bike so that probably makes up for my 10 years of school and 7 as an engineer

This is futile, I give up. But in all fairness...I have seen other engineers with just bachelors degrees muck this up as well. The difference is they are willing to learn and understand.

great material for making picks!

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