Making royalty - King and Queen Picks

[Kaotik]

Very nice Rom! There looking better and better.

[zeke79]

I basically cleaned up the arguing and removed the link to the questionable material. Let's hope the thread can stay on track now.

[Exodus5000]

I used some google-fu to check out briefly what the SAK system was all about. Apparently, if my speed-reading abilities serves me well, it involves using a probe to determine the distance between pin stacks, as well as the height of the shearline in at least a few pin stacks. Then, using deductive logic and MACs for that brand of lock you can create a pick shape that will push the pins very close to the shear line just by inserting the pick. By jiggling and raking the pick it should open. Seems reminiscient of the various computer generated lockpicks around.

This is an interesting aproach to opening a lock, but seems inefficient, as the pick would only be terribly useful for one lock. I guess the king and queen picks are a more generalized version of these picks?

Interesting never-the-less.

[Romstar]

Yeah, thats pretty much what the SAK system is about.

It doesn't translate too well unless you know a great deal about the lock brand in question.

At any rate, thats the basics of all "profile" picks.

You find the most common shapes, and you make the picks based on those aproximations.

The king and queen are very good shapes in that they open a very large number of locks. I am working on developing some additions to the "royal family" and should have a set that will cover a wider variety of locks.

The SAK system, and the king and queen are more than 30 years old and I have been using them since I was young. The are very, very good and don't take a long time to get used to.

The rest of it though, as you discovered can be quite long and drawn out, and does require a lot of data. Either in your head, or in print form.

Its like charting a combo lock when you manipulate it. It gets the job done, but takes time.

Romstar

[Exodus5000]

Oh, and what is the scale of these picks by the way?

[Romstar]

Oh, and what is the scale of these picks by the way?

1:1?

Seriously though, how do you mean in this case? I could post the templates if there is enough interest. I made two new ones.

Oh, and by the way I went looking for the original posting that asked about the King and Queen. It was from Mar 30, 2004 and I replied April 18, 2004. My first day here.

Oddly enough, the request for the information was made by Pickmonger, and at the time I only had access to the Paladin press book. I later obtained the actual course guide that book was based on.

http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=2387

I still think these are excellent picks. The SAK system though isn't as good in practice in the field.

Romstar

[Exodus5000]

Oh, you mean the picture you posted in that thread is a 1:1 ratio? I can just print, transcribe, and grind eh?

[Romstar]

Not quite. I mean the measurements are there, but I will post the templates.

Romstar

[Romstar]

Here we go, the 1:1 template. Like the rest of my templates, it measures 4.75 inch, and when printed should measure that against a ruler.



Have fun if you are so inclined.
Romstar

[Exodus5000]

Decided to whip up a set. Here they are fresh off the grinder with a quick steel wool rub down. Needs some more polishin' and finishing, but you get the basic idea.

Thanks Rommy

[Romstar]

Thats really good.

Watch those hacksaw blades though. Because of the sharp angles they can be kinda brittle if you use the wrong type of blade, and you sure don't want the tip of this think breaking off in a lock. It will give your extractor a work out.

I gotta saw though, they are very impressive.

Let us know how they work for you.

Romstar

[Kaotik]

I'm gonna have a go at making these aswell.

Instead of using cork, I thought of using some of that thin foam that come in a 8x11" sheet (and comes in different colors) apply adhesive and sandwich the stock in the middle, then trim around and sand to round out edges.

It's not as dense as cork mind you, but not to soft either. Any thoughts about this method before I try?

[VashTSPD]

I'll give it a try as well sometime, I'll post pics if and when I finish.

[Romstar]

I'm gonna have a go at making these aswell.

Instead of using cork, I thought of using some of that thin foam that come in a 8x11" sheet (and comes in different colors) apply adhesive and sandwich the stock in the middle, then trim around and sand to round out edges.

It's not as dense as cork mind you, but not to soft either. Any thoughts about this method before I try?

Yep, I have several picks done up in that material. Its squishy. Tactile feedback isn't as good, but its comfy for the most part.

I have just about every colour under the sun too.

If you are going to use the foam, try using contact cement. Its actually pretty good, but don't polish the part you are gluing the handle to. If you do, the contact cement will just peel. There are a few other adhesives you could try, but stay away from anything that gets hard. This includes krazy glue. Which, by the way will eat the foam.

Thinned out epoxy may work without becoming hard and lumpy, but the drying time will increase a lot.

There are a few different things you can try for stick on handles. Look around. One thing that comes to mind right away is door sealing foam. Self adhesive, spongy, and you could probably shape it as well.

I have used various woods, they can look amazingly nice either glued or riveted. I have used abalone, bone and plastics. All of them have been glued and riveted. The reason you can't rivet cork is simple. Its too chunky. All the other materials work well with rivets, except foam, cork and fabric. If you really want to mess someone up, get some gold plated sheet. Make some handles, and rivet them on. They look amazing.

Romstar

[Exodus5000]

Gold plated sheets for pick handles? Jeez...
Well I'm... I'm ....

I'm going to get precambrian insects that have been fossilized in amber and shape the amber into a pick handle. That way I'll always know, my pre-historic mosquito in amber is my hook pick, my pre-historic fly in amber is my half diamond, etc.

...top that