New pickset with custom case

[gostone]

I just made these picks and case.
The picks are made from heat treated spring steel, hardened to 45 rockwell. This steel is great for picks, but very hard to cut, and grind!

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q296 ... ickset.jpg

[dmux]

yea but in the long run they will be worth it, just hopefully they don't grind the pins down being such a hard steel

[Romstar]

Polish the crap out of them, and they won't grind the pins that much.

Try to be sure there are no sharp edges anywhere on the picks.

Look at Raimundo's Bogota picks as an example.

Romstar

[gostone]

They are well polished, by hand, no sharp edges anywhere. Just need to go over them with crocus cloth ( Jewellers Rouge )

[Kaotik]

Nice looking set and case, good job.

Kinda reminds me of minature pocket protector.

[VashTSPD]

hey, those picks look really good, are those your first try?

[gostone]

I made a set out of hacksaw blades, they were effective, but I was not impressed with the steel. So I decided to make them out of hardened spring steel. It is a much better material than using the hacksaw blades. The only downside is that it is very hard to shape hardened spring steel as easily as a cheap high carbon steel.
At to the damaging of pins, as long as any tools you use are well polished there are no problems. By their very nature, lockpicks need to be hard to keep their shape. Otherwise we would be using brass lock picks!

gostone

[Romstar]

Well, not brass exactly, but you're close.

I have made picks of other materials for a variety of people with a need to leave as few marks as possible.

You can make picks from some interesting materials if you try.

Romstar

[gostone]

Romstar,

I would welcome any material ideas......

[Romstar]

Romstar,

I would welcome any material ideas......

Oh, you're doing just fine without me. Those are excellent picks.

Materials other than steel of some sort present all sorts of problems, not just in their shaping, but in their usability.

While you can use materials such as bronze or aluminum it requires a fair amount of effort to shape it, and even more to get it to a stage where it is usable as a pick.

These sorts of tools suffer from a short life span, and require frequent replacement. They are meant for special needs only, and are not up to the rigors of daily use.

Romstar

[Krypos]

rom- you make it sound like you made james bonds very own pick set for that super secret covert mission that one time in russia.

lets recount:

-short life span
-custom made
-"special needs only"
-not for daily use
-I have made picks of other materials for a variety of people with a need to leave as few marks as possible.


am i missing something?


Romstar------------------> <--------------------Romstar



-krypos. (yes, lets face it, sometimes i sign my name, even though i have a sig to do it for me.......)

[Romstar]

James Bond is a very entertaing fictional character. I enjoy the movies a lot when I am in the mood.

I have weird and wonderful friends.

Thanks for asking though.

Romstar (Yep, I sign my name as well)

[LockNewbie21]

Haha krypo's mate you always give me a good laugh

The picks are excellent.

Rom, i agree with the metal types, I wanted to use memory metal, but shrub told me that stuff is more per weight in gold in most coutries.. still though be a sweet pick set thought if not just for the sake of having.

P.s 007 ehh Rom? Who else are you making picks for mate?

[Romstar]

I've made a number of tools for a wide variety of people over the years. At one point I was designing things for one of our government agencies.

Obviously, I wasn't the only person doing such things, but it was interesting and fun.

I will make picks for any reasonable person I believe is not engaged in illegal activities, or is actively employed by the armed forces, certain civilian and government agencies and law enforcement.

Certain special requests are restricted to law enforcement, government or extremely trusted friends.

I'm kinda picky about that.

Regular lock picks pretty much get sold to anyone. Unless they are stupid enough to tell me that they are going to comit a crime with them.

Romstar

[zerg49]

really sweet picks man I cant wait to get a grinder and have a go at making some of my own