Make a tubular pick?

[Fr4nk13]

playing card...

hmm. I'll have to try that on my bike lock.

[xboxteen01]

in what way did it go too far?

[raimundo]

have a locksmith cut you a tubular key with all cuts to the 7th depth, (8th depth on a fort lock reader)
silver solder the internal lockstem pickup to the barrel of the key,
1 clean and rinse the key with detergent then apply as small amount of white paste flux, (boric acid, or twenty mule team borax and water) only to the area where the stem picku passed through the slot into the inner part of the key. when this dries, wipe away any flux that got on the inner barrel of the the key, to prevent solder build up in there.
put a larger piece on a fluxed area at the back of the barrel to solder the key bow to the end of the barrel. in this area, no need to worry about too much solder so use a piece like a thumbnail clipping.
put a piece of hard silver solder (flows at about 1600 degrees fahrenheit) no larger than a clipping from your little finger on the top of that and heat with propane torch, keep the torch moving, use it like a paint brush, until the solder flows into the slot around the stem pickup
do not put the flame on the solder directly, you are heating the key, not the solder, with the solder starts to flow, it will follow the heat so at this point heat right over the slot ever so briefly until it flow there and get that flame away from the piece as soon as it flow in.
inspect the piece to see that the internal pickup is soldered securely in place, and that the bow of the key has all the spaces mostly filled between it and the barrel of the key.
take a triangle needle file and cut from the center of you #1 8depth cut straight back to the end of the barrel of the key and make it centered perfectly, this is the guide line to center other files in order as the groove is widened.
do the same to the second and third cuts, the forth cut is still obstructed by a part of the key bow so leave it alone and do the 5th 6th and 7th cuts the same way,
now use the round needle file and open that v groove to a U groove on these six cuts, you will need to find a way to securly poise the work while fileing, and that is the reason the bow of the key is left intact until most of this work is done.
I hope you are using the small 4inch needle files,not the big six inch needle files, you can buy them online from such jewelers suppliers as 'rio grande alburqueque' google it.
finish out the 6 cuts you have made by useing a file called the knife. this has two flat sides and an un cut (none filing) back edge, use this for sharpening up the edges of the grooves, so that the sliders cant slip up a slope. do not use a flat file with a working edge too much, as when you use a flat file, you do not get the corresponding flat edges or sides, because the file will rock slightly in your hand strokes, and this will cause an outward tilt on both edges, the knife file tilted inward when used on as I said, compensates for this.
when all six grooves are ready, cut away that part of the bow of the key that obstructs the cutting of the #4 groove, use a hacksaw to cut it away the mass of the bow as the heat and heavy vibration of grinding will potenially over stress your solder joints. finish cutting this area away with a file, and then cut the groove, this will be the harder cutting but you still have the other side of the bow of the key to hold the piece poised in the vise.
when this groove is finished, you will want to file off the parts of the core pickup that appear on the outside of the barrel of the lock (the same area that was used for gripping the key while cutting the #4 groove. do not cut all the way to the end of the key bow, but do cut away at least half of it. maybe more,
scar the bow of the key with a rough grinder so plastic will adhear to it, and wind some wire through the hole in the keybow and pack it tight, this is an armature for applying fimo plastic heat setting stuff.
Wash your hands and glob on some fimo press it into the wire armature so that it fills all the space, and then shape it to roughly the two finger handle that you need, don't over do it as this stuff without internal armature will not stand the use. and you only need a thumb and forefinger grip to use it, its just like a key. over fill the handle, as you can file the stuff off but you cant hammer any more in to fill thelow spots,
cure your plastic, then file it to shape,
make sliders out of bobby pins (hairpins) these will be too thick so you will have to thin and sand the last quarter inch where it goes into the lock, but you do not need to thin the rest of the slider, they will stand above the grooves and you will put black rubber O rings from the plumbing supply area of your local hardware to hold on the sliders,
Now you will have to work with the not quite finished pick for a few days as you get to know it and may have to tweak some of the fitting. its never finished until this last part is done.

[xboxteen01]

raimundo,where did u get this lol,thats one of the best guides for this and one of the hardest for me to understand lol

[raimundo]

thats how I make them. nobody taught me, but im handy.

[Deathadder]

i made one a while back from a piece of pvc with a strip of windshield wiper insert melted to the inside for a tensioner, then i sliced a hacksaw blade into 8 pieces, arranged them around the pvc and held them on with a tube of heat shrink, the heat shrink conformed to the slices of metal, so they don't move side to side, you may need to add a little grease or something to get them moving up and down smoothly though[/code]

[raimundo]

if you want a mcgyver, take the rubber off of a papermate 'grip' plastic pen, inside the rubber is neatly sectioned to eight places, and wires will be held in place by this, use wires from a small 'fro' comb, small enough to fit snugly inside those grooves. the pen says 'grip' right on it or there are varients that have advertizing on them that have the same 8 sections inside the rubber. if for get if this fits the common ace or the undersize one.

[hellbent1979]

I prefer to buy the right tool for the job. Costly, but very effective.
Keeps Peterson in business.

[JackNco]

I prefer to buy the right tool for the job. Costly, but very effective.
Keeps Peterson in business.

Expensive tool for a hobby picker, and i don't think Peterson are going anywhere.

[cjames73]

I prefer to buy the right tool for the job. Costly, but very effective.
Keeps Peterson in business.

for a locksmith, yes.
as a hobby picker theres no way im going to fork out that much £££ for a pick i'll hardly use.
also, opening a tubular lock with a pick you made yourself is going to make that feeling you get when a lock pops open 10x better than a shop bought pick.

[TOWCH]

if you want a mcgyver, take the rubber off of a papermate 'grip' plastic pen, inside the rubber is neatly sectioned to eight places, and wires will be held in place by this, use wires from a small 'fro' comb, small enough to fit snugly inside those grooves. the pen says 'grip' right on it or there are varients that have advertizing on them that have the same 8 sections inside the rubber. if for get if this fits the common ace or the undersize one.

I tried to get one of these today and got the wrong type. :( Could you post a link to a picture?

[TOWCH]

if you want a mcgyver, take the rubber off of a papermate 'grip' plastic pen, inside the rubber is neatly sectioned to eight places, and wires will be held in place by this, use wires from a small 'fro' comb, small enough to fit snugly inside those grooves. the pen says 'grip' right on it or there are varients that have advertizing on them that have the same 8 sections inside the rubber. if for get if this fits the common ace or the undersize one.

I tried to get one of these today and got the wrong type. Could you post a link to a picture?

[raimundo]

Sorry, but I never really tried that hard to get to know computers, and I understand that posting photos requires signing up to some site with personal info and such, I have a real block about signing up ever since I was 18 and joined the army in 1967. Landing zone volunteer indeed!

[JackNco]

IF u ever want to send me any pics to host for u Raimundo im happy to do it

[Jaakko]

I understand that posting photos requires signing up to some site with personal info and such

That is the reason why someone uses "the fist on the keyboard" login to such sites: For login, click the focus on the login name field and smack your hand on keyboard. Check later that the name doesn't containg illegal characters The same goes for password (I use two punches to the keyboard) and other "personal" info as well