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by **raimundo** » 22 Jun 2007 10:07

damascus steel as in swords made in the middle east centuries ago, was similiar to the japanese method of folding the billet and hammer welding many times over, the lines are carbonized steel in the blade,
mokume game would not make a pick but would make nice art for the handles, as it is made from layers of different colored metals or alloys, you would not need to make many layers and if you have a roller to thin the stock, you could lamininate thicker plates then roll the whole thing thin. I would pound and file flat before doing that, then resurface after doing that by filing, the roller may affect the the surface in a way that you would want to cut off. also, some people cut the billet at an angle to really get the graind to show.

by **Kaotik** » 22 Jun 2007 11:42

Just for handles?! Now we're talking my specialty...

No roller here, but i'm sure with all things possible some supplier may have or can acquire thin sheet stock. Definitely worth looking into.

by **the wizard** » 24 Jun 2007 7:54

havent got through all of the pictures yet but very interesting all the same.

by **dmux** » 24 Jun 2007 14:32

damascus would be super hard to file and work with, you would have to forge picks out of it, and the one thing i never liked about it is that if you scratch the blade or the carbon it does not come back, so you can have a really cool design on a knife blade and it can wear off and they only way you could tell its damascus is if you look really close

but i will be in the top 10 in line rai if you decide to craft some of those

by **zhouluyi** » 7 Jul 2007 21:25

My first try on pick making, I bought a grinder the week and gave it a try making some standard picks.

Tell me what you think of them, I didn't planned anything I just went on making picks that I thought would be useful to regular house locks.

Critics and suggestions on the picks are more than welcome...

Luiz Borges

by **What** » 8 Jul 2007 0:32

those look great.

just make sure you have them nice and sanded down.polished...

by **zhouluyi** » 8 Jul 2007 8:08

I still have lots to learn about sanding. I sanded a lot and I'm still not satisfied with the results.

Luiz Borges

by **raimundo** » 8 Jul 2007 8:58

i hope you are useing the black sand paper that is for metal, the stuff that just looks like sand is for wood. Start with a heavy grit paper on a sanding stick, this will have a shaping cut so be aware to stay back from any fine details you don't want sanded off, then as you progress, you will stop using the heavy grit, and go to the finer grits, these still shape a bit, and you need to use sanding sticks that fit the areas you are sanding. A paint stir stick with a round edge is a good one for having flat and a round edge to use in curved areas.

by **zhouluyi** » 8 Jul 2007 9:05

That's what I'm doing, where should I rest the pick while I sand? Now i'm holding it flat on a piece of plywood covered with newspaper while I rub a block with sandpaper on... any suggestions?

Also, what is the best way to remove paint from the hacksaw blades? I discovered that steel wool seems to do a good a job, unfortenetly I discovered that just after I run out of sandpaper 180 grit that I used for that...

Luiz Borges

by **zhouluyi** » 8 Jul 2007 9:09

Ops, almost forget, for the finer details and edges I used a cheap-o rotary dremel-like tool with a "grinder/sander" point... it worked great, I definetely want to buy a better rotary tool now, I guess it will produce amazing results...

Luiz Borges

PS: A wire brush mounted on the grinder would help remove the paint? I guess it a bit too harsh for that...

by **Kaotik** » 9 Jul 2007 18:03

zhouluyi, There has been discussion on what takes the paint off of a hacksaw blade before, for the life of me I can't seem to find it. Bad search day for me I guess.

I will name a few to get you started. Acetone, Paint Thinner, Paint stripper (Aircraft), Stripping wheels (kinda like scotchbrite pads on and mandrel for a rotary tool) ect.

You can use a wire wheel to strip the paint off aswell, but depending on how course it is, you could very well be making more sanding work for yourself by using a course one. See what you have in the shop or garage and use what you have unless you want to get or try something specific.

I use the Aircraft paint remover in a aeresol can, spray on, wait a few seconds till the paint bubbles up and then wipe off with on old shop rag.

by **zhouluyi** » 9 Jul 2007 18:40

Kaotik, I also searched and found nothing... I haven't thought about using chemicals, so I waste most of my course sandpaper removing paint...

Your picks are a work of art themselves... just plainly beautiful...
What did you used to shape alumminum on the handles? How did you "attached" it to the hacksaw blades?

Luiz Borges

by **UWSDWF** » 9 Jul 2007 18:46

try varsol or paint thinner

by **Kaotik** » 26 Jul 2007 19:08

zhouluy, I just use a strong bonding agent, I tried a few and picked the best for this application.

Back to topic*

I have been obviously busy making picks lately but have spared time to take part in discussions here. Sometimes making a fool of myself and other not, i'm good at that. :lol:

I have been working on these two latest pick handles lately that I have added to my collection of kustoms.

This one is called Alien, don't ask why but that was the inspiration from looking at a magazine:

The close-up shot:

This was inspired from seeing other talk about rippled handles, then ironically there as been some new threads added recently.

I call this one Kaotik Ripple.

The close-up:

I don't have any bought ripple handled picks, so this is my first. I might get one to feel the difference between this one and bought one though. I hope you like them.

by **Kaotik** » 26 Jul 2007 19:09