Metals

[ThatOneWeirdo]

I am going to be making some lockpicks. It seems that a lot of people recommend using a hack saw blade or the metal from inside a windshield wiper. But could i use the metal from a file cabnet folder? I've tried it and it works fine but is it too flimsy? Please let me know asap! Thanks

[Eyes_Only]

I've heard of someone trying to make picks out of that file folder thing before. I don't think it went too well. I would stick to hacksaw blades since everyone else seems to have good experiences with them. Just make sure you quench them regularly so it doesn't overheat.

[Kaotik]

Could you use the metal piece from a filing cabinet drawer, it seems you already have. You have also found the flaw in using them.

The reason it is recommended to use hacksaw blades is because they are the next best medium to use when making homebrew picks. Heed the advise to quench them every few seconds in cold water. You can take the bulk of the material off with a bench grinder and finish it off with a Dremel tool and files followed by plenty of progressively finer grits of sanpaper making sure to get all the rough/sharp edges and corners.

Let us know how it turns out, and feel free to post pictures if possible in the Homebrew Hall of Fame thread.

[mercurial]

I think filing cabinets have become uncommon enough that some of us will misunderstand what the OP is referring to. I believe the OP is referring to the metal support strip that is attached to each file suspended in the filing cabinet. The files 'hang' from these strips. This is not the metal that the cabinet drawers are made of.

The strips have little cutouts at each end (in fact, just like but bigger than the cutouts at each end of some windshield wiper blades). These metal strips grip the file, and the cutouts allow the files to slide smoothely along the side-rails of the filing cabinet drawer.

This material is definately too soft(ie as bad as paperclips) to make effective lockpicks - and I remember to use them myself a long time ago. Back then, I found it to be so soft that bobby pins, safety pins, bike spokes and even stronger paperclips were superior (and all of those are imho worthless for somebody who is serious about making effective lockpicks that will last).

ThatOneWeirdo - as you mentioned, people are fond of windscreen wiper blades, and hacksaw blades. Also very useful, are street-sweeper bristles. I'm sure you can get your hands on these materials - the streetsweeper bristles or windscreen wipper blades you can even find for free with a little effort.

If you are still looking for other suitable metal stock, other alternatives that have been found to produce good results are feeler gauge stock, and plumbing-snake.

...mercurial

[Kaotik]

mercurial, I assume you were reffering to my post. Obviously filing cabinets are made from sheet metal and not thin pieces of metal.

I do appreciate the correction regarding my mistake in not typing folder after drawer, a small mistake like that happens in forums, and it's something to get use to. There are tons of typo's and spelling errors that are often over looked.

That is unless of course every other word in a paragraph is misused or not spelled correctly, then there are some serious problem in need of attention.

[Rodfather23]

ThatOneWeirdo - as you mentioned, people are fond of windscreen wiper blades, and hacksaw blades. Also very useful, are street-sweeper bristles. I'm sure you can get your hands on these materials - the streetsweeper bristles or windscreen wipper blades you can even find for free with a little effort.
...mercurial

Wiper blades are super easy and free to get. I worked at autozone for 2 years and I can tell you that any day that it rains just go up to an autozone, advanced auto, etc and they will have a ton of windshield wipers in their trashcans.

[kissnatcher1]

has anyone tryed butter knives or do the shear off to much when you file/grind?

[nekret]

I'm guessing that butter knives would be a little on the thick side for most locks and having such a heavy handle would probably reduce feedback.

[Wrenchman]

let me know asap!

Why, are you in a hurry?

I'll tell you what the best material is, it's massive brass rod, about 4mm in thickness!

It's strong enough to pick a lock, yet it's easy to file down with a manual file!

Welcome to lockpicking!



Wrenchman

[Eyes_Only]

has anyone tryed butter knives or do the shear off to much when you file/grind?

I suppose you can make a pretty rigid version of a flat tension wrench out of them.

[th3anvil]

I've tried the metal from a filing cabinet folder before. It didn't hold up to well (i.e., broke in my keyway. This is why you don't pick locks you rely on)

My recommendation is to go out into town and search for some street sweeper bristles. I live in Chicago and there are a ton everywhere. The best places to find them are on rough roads, right along the curb. This steel is flexible yet extremely strong.

Check out Raimundo's bogota pick and Kaotik's tension wrench howtos. They show you what you can do with these bristles.

Happy picking!

[th3anvil]

Sorry about the double post. Seems the site is running a bit slow this evening.