Diamond Pick

by **SsBloodY** » 28 Jul 2007 14:41

Can i make a diamond pick just with home tools

File , hammer and other and I dont want to buy any mechanichs just i am wondering can I make i nice diamond pick from a Saw Blade with a file or by other way... :roll:

by **UWSDWF** » 28 Jul 2007 14:48

try searching or just looking at the different stickies on the subject of homebrew

by **Eyes_Only** » 28 Jul 2007 14:53

Yes you can.

by **Shrub** » 28 Jul 2007 18:11

Are you posting without searching first me matey?

We will make ye walk da plank if ya arr,

Click my www button for how to set up your pick for making,

You will need to heat the blade up until it is a bright red and then leave it to cool in the air, DO NOT DIP IT IN ANYTHING,

Once cool you can now file it as required and lightly sand,

Now heat the tool up to a bright red again and this time once red quickly put it in a bucket of clean cold water and stirr it around until cold,

Now sand and polish your pick to its finished state but dont bother with getting a mirror finish or anything just make sure the steel is clean and you can see the bright surface,

Now you need to GENTLY heat the tool until it turns a medium yellow colour simular to straw, be careful as it reaches this colour very quickly, almost seconds in some cases,

Once the tool hits the straw colour again dunk the tool in the cold water and stirr until cold,

Do not keep reheating the material and do not remove it from the water until its cold, running it under the tap is unacceptable,

Now you can finish to the final required state, polish to a mirror if you like or like me simply remove the sharp edges and use as they are,

Tools should be as fine as you have or can get, the harder the material the finer the cutting tool needs to be (a file is a cuting tool),

Have fun,

by **SsBloodY** » 29 Jul 2007 7:23

Thanks a lot

i will try that hope i make a good pick :roll:

just one last quetsion since i will do this at home i cant make fire... with whath is best to heat can i heat with candle or with a lighter . I wana ask not to try becasue I dont want just to damage material.

by **Proctor** » 29 Jul 2007 7:44

Use a blowtorch if you have 1

or use the cooker

by **Shrub** » 29 Jul 2007 7:50

Yup thats what i would say as well,

A lighter or candle will not have the heat to get it red and it will be bad to try as it will mess the material up with the way it would work, also soot from a yellow flame will stop you from seeing when the straw colour comes,

You need the material bright red each time, i use a propane torch but a gas ring is adequate,

by **SsBloodY** » 29 Jul 2007 7:59

At home i dont have anything better then lighter and candle i will try with the cooker hope it works.

PS: Thanks a lot

for the patiense I probably ask realllllly nooby questions beacuse I am new at this and you dont l say "you noob f*ck off" licke at most forums

by **Shrub** » 29 Jul 2007 8:20

We wont say that as long as you search the site foirst properly for your answers,

Like i say a lighter or candle is a waste of time, forget it, the cooker is your best bet but only if its a gas one, electric will be pointless,

by **SsBloodY** » 29 Jul 2007 9:09

It's electric :S thanks i got it how to make nice diamond pick and hope i make one

by **Eyes_Only** » 29 Jul 2007 10:56

I've tried tempering with a electric stove before. It does absolutely nothing.

by **Jaakko** » 29 Jul 2007 11:28

Sorry for little hijack/offtopic, but as I don't have the exact knowledge about this and couldn't understand this when searching info, I might as well ask here about the heat treatment done to steel. Correct me if I'm wrong, these are all my own conclusions only.

Shrub wrote:You will need to heat the blade up until it is a bright red and then leave it to cool in the air, DO NOT DIP IT IN ANYTHING

This process, if I understand correctly, makes the steel soft and workable with a file, right? And after working:

Now heat the tool up to a bright red again and this time once red quickly put it in a bucket of clean cold water and stirr it around until cold

Hardening?

Now you need to GENTLY heat the tool until it turns a medium yellow colour simular to straw, be careful as it reaches this colour very quickly, almost seconds in some cases,

Once the tool hits the straw colour again dunk the tool in the cold water and stirr until cold,

This makes the hardened piece of steel flexible while still keeping the hardness, right?

by **Shrub** » 29 Jul 2007 12:59

Yes mate your right,

The last process of the straw colour is called annealing and this de-stresses the material,

If you heat a bit up to bright red and quench it (to the noob, quench is the dipping in a substance colder than the material to cool it down) then do another bit and then reheat to straw, you will see the differance in the breaking force,

The un-annealed one will snap and maybe shatter, the annealed one will simply bend,

Sorry i should have made it a bit clearer but i seem to type some sort of heat treating guide out every month,

The straw colour can be varied to get differant strengths and flexibility but its quite sensitive, straw is just an easy colour to judge and its not far off correct, once its blue you may as well keep gogin to red and quench again then repolish then attempt to get to straw again,

Quenching a blue tool will just make it brittle again,

by **Jaakko** » 29 Jul 2007 15:20

Thank you for the info Shrub, very much appreciated!

I think I have to experiment a little with some steel to practice the annealing

Diamond Pick

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