Materials for DIY picks

[raimundo]

I watched a show called "How its made" about making putty knives, I love that show, and I learned from the one on putty knives that they are thinned a bit toward the tip of the blade, for flexibility. Its a great show on the Discovery Channel. they even have one on the Dudley combo locks.

[Trip Doctor]

I think I saw the one of the Dudley locks. It's a cool show, but the 80s porn music really prevents me from watching more than 20 minutes of it.

[raimundo]

stripper clips may be the answer to something I have been thinking about for a while,

If you have seen the Falle Safe adjustable two point tensioner, it is set with a screw to fit the dimension of the keyway. These make it bulky in a picks case and probably twitchy to get set right.
If a stripper clip had a second piece of metal sliding inside it, I might be possible to make an adjustable tensioner. the free spring inside the stripper clip could be modified to make some kind of lock up snap.

Another method of makeing an adjustable split/twopoint tensioner would take the adjustment screw and apply it like an automotive hose clamp, so that the screw moves the two pieces back and forth. if this were double ended, you could have different lenghts of two point blades coming from either end, so you could chose to use the short points on one end or the longer points on the other end.

While there a numerous pick tips, there are few solutions in the tensors except to have a lot of different pieces, so there is plenty of room for design innovation in the tensor area. I like to make picks few and small while trying to make them also highly versatile, so that its not about bringing a hundred tools to the job, but having a few tools that will answer almost every problem better than a bulky and weighty pick case.

[rontgens]

I'm looking into making some padlock shims from clock springs...
Anybody else used this material?

[raimundo]

I have used springs from steel tape measures and from retractable dog leashes, but generally this metal is very hard and will crack if bent or if it has any nick in the smoothness of the edges you will make on it. for thicker material I have used the stainless spring found inside VHS tapes to steady the reels as they turn, this spring is hot pressed to the plastic case. Different brands use different types of these springs, so you should break open several brands to see what you can find,

The shims I make are made for straight down pushing against the locking dog on things such as master combo locks, I do not use the wrap around version. Since the gap is quite tight, I make it as slim as I can and bevel it on one edge like a jacknife blade is rounded on the sharp side and straight edged on the thick side, You should round the material before slimming it, to do this place one end of the steel on a piece of softwood, and put a screwdriver shank over it, then hit the screwdriver shank to drive the piece into the wood, this will produce a rounded piece of steel that you can then cut to a knife point. I may work hard on the first lock you try it on, but after that, it will have its curvature fitted to the locks.

[raimundo]

add brickstrap to the list.

[muskratt]

yea i love that show. ive seen the combo lock episode too. they also have one on masterlocks

[muskratt]

yea i love that show. ive seen the combo lock episode too. they also have one on masterlocks

im sorry raimundo's quote was supposed to be with that but it didnt show...

[muskratt]

stainless steel rulers can be added.