The New Picks (in progress)

[brianp]

Here are some pics of my home brew picks. They are made from carbon steel hacksaw blades. They are roughed out on a grinding wheel and detailed with a dremel. Then a polishing wheel with a few different polishing compounds on the grinder. I have a small metal shop with decent equipment at my work where we make body jewelry and it makes it a bit easier. The handles are two layers of heatshrink. One cut in a zig zag pattern with a regular piece of heatshrink over it. Sorry about the pictures. They are the best I can do without the steel reflecting too much. There will be more but I can only get a few done a day. Check back tomorrow and I should have the set almost done.

Thanks for looking,
BrianP

[Black Zero]

pretty cool... i've never seen anything like it before

[cheesehead]

nice work! I like the zig zag idea with the heatshrink - my have to try it.

[josh0094]

all i could think when i saw those was holy dog crap... now those are some picks.... might have to get back into home brewing again... how long did it take you to make those?

[brianp]

It takes about 30-60 min each depending on how intricate the pick is from hacksaw blade to finished product. Working on a new method that will hopefully shorten that up though. I'll have about 5 more done tomorrow and I will post more pics of them then.

Thanks,

BrianP

[Eyes_Only]

It's amazing how some of you guys can whip up such professional looking pick tools from scratch.

[raimundo]

And brian is a new guy on the site too, everyone who tells them self they cant make picks themselves is either correct and has self knowlege, or they are self limiting. the interesting thing is that in this post brian tells us that he's using hacksaw blades, when I first saw them, in a different thread, I thought they were from drain snake or something that has less width.

[dmux]

cool man, i like the king and queen picks too

and interesting handles

[DPTR]

All I can say is wow, those are some smexy picks

One question though, does the heatshrink get sticky after usage over time? I used a similar product on one of my tools a year ago, and after a weeks use it was sticky, and kind of uncomfortable to use.

[brianp]

So far it isn't sticky and I have been using this on my pro picks for a few hours a day for a few weeks now. I looked and the used ones look the same as the new ones. I tried ez dip and I didn't like the inconsistency of the finish. No matter if I hung them or put them on their nose there was always inconsistencies. I am pretty anal so I try to keep things nice and uniform. I like the feel of the picks with this handle setup.

Is plumber / electrical snake a better material? I am taking a bit off the blades on both sides to get the handles to 5/16" wide. I glue the template to the blade and rough it out with a dremel and then when I am finishing it with the medium polish grinding wheel it takes the paper and paint off the blades. The medium wheel looks like a regular grinding wheel but is kind of soft and porous. My shop mail orders them and it seems you can't get them at Lowes unfortunately. I'll find out where we get them and the "official" name of them. They are amazing though. I follow that up with 2 different polishing compounds on 6" yellow polishing wheels from Lowes. It makes them come out nice. You just have to go slow on the dremel and take a bit at a time and not try to cut the final shape in one swoop. Thanks for the compliments. I am off to get some more done. Hopefully the set will be done today.

Thanks!

BrianP

[Tonka]

Sweet. Period. I am proud of what I have come up with in my own home workshop being new to this hobby, but am considering plagiarizing (with permission, of course) some of your ideas. I especially like the zig-zag pattern using heat shrink. Being an electrician in the Navy, I swear by the stuff and have already coated all my picks and torsion wrench handles with a single layer of heat shrink and have been experimenting with using cord wrapped around the handle underneath the heat shrink for grip, but I think you are really onto something!

by the way, to answer DPTR's question about the heatshrink getting tacky over time, use heat shrink that shrinks 2/3 it's original size (there are different types) and you should be fine.

[brianp]

Tonka, without all the help I have received from this board I wouldn't be doing any of this most likely. I welcome anyone to use any ideas I put out here. I apprecate you asking but I just love being involved with everyone. The medium grit wheel I was talking about before is a 3M deburring wheel. It is like a scotch brite wheel except by 3M. Eliminates the need for sandpaper and is amazing. Needs to be mail ordered form everything I can tell. You might be able to find them locally where you are.

Thanks!

Brian

[Tonka]

I know what you are talking about...I used the same type of de-burring wheel for my drill to strip the paint off the roof rack on my Jeep. You can get them for your drill, at least, at Sears. The way the replacement wheels come, I am pretty sure you could make them work on some grinding wheels.
Since my wife is heading back to the states friday for a month, I figure to use some of that time alone to actively get off my @ss and take some photos of what I have been tinkering with. You might like some of the handles with wrapped parachute cord underneath.

[linuxbz]

The medium grit wheel I was talking about before is a 3M deburring wheel. It is like a scotch brite wheel except by 3M.

I'm pretty sure that Scotch-Brite is a trademark of 3M, so I suspect it's the same thing. Perhaps labeled differently.

[brianp]

Here is the main set. I still have a few more to go but as you guys know it takes a little time. I am happy with how they are coming out. Sorry about the pics. Still fighting glare. The last few picks and T-wrenches are tomorrow.

BrianP