pick making set

[luke42]

hey guys, new to the whole lock picking and i wanted to start making some of my own picks, i am from sydney australia and am looking into buying a dremel 300 series and just wanted to know along with this item what else i would need, such as the attachments... (specific names for the attachments if you wouldn't mind) and also i was looking into using hacksaw blades as the main metal, cheers guys..


also as a side note how much am i looking for the dremel 300 series in new south wales. thanks.

[jamesphilhulk2]

all you need is a cut-off wheel and a grinding stone attachment.

what one is the dremel 300, ass long as you don't get the battery powered one and the digital readout one you'll be aright

and obviously get the correct PPE

[Olson Burry]

Dremel 300 is the variable speed plug-in version and I can highly recommend it as I got one last month. - Amazon £30 (iirc).

There is also the dremel "100 accessories" tin which is pretty good. It'll also give you a decent start with figuring out which bits you are likely to need more of but the 300 does come with a good start of 25 bits if you get the one I did. (no grinding wheels though (541))

Cut-Off Wheels (456), Aluminum Oxide Grinding Wheel (541), Sanding Drum (407) and some fluffy polishing wheels are basically what I've been using.

You will really be wanting the re-enforced cut off disks although following the video guides on the dremel site shows that using 2 of the brown ones simultaneously is quite effective. The videos there are quite handy overall actually.

[jamesphilhulk2]

I've always preferred the brown cut-off discs to the fibre-glass reinforced cut-off discs for a few reasons 1) a finer cut, 2) you get less dust, 3) more for your money

[Olson Burry]

All true. They are good, I suppose my use of cut off discs may be a little different as I use a grinder for most of the work, preferring the re-enforced ones for disassembling padlocks and the like.

Also Ive been make metal ornaments from sheet steel and for a lot of heavy cutting they seem to last a good while for the money.

Once the re-enforced ones get worn down a little they will give quite a fine cut though.

I dont think the guy can go wrong with the dremel 300 + 25 bits, it's pretty awesome.

[luke42]

thanks for the great help, i'm thinking of going out and buying one today, along with the 25 pc's you get with it is there anything else that i would need such as extra cutting disks and such?

cheers,
luke.

[Olson Burry]

Not initially, no. My feeling is that you'll do fine with what is there as a starter. It took me a week or so using different attachments to gauge the effectiveness of the various accessories.

Just go careful with it and ALWAYS, and i mean ALWAYS wear safety goggles.

Soon you'll get a feel for what works best, it's a learning curve but once you're confident with the tool and it's not scary when you turn it on it really is a joy to use.

One recommendation - ear plugs - my ears were ringing after i used it properly for a few hours the first time and that cant be good.. it is noisy and its worth protecting your hearing.

Check the vids on the dremel site also.

[raimundo]

buy some safety glasses for your eyes. those little things can break up and the launch speed is capable of damage.

[Clead]

Good call, even go with goggles if you can. Last I was up for glasses on my insurance, my presciption still hadn't changed so I got some RX-inserts for ESS Advancer V-12s, now I've got RX goggles for shooting, power tools, and motorcycling.

[datagram]

I also found that a bandana and a facemask work well for some stuff. Using a dremel up close leads to lots of bits of metal flying at you, especially if you're going to work with things other than just pickmaking, such as keys or lock cylinders. All those bits flying at your face is sometimes uncomfortable, and inevitably ends up with your hair, eyes, and mouth. First priority are safety glasses, but a bandana also helps, IMO.

[luke42]

hey felow pickers, thanks for the safety tips! safety is my number one priority after all. i went to my local Mitre 10 today, don't know if you have those up north..... very helpful people though, and picked up my brand new dremel 300 with the extra 25 pieces, it was hard enough pulling myself away from the shop! it's like me going through a spearfishing shop, i could just walk around in one for a whole day and still not get bored looking at the exactt same things over and over and give my two cents on the products, anyway picked it up for 109 australian dollars and hope to be making my picks soon enougnh.

cheers,
luke.

[TMIB]

+1 on the safety goggles.

If you lose a hand they can make you a metal hook to pick up things.
If you lose a leg, they can make you a plastic and metal one to walk on.
If you lose an ear, a plastic and electronic device can even help with that.

You lose an eye and you're screwed. It ain't coming back, and there's no medical replacement to put in its place.

It also doesn't take much to seriously injure an eye. Yeah, safety goggles are a hassle sometimes, but the alternative is much worse.

--TMIB

[guest5999]

i've found that, depending on what you're doing, gloves and even long sleeves are helping for keeping itchy bits of metal off your skin.

[lock2006]

Hi luke44 i have( Dremel MODEL 400XPR )one thing i like about this model is the you can change the speed from 1 to 10 the one i have befe it has only low and high and did not like that specially when do details work i need to change speed,One recommendation get ear plugs my ears were ringing few hours the first time,also get facemask,that's the stuff i used to make my pick tools hope this info helps.

[luke42]

thanks mate, i bought it two weeks ago and its going great =) agreed on the adjustable speeds, first thing i did was getting ear muffs and facemask =)