different pick and tension wrench materials??

[Fosfor]

Interesting material for pin lock lockpick is a friction tape. It made of spring steel, 20 mm wide and 0.8 mm thikness. For tension tools for pin locks I use steel spring from windscreen wiper.
For complex tools, that open lever, tibbie locks, I use bars from wasted oil shock absorbers. Great steel.

[akgreg]

DO you guys hand file the picks, or do you use a power tool of some sort to take the majority of the material off? Or would that risk breaking/warping the pick material (heat, friction, etc)?

[datagram]

DO you guys hand file the picks, or do you use a power tool of some sort to take the majority of the material off? Or would that risk breaking/warping the pick material (heat, friction, etc)?

If there is a small amount of material to remove a hand file is fine, but if you have a great deal of excess you'll want to use something else. There are many different methods, but you can use a dremel, grinding wheel, cold chisel, whatever. Depends on the material and personal preference. Of course you have to take care to not retemper the material, but that is not too hard once you have some experience.

dg

[akgreg]

Thanks. I was wondering about making the metal hard and brittle because of heat. I guess easy does it and it should be fine.

[raimundo]

Keep a bowl of water beside the grinder and dip every few seconds, don't be in a hurry, be slow and patient especially as the metal becomes thinner. Its easy to heat up thin metal and hard to heat up a mass of metal.
dip before it gets hot, don't go to the edge of burning it and then dip. Just dip frequently, without waiting for it to heat up

[Zero-K]

I bought an old wire fish (it's a roll of spring steel used for running electrical wires through walls and ceilings) it was about 50' for somewhere around $20. I've made a ton of home made pics out of it and still have 30' or more left Much easier than trying to find street cleaner bristles in a city that doesn't clean it's streets

[Steyrshrek]

I use street sweeper bristles for wrenches and steel banding for picks. The first time I looked for street sweeper bristle I didn't see any, but then I saw these little brown pieces left in the thin mud, low an behold, now I can spot them all the time now that I know what I'm looking for. I go every spring when they do the spring street cleaning, take the dogs for a walk and usually get 50 or so.

I use both a dremmel and files to make my picks.

[Cuervogrisss]

Hair pins are good and cheap for picks and tension wrenches,they don't looks "fashion",however,you can carry a complete lockpick set in your own hair,if you have got long hair.

[Necro260]

I mainly use hacksaw blades for my picks and my wrench. As others have said, if you keep dipping the blade as you grind it it shouldn't get too brittle. If it's still brittle, you might need to get some more expensive blades, I wouldn't go top of the line though, they'll probably be too thick.

You can try using mason's strap if you can find some. Should be easy enough if you work in or know someone who works in construction. It's just some metal strap that they use to hold together pallets of bricks.

Another idea is to use some perforated strap. You can find it in the plumbing section of most hardware stores, they use it to support pipe by wrapping the strap around the pipe and nailing it to a joist or stud. That might be too weak, but it's cheap so it might be worth a try.

I'm a plumber so I find all kinds of material of the job sight that works pretty good. I don't even know what most of it is, but you can definitely find some good stock in building sites. Just don't get caught trespassing.

[awol70]

haha. Its not as hard as he makes it sound to find street sweeper bristles. The trick is to find the sweepers in the morning, and walk along their path later in the day. you can tell where they have been because its clean. they make good picks too...but better wrenches.

i have the most difficult time bending bristle properly w/o snapping them...the ones in my town must be of a cheaper variety of steel
than most,because even when i find shiny,non-rusted ones,they are far too brittle to make a tension wrench out of,let alone
perform miracles as some of our esteemed members do.
mind you i dont use heat.
am i missing something?

[femurat]

Hi awol70,

you can't bend bristles 90 degrees without snapping them! You must make a softer bend, both leaving some space between the 2 pliers so to get a small curve or making 2 45 degree bend close to each other. And bend gently, slowly, not like if you're cutting wire.

I prefer the first option, so usually I leave 1/2 inch of space between the 2 pliers and I start bending. If the bend seems too hard to get, when I'm halfway I stop and move a little the pliers, so to leave up to 1 inch of space between them. The result is a well rounded but small 90 degree curve.

Cheers

[bluefish6900]

For my first set of picks i used 0.022" Starret feeler gauge stock, after breaking one i started looking a little deeper into the type of steel alloy i was working with. After bringing a sample to the lab guys i know, it turns out that that material is just 12L14 steel which is a free machining low carbon steel.

I am currently looking into Starret hacksaw blades, Safe flex 18 tpi which are also about 0.022" after the paint is removed. this material is S1 tool steel ( maybe L2 tool steel ). So i am now trying to find the right process and properties to have a more durable pick.

That being said, what do you guys suggest is the best pick feel? Hard and brittle, soft and more flexible.

I think i have the a contact to get some picks heat treated but i should basically know what i'm looking for before i start.

A few other questions...
What thickness picks and wrenches are you guys using?
What's the difference in thickness between US picks and Euro picks?
Sorry for the questions i've never actually had a factor made pick in my hands to examine.

I post findings as i get them.

Cheers

[kapu]

I made one out of a hex wrench that has a really stiff and nice feel to it. Also, chrome molly is really nice too. Brittle, but incredibly strong and
unbendable to an extreme. I've used the chrome molly one often, and never even came close to feeling like it would snap.
Hex wrenches work the tits though. Just a *lot* of filing. I prefer it to any sheet material. Just my preference.

[awol70]

Hi awol70,

you can't bend bristles 90 degrees without snapping them! You must make a softer bend, both leaving some space between the 2 pliers so to get a small curve or making 2 45 degree bend close to each other. And bend gently, slowly, not like if you're cutting wire.

I prefer the first option, so usually I leave 1/2 inch of space between the 2 pliers and I start bending. If the bend seems too hard to get, when I'm halfway I stop and move a little the pliers, so to leave up to 1 inch of space between them. The result is a well rounded but small 90 degree curve.

Cheers

this is why i use wiper inserts...one end in the vise,pull the other end down toward me,and gently tap with a little jewelers hammer,and i get perfect 90% angles.
i find this makes a far better tool,but that's just me...=)
thanks for the tip,though,i know i will use it.
i think i will try it right now...

[phippoD]

yea i agree with awol70 comment winscreen wiper inserts are to perfect not to use