Homemade picks by Subver

[subver]

Hello,
I'm a bit new, but I dove right into the lock picking hobby and have, every day since I started, done pretty much nothing in my free time except practice lock picking and some pick making.
Yada yada yada, anyway, I figure I will be making many picks in the future so I will use this thread to document my progress, as well as maybe get help and help others at the same time. The more info the merrier, ay?

Well first I made this little sucker out of a hacksaw blade, I picked my first lock with it on the first try (after 3 full days of research, reading, watching, etc) and have been completely obsessed ever since.

Not the greatest, and it's handle is far too short, but it helped me learn.
Tonight I finished these 2 picks, a short hook and small half diamond:


Stainless steel with heat shrink handle.
Anyway, I have more stainless steel coming my way soon, so I will make more as soon as I can (I thought I ordered 12 strips of 12" stainless steel, but I got one )

Not completely satisfied with them (Mainly the shape and overall aesthetics..) but they work nicely.
Feel free to critique, suggest, ask, make fun of, etc.

So glad there is an active community for this, I've learned so much from all of you, it's time for me to contribute. So expect more picks soon!

-Sub

[LocksmithArmy]

wow very nice man

lookin real good, quick question. where do you order you metal stock?

keep makin em, im lookin forward to seein what else you can do.

[subver]

thanks!
I got them from fastenal.com - the 12" x 1/2" x .025" Stainless Steel Feeler Gauges
It's not cheap, though..

[jamesphilhulk2]

awesome, good job

[barbarian]

Very nice looking work.

Thanks for posting them..

[subver]

Thanks guys. I made another one last night. I've been trying to come up with handle shapes.. and here was an option. I put heat shrink tubing on it temporarily, until I get some metal for the handles. So I guess this one is a work in progress. I think I need to sand the tip a little bit more as well. But anyway, here it is so far


So again, I'm also not really satisfied with this handle shape. It's close, though, it "feels" right. It fits how I hold the pick very well, but I think I just need more practice with my new bench grinder to make it look good.
Either way, the pick works good and is nice and straight. I will probably make a new one or two today (with a different handle most likely). I just want my "set" to all have the same handles, and I thought this was "the one" - but I kept ruining it and fixing it and eventually had to stop grinding.

Well, I'll post more updates soon.

[Viggs]

thanks!
I got them from fastenal.com - the 12" x 1/2" x .025" Stainless Steel Feeler Gauges
It's not cheap, though..

Way to go! Feeler gauge/Shim stock is some of the best raw material out there in my opinion. Let me recommend a way to finish your picks smoother. Get a course and a fine Arkansas sharpening stone (like you would use for a pocket knife). They'll put a mirror finish on your edges.