Wiper Blade Insert Question [Making first pickset.]

[Phylter]

I pulled apart some old wiper blades, and out came what I've come to know as wiper blade inserts. Each blade yielded two of these, roughly 2mm wide and as long as the blade. Are these really wide enough to make a pick out of? I would have thought there was more "vertical" thickness to them, that there would be more material I needed to cut...

Can you make effective rakes out of something this narrow? Would the peaks and troughs be far enough apart? Or are the wiper blade inserts you speak of usually one piece closer to 4mm wide?

[Solomon]

All the ones I have are around 4 or 5mm. I've never even seen one that small before... where on earth did they come from?

[ToolyMcgee]

I've got a bunch that thickness. They make good Top Of the Keyway tensioners, and you can make hooks out of them, maybe padlock rakes, but there are definately better sizes to use for pick making. If you want larger ones look for wipers from larger cars and trucks.

[Phylter]

Hmm, yeah. Perhaps I mis-worded it, these are...Ok, long axis is x, lying flat on the desk, width y and thickness z. x=14", y=2mm, z=1mm.

They're 14" wiper blades, we drive Subaru cars, in Canada. Dunno. Maybe I'll use hacksaw blades? I doubt there's enough material to make any half-diamonds, or anything like that, but I've got an ok wrench out of it, and I might try a rake and a hook, in the morning.

[Phylter]

lack of edit buttons. They're Motomaster rear wiper blades, fyi.

[Clead]

Canadian Tire? Have a cruise through the parking lot and grab some discarded old wiper blades. That's what I did to amass my collection of wiper inserts. If you go on the first day of rain after a dry period, you can grab a whole bunch. Just make up some reason to explain why you're pulling stuff out of trash cans if you have any pride... I don't so it's easy.

[pjzstones]

the ones with 2 inserts are to small to make good rakes but i use them for tension wrench, hooks, off-sets, and other various things. for rakes you definitely want the wider ones but they seem to be less coomon. when i make hooks out of the thin ones i bend an angle in them then grind it to desired shape but you have to be careful to keep the bend straight.

[Stethoscopealope]

Since I work full time at a carwash that does nothing but destroy loose wiper blades, I can safely say that the small wiper inserts mentioned above come off of older model cars and vans most of which havn't changed their wiper blades since the 80s or 90s.

Unfortunately, spring steel wiper inserts are becoming more and more rare as I have noticed. More recently scraps I find laying around have been supported by plastic.

[loki-aka]

Maybe some members should form a secret cartel to controll the world market of stainless wiper blade inserts ?

Yes, domination and extortion !

[nostromo]

OP- The absolute best first pick(set) to make is Raimundo's Bogota set. Go shopping and get yourself a chainsaw file and just about every grit of autobody abrasive you can find. Follow all the directions on the posted thread. You want smmmmmmoooooooth.

After that, get or make a variety of pick profiles and tension wrenches and experiment to see what best works with your 'hand'. It's a wonderful time!

[rontgens]

I have made various picks (mainly short hooks) out of the 2mm inserts and they work well on small padlocks rakes are hard to make though as there doesn't tend to be alot of material to work with. I keep trying to make bogato's but fail miserably when they are too flimsy and snap. I've asked a friend who drives buses to get me some thicker ones.

[nostromo]

Sounds like it's time to visit the rubbish bins of shops that service lorries for the wider wiper blades. Or maybe just visit a parking lot or rest stop with pliers and running shoes . . .

[marlindaniel]

It seems as if we are in a hurry to get the things done.. How would one can survive with a new business if he tries to elude from one..!!

Daniel.

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[nostromo]

It seems as if we are in a hurry to get the things done.. How would one can survive with a new business if he tries to elude from one..!!

Daniel.

.

Ummmmmm . . . . .


Sorry, not following you.

[dnullify]

OP- The absolute best first pick(set) to make is Raimundo's Bogota set. Go shopping and get yourself a chainsaw file and just about every grit of autobody abrasive you can find. Follow all the directions on the posted thread. You want smmmmmmoooooooth.

After that, get or make a variety of pick profiles and tension wrenches and experiment to see what best works with your 'hand'. It's a wonderful time!

I too just got some wiper blades. i'm planning on trying bogotas. The files i've got now are pretty small, probably only good for finishing. what dimension is a good chainsaw file for that project?