I'v been busy making picks.

[rx6006]

Could I see photos of the widths of your tensioners by chance?

[geardog32]

Your work lookl like world class handle material! Very nice!

Do the FIMO handles hold together and wear well with extended use and carrying? Like abrasion resistance and dings?

Do the pick shafts ever tend to enlarge the 'hole' in the handle as they flex from side to side with use?

I cant really say(haven't had them too long) yet i'v been using them just about everyday since i finished them and the hole at the top hasn't gotten any bigger. I don't carry my picks with me nor do i drag them in the ground
but overall i think they will hold up well iv been trying to use them hard to see how they hold up and so far they are doing well


now i have a question for all of you. My birthday is coming up and i'm looking at buying a real set of picks. What would i gain from a factory made set? in particular im looking at either an HPC set or the Southord combo set 2 from the sponsor.

[nostromo]

What's the budget for your birthday set? peterson would be the dream set, then any of the stamped steel sets. Go for laminated plain handles and the biggest assortment of rake and hook profiles. And a half-diamond. If you don't already have some, humble yourself at a lube shop for some windsheild wiper stock in various widths, or get a variety of tension wrenches.

Also get a variety of powered or plain abrasives in a variety of grits up to the very finest available and polish, polish, polish your pick blades.

Happy birthday!

[Brother Paul]

maybe im doing something wrong but i found the clay handles to be a little to flexible i made them from Fimo, i will admit though that ive only cooked 1 handle,,and 2 molds the first mold did not come out good ,, and bty the time i made the second i was out of the fimo

[pjzstones]

they should be firm, but polymer clay retains a certain amount of flexibility after being baked unless you burn it and then it becomes very hard and brittle.

[Brantley]

very nice I love the handles.

[yono]

picks manufacturers gonna hate us or reduced their price and thats to our benifits, with people like us, lockpicking hobby, or locksmithing is going to be a creative building environment.

great looking tools you fabricated there, very professionally made. congrats.

[raimundo]

my guess is that this site has made a great deal of new business for the various pickmakers, that they did not have before this type of activity was on the internet.

But the product is not any better, its still designed for indestructibility with thick shafts rather than thin and well finished shafts.

Does anyone here know anything about the process of needle making, the techniques for sharpening and polishing as well as the techinques for cutting the eye in the needle? Its a very old manufacturing process but I have not found it in some searches on the net.

I think I could learn useful things if I could learn the nuance of needle making. tempering the metal, shaping and polish