by nostromo » 3 Jun 2010 22:55
First off, thank you for the very nicely done post. And WOW! for how well you are getting in to making tools! WOW! again!!
I've seen bogotas and camelbacks break at that same point a few times. It's the weakest point of the pick when in use. Especially if there is with too much lateral force. Are you keeping the motion at a steady in and out / up and down (or whatever your pattern) but keeping it all in a vertical plane? That is, no twisting or side to side motion?
Something to be aware of when raking, especially with the hand held in the position that the Raimundo style bogota requires to work well, means you are almost solely using the larger muscle groups of the arm. Almost all force from the large joints and very little fine motor control from the fingers.
Is might also be possible that you are going high into the pins. That can repeatedly 'jam' the metal with a lot of stress and lead to bending and breakage. Have you tried lightly scrubbing the pins at the bottom?
You have the MIT guide! An excellent guide to picking!!! There are some great exercises in there for pick / tension wrench control and feel. Have you found the "Home Workshop Professional Lock Tools" book by Eddie the Wire? There is excellent material there on pickmaking.
Best wishes!
Don't sweat it too hard.
