Your Pick?

[another aussie]

Ok first of all sorry for the dreadful pun but some things seem hilarious after a couple of beers
Ok the question is in regards to materials for making your own picks; bacially given the choice would you prefer to make a pick out of a windscreen wiper blade, a hacksaw blade or a street sweeper bristle.
I know that people have made some really good picks out of all three of the base materials and I'm sure any are ok (sorry bout the rambling)
But given an ample supply of all three which would you reach for first.
What are the pros and cons of each in terms of ease of work and end product.
TIA

[Romstar]

If they are the proper hacksaw blades, then I would head for those. The street sweeper bristles and the windshield wiper splines are too narrow. Even my personal choice of plumbing snake is a bit too narrow for comfortable picks.

Now, if you are going to building up some handles, each of these materials is a good choice.

Romstar

[BrownLeopard]

I bought a 6 pack of cheapie hacksaw blades to make my first pick set with. Never thought about too much heat, so I just groundum down. Well, they broke first time I tried to use them. Bought better quality blades, and went nice and easy with my grinding, and they still work as good as the set I bought.

[Mr Ules]

That same problem occured with me. However I then read a post on here where a person mentioned feeler gauges. And I don't use anything but feeler gauges now. And allen keys for wrenches.

[BrownLeopard]

Haven't tried the feelers yet, but what happens when you get to the thinner sizes? Allens are great for tension wrenches tho!

[Romstar]

Haven't tried the feelers yet, but what happens when you get to the thinner sizes? Allens are great for tension wrenches tho!

Feeler guages are funny things. If you buy a set of numbered guages, you will have some of them left over. Some of the thin ones, and some of the thick one. I don't recomend that you use anything under .015" or over .025"

I comonly recomend that you buy a package of a single size. A good automotive shop or industrial supply will be able to sell you a box of six 12" long feeler guages in whatever thickness you wish. Start with .020 - .025. The thinner ones heat up much faster.

Good luck,
Romstar

[bembel]

Feeler guages are funny things. If you buy a set of numbered guages, you will have some of them left over.

I suggest to use the thicker ones as handles.
A good grip is also essential when picking.

[another aussie]

cool cool
I didn't even think to mention pluming snake or feeler guages, I'll have look at both but I'm denfinetly intrigued by the feeler guages.

[ackhoffman]

My vote goes to cable snake.

[WhiteHat]

good god! way to resurrect a 5 year old post!

[raimundo]

check out white hat, only posts every few months now but hes been here since wayback. good to see ya.

[WhiteHat]

yep - I'm back for good now - spent the last 3 years in the UK and just got back to australia. I still have those bogota picks you sent me all those years ago

[criminalhate]

A necro post really did bring a person back.


Welcome Back

[Sirtank11]

Well in my personal opinion i would use the Wiper blades to make the tension tools because it's very springy, And for the picks i love hacksaw blades. For one they will bend if you are picking to hard so it kinda keeps you in line when picking.
If you cut them i would sugjest using a dremel tool and dip them in cold water as you go so
the metal doesant heat up to much and lose it's temper. If it get's to hot it will become brittle.
Hope that helps!

The Tank

[raimundo]

@white hat,

OI,OI,OI