Something quite interesting (Lock forensics)

[datagram]

Maybe all this info will lead to someone developing a soft-tip pick set.

When they do...ship a few to me to check out!

dg

[Squelchtone]

Maybe all this info will lead to someone developing a soft-tip pick set.

When they do...ship a few to me to check out!

dg

It would make for a thicker pick, but what about a pick profile like a hook that has the divot for catching pin tips, and in that divot mount a roller ball like a tip of a ball point pen, or the roller ball like on a Blackberry phone? it would be a tiny sphere, but if that could be bonded to a hook pick that was filed down to accept a sphere to be attached to it..

hmmm
Squelchtone

[dependent_arising]

Plastic wouldn't work; the ball would end up being to big and wouldn't be a great idea against constant use on metal. Also, the ink in a pen usually serves to lubricate the ball and keep it rolling...which would be absent in a lockpick and the subsequent and expected seizing of the ball inside the orbit would make such a pick a waste. If there was a way to keep it lubricated and be able to use a somewhat soft metal for the ball, it'd possibly leave less markings, but that'd be one difficult thing to make

[gilduran]

Maybe all this info will lead to someone developing a soft-tip pick set.

When they do...ship a few to me to check out!

dg

It would make for a thicker pick, but what about a pick profile like a hook that has the divot for catching pin tips, and in that divot mount a roller ball like a tip of a ball point pen, or the roller ball like on a Blackberry phone? it would be a tiny sphere, but if that could be bonded to a hook pick that was filed down to accept a sphere to be attached to it..

hmmm
Squelchtone

http://www.peterson-international.com/picks/lifter.html

It doesn't have a roller ball, but it does have a notch for cradling the pin.

[shadow11612]

It is not just the tip of the pick you have worry about. You have to worry about the shaft of the pic moving around the wards and the marks left by the tension wrench.

Next time you use picks on a lock. Look at where your tools touch anything. Everywhere a tool makes contact, you are possibly leaving a toolmark.

[00bluebeast]

Their's huge articles on lock forensics in the LSS guide but i have the higher level, dont know if its on them all. Very interesting how most NDE methods still leave traces.

[shadow11612]

Very interesting how most NDE methods still leave traces.

Depending on your point of view, the real trick is to either be able to interpret the tool marks and state how they were made, or be able to leave tool marks that could be interpreted the wrong way.

[fjardeson]

The insurance boys do a lot of this kind of thing. People might want to cheat the insurance company, but don't have the guts to kick in their own door. So they scratch around in the lock to try to leave "pick marks".

What's really interesting is that lock forensic technicians can tell the difference between "casual pick marking" vs. "this guy was really trying to pick this lock". LSS elaborates on this as well.

[frizzen]

Sorry to zombie a thread. I'm just wanting some clarification on the composite picks.

After you made the CF and Fiberglass picks were the edges still raw, or had they been sealed?

If they were left as-cut, you'd have all kinds of additional abrasives working against your pins and keyway. Left raw, the exposed bits of glass and carbon will eat brass.

If the edges were sealed with cyanoacrylate (CA, SuperGlue) or similar i would have expected a bit less scraping, plus the picks would last longer by transferring stress better.