Banding material....Anyone make a pick from it?

[nevex]

I have access to a ton of banding material, the kind for strapping down things to pallets. Anyone ever tried working with it?

[Squelchtone]

I have access to a ton of banding material, the kind for strapping down things to pallets. Anyone ever tried working with it?

Please search around for this, it is a well covered topic. Although I think most people call it brick strap, so maybe you did look and it wasn't listed as banding material.

don't cut your hands on that stuff...

Squelchtone

[MBI]

I have access to a ton of banding material, the kind for strapping down things to pallets. Anyone ever tried working with it?

The stuff I tried was too soft to be of much use.

[Violaetor]

Strapping is generally too flexible in the wrong ways, very brittle, and highly susceptible to rusting. Good to practice on if your not comfortable ruining your better materials. But, people do use it and you can always give it a try as it's generally free to get.

[Dfarm]

I made a couple of tension wrenches out of it and they work ok. They will tear @ the bend if you are rough with them. I made a couple of hook shaped picks out of it also and they seem to be holding up as long as you don't make them too thin.

[raimundo]

most strapping is, as one member posted above, too soft to use, however, I have sometimes found some of it that is suprisingly hard, I still have that around waiting for a project to come up if ever,

just bend it in half and you will know if its soft or hard.

no snarky comments on that last line, you know who you are...

[vov35]

no snarky comments on that last line, you know who you are...

I'm not you, actually, and you already made the comment right there.

[LocksmithArmy]

Ive usedit, made some decent picks... makesother tools well tho... Picks dont last long.. They broke after a little while.

[Peter Martin]

Yes. I'm resurrecting this ancient thread.

I made a first attempt at using 1/2" banding material. I'd saved some after making some "shove knife" prototypes.
The steel banding I found is .022" thick. I had it awhile and never used it because it felt flimsy, however when cut into small sections is more rigid.
When grinding it seems to roll and create a sharp kerf. So I used a Dremel cutting wheel for the rough shaping.
The general shape was made is small (1/4" diameter) Dremel stones and then small files.

Its imperfect, but I wanted to test its strength.
If the pick material holds up, I will shave the shank height down a little thinner.

Pete
Sioux Falls

[Peter Martin]

The material is rather weak. Similar to hacksaw blade material.
I'm not going to use this for picks.
After a single Master padlock picking, its already slightly bent.

[femurat]

That's a shame. But it's a good think you tried. So many times an idea remains just an idea. At least now you know it didn't work.

Cheers

[GWiens2001]

It may vary upon the manufacturer and how hot the metal becomes when being ground or shaped.

My favorite hook pick I made 10+ years ago from a hacksaw blade. Never bent. I suspect that banding material is weaker, but perhaps another maker of banding material might use a better metal alloy.

When I make picks that require grinding or some other form of shaping that creates enough heat to make the metal hot, I keep a small dish or tray of water right next to where I am working. Every couple of seconds, I quickly dip the metal in the water to keep it cooler. It seems to help.

A couple friends sometimes use an air hose to provide constant cooling when grinding metal, but I don’t care for how the ground material flies everywhere.

Anyone with other ideas? I’d love to learn more. Especially from those with experience shaping metal.

Gordon

[boxtool5]

I'm not sure about the type of banding material, but yes, heat exposure will anneal (soften) metals. Always keep a cup of cold water next to your grinder, dip the part every few seconds, keep it wet and cool.

From a machinists perspective, I would avoid the grinder apart from minor and final, quick, finishing steps. I am new here, but planning on posting in the machine shop sections and sharing some pictures of my first few pick projects.

For bulk/fast material removal, a ~$10-$20 manual hand nibbler will work to shape most metals (it will hurt your hand and they do wear out). I have used mine on up to .050 thick stainless, they cut .025-.015 accurately and fast (thinner sheet will jam). Even better, for anyone with a drill press, is learning to make your own "tool and die" punch. Maybe I can up my status by posting a "how to" on this. A very wise machinist once stopped me from using "wood backing" to drill through a thin sheet of steel (to avoid corkscrewing).

He clamped a piece of scrap steel to the drill press table, drilled a hole in it, got another drill bit (a few thou smaller,the required clearance depends on the thickness of the material being punched). He ground the "shank end" of the smaller bit flat (with sharp edges). He inserted that ground drill bit upside down in the drill chuck and used the drill press, like a hole punch to make a perfect hole. A few adjustments and added parts to this process and anyone with a drill press can have a punch press....

[GWiens2001]

I'm not sure about the type of banding material, but yes, heat exposure will anneal (soften) metals. Always keep a cup of cold water next to your grinder, dip the part every few seconds, keep it wet and cool.

From a machinists perspective, I would avoid the grinder apart from minor and final, quick, finishing steps. I am new here, but planning on posting in the machine shop sections and sharing some pictures of my first few pick projects.

For bulk/fast material removal, a ~$10-$20 manual hand nibbler will work to shape most metals (it will hurt your hand and they do wear out). I have used mine on up to .050 thick stainless, they cut .025-.015 accurately and fast (thinner sheet will jam). Even better, for anyone with a drill press, is learning to make your own "tool and die" punch. Maybe I can up my status by posting a "how to" on this. A very wise machinist once stopped me from using "wood backing" to drill through a thin sheet of steel (to avoid corkscrewing).

He clamped a piece of scrap steel to the drill press table, drilled a hole in it, got another drill bit (a few thou smaller,the required clearance depends on the thickness of the material being punched). He ground the "shank end" of the smaller bit flat (with sharp edges). He inserted that ground drill bit upside down in the drill chuck and used the drill press, like a hole punch to make a perfect hole. A few adjustments and added parts to this process and anyone with a drill press can have a punch press....

Would love to see how to make tool and die punches. A thread on that would be great! And I do have a drill press.

Gordon

[stratmando]

20 or more years ago, They had a Scotty's Lumber Down here, they had Very Stiff, Strong Banding. I cut into 5", 6" lengths, then into 3 strips, I would Grind Irregular curves both sides, which was about 12 different patterns. I Raked/Rocked/Jiggled, had Ford Vans Most of My Life, wasn't one they didn't work on, Ford only used 1 side of the key back then, double sided key allowed key to be inserted either way , I have the Factory Made Stainless Jigglers, So I don't use anymore, I see them once in a while. Don't know if I knew of a such thing as Jigglers yet, Didn't, Wouldn't Single Pin pick yet, I just figured with the various curves, you could go through a hundreds of key Patterns in just a few seconds, few more seconds, hundreds more. Jiggler work Great, but seem to try picking first.
Wiper Blades are great for Tension wrenches, when it rains, Advance Auto seems to have more wiper blades sticking out of the Garbage can. I get them any timeI see them there. Even though Masters are pretty easy, til.I got a 570, 5 Pins, 4 are Spools. Opened 30 or more times. Took a while for the first time, Dead Core made it more interesting, Making sub-mini Jiggler set out of wipers, For the very small Master Locks, and other small locks, have the mini jigglers, want smaller.