Best material for picks ?

[vtzeeprr10]

What is in your opinion the best material for homemade picks ?
I made a few out of cheap hacksaw blades , and while the final result was acceptable it was a to make them on the grinder , they were just too weak and got overheated too fast

Thanks

[Sourman]

I use hacksaw blades for a while now, I like them alot, they are cheap and easy to grind. But you MUST cool them down after grinding a few seconds... (best way to know when is to feel close to the grinding part and cool it when you find it to hot)

I've made about 80 home made picks with hacksaw blades and like them all, only thing is that some hacksaws are already bended, those i dont use...

[vtzeeprr10]

I guess it's all about the quality
I quench the blade after nearly every swipe on the grinder , but they are still just too flimsy
I probably need to look for better blades made from decent HSS , but all I could find at HD so far is this junk

[FarmerFreak]

What is in your opinion the best material for homemade picks ?

VG1 steel

Hand down, the best material for picks is VG1 steel!

[vtzeeprr10]

What is in your opinion the best material for homemade picks ?

VG1 steel

Hand down, the best material for picks is VG1 steel!

Are you sure about it ?
I know VG1 and VG10 are decent knife steels , but there a lot better , tougher steels out there
The problem even if I want to make a good pick out of knife steels is that they always come in pretty thick pieces , so it would be a lot of time on the grinder to thin them out

[FarmerFreak]

Let's put it this way. The best pick I own/ever used is made out of VG1. It was made by a guy that doesn't frequent this forum very often. The only commercially made picks that come close (that I've had the luxury of playing with) are slender Peterson government steel picks. But even those aren't as strong.

Skip ahead to 2:20 in this video of Kokomolocks http://www.youtube.com/user/kokomolock? ... H5CctEenSs The Jruther pick he mentions and briefly shows is made out of VG1.

As far as where/how to get the material, that I can't help you with. I've never looked for it. Usually if I'm making a pick I make it out of a broken HPC pick, using the left over handle.. But you asked for the best material, and in my experience the best material for picks is VG1.

[vtzeeprr10]

Let's put it this way. The best pick I own/ever used is made out of VG1. It was made by a guy that doesn't frequent this forum very often. The only commercially made picks that come close (that I've had the luxury of playing with) are slender Peterson government steel picks. But even those aren't as strong.

Skip ahead to 2:20 in this video of Kokomolocks http://www.youtube.com/user/kokomolock? ... H5CctEenSs The Jruther pick he mentions and briefly shows is made out of VG1.

As far as where/how to get the material, that I can't help you with. I've never looked for it. Usually if I'm making a pick I make it out of a broken HPC pick, using the left over handle.. But you asked for the best material, and in my experience the best material for picks is VG1.

Thanks
As far as the materials , since VG1/10 are Japanese steels so it will be too hard to find them here anyway , but I can probably find a good American tool steel like 3V in a relatively thin stock and try to work it on the grinder for hours
3V is one of toughest knife steels out there , significantly tougher then VG , so I will be able to make a very thin picks with confidence they will never ever break or chip

[vtzeeprr10]

The question is if it's even worth it
Working for hours or even days to make the toughest , strongest pick on the planet or to just make one in couple of seconds from hacksaw blade and call it a day ?

[FarmerFreak]

The question is if it's even worth it
Working for hours or even days to make the toughest , strongest pick on the planet or to just make one in couple of seconds from hacksaw blade and call it a day ?

Depends on a lot of factors.

How many locks do you pick on average per day?
What kind of quality of locks do you normally pick?
Do you still bend regular picks?

There are probably more things to factor in, like if you just want to be able to say that you have a really really really strong pick.

For example I probably pick roughly 20-40 locks per day, or more...
I pick locks of all quality, from basic master padlocks to Assa twin. Out of the 20-40 locks per day, roughly 2-4 of them usually have UL high-security labels.
And I can't remember when the last time I bent a pick was. I imagine that if someone is still bending picks, they still need to work on their technique. And having a really strong pick isn't going to magically fix their technique.

[FarmerFreak]

One last thing. Better quality picks/tension wrenches make locks easier to pick.

[raimundo]

+1 F F

bending picks is a sign you don't get it.

the pins are pushed down with a small coil spring, you can push that up with a thin pick, thick picks do not fit well in keyways, so they are often used forcefully, and because locks are not very good, some locks will open to this rough stuff, though typically at a point where the user is frustrated with cramping hands etc, this is a lock that finally finds a reason to open when the guy simply lightens up a bit, commonly seen as a lock opening just as you were quitting picking.

If you are bending picks, you are not using light tension and feeling with the picktip.

but keep trying, you will eventually get a breakthrough on whats not working for you.

[vtzeeprr10]

The question is if it's even worth it
Working for hours or even days to make the toughest , strongest pick on the planet or to just make one in couple of seconds from hacksaw blade and call it a day ?

Depends on a lot of factors.

How many locks do you pick on average per day?
What kind of quality of locks do you normally pick?
Do you still bend regular picks?

There are probably more things to factor in, like if you just want to be able to say that you have a really really really strong pick.

For example I probably pick roughly 20-40 locks per day, or more...
I pick locks of all quality, from basic master padlocks to Assa twin. Out of the 20-40 locks per day, roughly 2-4 of them usually have UL high-security labels.
And I can't remember when the last time I bent a pick was. I imagine that if someone is still bending picks, they still need to work on their technique. And having a really strong pick isn't going to magically fix their technique.

Not too many locks per day , I work on my picking skills about 30 minutes each day , usually the same lock many times with different setting
As far as quality , usually typical 6 pin tumblers with difficult pinning but also working on the Primus and Interactive
Never bent any picks , but did chip a few of them

The main reason I'm looking for a strong steel for picks is because I want to cut them very thin , which you can't do with those hacksaw steel without making them too flimsy
If I will grind the hacksaw blade too thin , it will just not going to last for very long , it will chip easily regardless of my technique
This is why I believe a super strong tool steel like 3V will probably make the best pick steel
I will be able to cut it extremely thin and have no worries whatsoever to ever chip or break the pick

One last thing. Better quality picks/tension wrenches make locks easier to pick.

Yeah
In addition to obviously improving my skills , I believe that with a better , much thinner picks I will probably have easier time working on the Primus side pins and maneuvering inside the keyway

[DayZiro]

To try and steer the conversation back to the topic, I am using cheap drain snakes most of the time, works much better than hacksaw blades for me.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... 9099667727
The Cobra brand snakes are machined to about .035" thickness; I sand mine down to about .025" or so, still plenty strong as I haven't bent or snapped a pick yet. I find they can be made much thinner than hacksaw blades.

[angel7]

Can someone suggest a brand of hacksaw blade? I've tried Harbor Freight's (despite cautions against them on this very forum...I'll listen next time), Lenox, and Bear...something, and all bend (and stay bent) way more easily than my Majestic picks. I've had pretty good luck with putty knives, 6" stainless steel rulers, and tape knives.
Has anyone used tape knives (the big wide scraper-looking things next to putty knives in HD)?

[spooky]

Better than hacksaw blades is bandsaw blades. They come in different thicknesses and blade width so you can get whatever size you want. They are made to bend around the pulley of a bandsaw so they're flexible but very strong. A hard,springy steel.

And you can get them long enough to make as many picks as you want out of them.