quality tools vs. makeshift tools

[dauce]

Hello all,

So my original goal when I bought picks and some locks was to ultimately make my own homeade tools (of course by using templates to one degree or another). As I come along with reading different forums and literature I am finding there is (obviously) a wide variety of materials that picks and wrenches, etc, can be made out of. From street sweeper bristles to bicycle spokes to feeler guage to paper clips to brick strap and beyond.

From those of you that are more experienced and have ventured into pick making - which materials make quality tools and which just make 'makeshift' or 'junk' tools? I understand that if a tool serves its purpose it is quality to some. That is not the question necessarily though. What materials make tools that will serve well over time and offer a versatility to craftmanship?

With that question said, before I get any responses, I will say that I was leaning toward making a set out of bicycle spokes (relatively cheap and need few other tools to craft them). Feeler guage seems most legit for an overall high-craftsmanship polished set.

Thanks,

steric

[dauce]

After re-reading my post I'd like to add an amendment: This is not a question of 'what is a quality tool' as much as a question of 'what is a reasonable material to use that is respectable'.

Idk hope that is clearer lol

[zeke79]

Cheap hacksaw blades. The expensive ones are too hard and thus are brittle. My favorite is the small sink drain snake from lowes. About 1/4" wide X 12' long X .020"- .025" thick or so at ten dollars each.

[globallockytoo]

The material for picks used to be Spring Steel. It is very strong but can be brittle too. Easy to bend and work with.

(Hiya Zeke - long time since I've seen you here - welcome back)

[Solomon]

Cheap hacksaw blades. The expensive ones are too hard and thus are brittle. My favorite is the small sink drain snake from lowes. About 1/4" wide X 12' long X .020"- .025" thick or so at ten dollars each.

Agreed. I bought some fairly expensive hacksaw blades to make picks with and they bent considerably over time. Admittedly I'm not super gentle when I pick, but I'm not particularly heavy handed either. I've never bent any of my commercial picks so it came as a real surprise to me when I noticed them starting to bend. The super cheap ones hold up far better, I bought a set of 12 for the princely sum of £1 and the picks I made from those are excellent, even the ones with really thin shafts. No bending or breaking thus far and I use them a lot. Go cheap or go home!

[Squelchtone]

In my 6 years here nobody I know has made a pick set from bike spokes, so that should tell you something. I know femurat made some nice turning tools with a spoke he hammered flat on one end, and that would be good for a specific lock for top of keyway tensioning, but to make a full set from bike spokes doens't sound like the right road to be going down.

I agree with everyone on hacksaw blades. For wrenches use windshield wiper inserts from the bin outside your local Auto Zone.

happy pick making!
Squelchtone

[atticRR]

Ive not yet used hacksaw blades myself, sweeper bristles are good and wiper inserts are choice for tension, and ive made a few nice rakes with them as well. the slim pick in the photo [in a different thread of yours] regarding your brinks is one i made from a street sweeper bristle, it works well, its strong and i use it almost exclusively. definately would not suggest using the bike spokes though...

when you make your own tool you have control of the final design, usually a good thing but sometimes you end up with a POS. Consider it a learning experience. I was so happy to open a lock with something i made 100% myself. I love hooks and definately plan on making a few more of different dimensions so i can use a homemade one everytime i pick. FYI, in the future i will definately be making slimlines only, i want to be able to get into any lock i want with whatever pick i want. Right now the only hook i have that reaches pin #6 is a southord and its very tight when its in that deep.

Make sure you read all the tutorials, they are excelllent! keep your piece from getting red hot, quench often and finish, finish, finish. that pick should be sooo smooth when your done, it should not be able to snag thread from a cotton ball....

have fun!!

[Buzo]

The very first picks I used were made from metal coat hangers. After that I made a set from used high quality hacksaw blades. I have since found out something very important: using the hacksaw blades which bend fairly easily taught me to use ledd tension on the wrench when picking. I only discovered this after I bought my hpc set and tried using them the first time. It took me a while to get used to them and I realised why I was having issues after I went back to my hacksaw picks and realised I was usin too much tension. I use a combination of filed allen wrenches and windshield wiper blades for making tension wrenches. I actually prefer them to the wrenches that came with my stre bought pick sets.

[Josh66]

I've been using band saw blades a lot lately. They seem springier than hack saw blades (they have to bend to go around the wheels on a band saw), and of course - they're a lot longer, so you can get more picks out of one blade.

We go through band saw blades pretty quick at work, so I just take the dull ones when they get changed.
I haven't had one of my band saw blade picks bend yet, but my hack saw blade ones do tend to bend eventually.

I also have a few that I made out of titanium, but that could get expensive unless you have access to scrap titanium...

I've only ever found one street sweeper bristle in my life - I cut it in half (it was about 8 inches long) and plan on making two picks out of it eventually.

My new favorite material for tension wrenches are cotter pins. They come in tons of lengths/widths... I straighten them out, put a bend on the end, then file the rounded part flat (on the bent end).
I also use a few that are just an "L" cut out of flat aluminum. Different thicknesses for different locks. I like them because they're small and flat - they store easily in a wallet, for example.


As far as makeshift tools - I once made a pick out of the bands they put around large boxes. They're pretty mild steel, so they bend easy - but it'll work in an emergency. Think of it as a single use pick...

[dauce]

All some very good advice here. Thank you.

Sounds like the bottom line is bicycle spokes are out and blades (of various varieties) are in.

I will look into buying cheap hacksaw blades and/or a bandsaw blade. I definately wanna make a tension wrench or two out of an old windshield wiper insert.

Thanks much:)

[raimundo]

squelchy hasn't seen one of my bikespoke picks,

I make two types, and they are the easiest least work pick to make.

One is a hook, usually small to medium ....... it looks like a 6 with the loop for the second finger and the thumb and forefinger grip on the shaft
there is no hammering involved, the round stock is wide enoough and only needs to be thinned on two sides to make a more flat blade.
sometimes if after making a pick if the metal (usually stainless, no rusty bike spokes) is a bit soft, a quick heating with a bic lighter and immediate quench in water will stiffen it.

the other pick I make of bike spoke is a snapper with a tiny hook on the end to feel out the last pin. and it turns out that this tiny hook is also very effective as a pick, sometimes I give a snap to kick up the easy sets and then just finish off with that tiny hook, and it works amazingly well. My snappers now also have a type of trigger, a piece of pen barrel that protects the thumb while pushing down the striker and helps to make a crisp let off when the thumb is moved aside, this makes for better snaps and less pain in the thumb.
My interest in snappers is to show people that when you make a good one, its equal to an electric pick and better than a pick gun which is harder to hold correctly when using. Pick guns are not optimized for ergonomic feel and easy setting the needle under all the pins and none of the boltworks.
I hope to find someone who will learn to use one of these and then do a competition against the electrick pick

[raimundo]

squelchy hasn't seen one of my bikespoke picks,

I make two types, and they are the easiest least work pick to make.

One is a hook, usually small to medium ....... it looks like a 6 with the loop for the second finger and the thumb and forefinger grip on the shaft
there is no hammering involved, the round stock is wide enoough and only needs to be thinned on two sides to make a more flat blade.
sometimes if after making a pick if the metal (usually stainless, no rusty bike spokes) is a bit soft, a quick heating with a bic lighter and immediate quench in water will stiffen it.

the other pick I make of bike spoke is a snapper with a tiny hook on the end to feel out the last pin. and it turns out that this tiny hook is also very effective as a pick, sometimes I give a snap to kick up the easy sets and then just finish off with that tiny hook, and it works amazingly well. My snappers now also have a type of trigger, a piece of pen barrel that protects the thumb while pushing down the striker and helps to make a crisp let off when the thumb is moved aside, this makes for better snaps and less pain in the thumb.
My interest in snappers is to show people that when you make a good one, its equal to an electric pick and better than a pick gun which is harder to hold correctly when using. Pick guns are not optimized for ergonomic feel and easy setting the needle under all the pins and none of the boltworks.
I hope to find someone who will learn to use one of these and then do a competition against the electrick pick

sweeper bristles are available free in many urban areas, but if your in afganistan, or somewhere, bike spoke is likely the more available material, likely all the wiper stock is not as easily available there.

bikespoke would be my first go to material if I was making picks for lever locks like they still use in the UK