i've found that the metal strip form car windsheild wipers make good pix and tension bars if you twist 'em correctly.....as for tempering them..a good manouvre if ya makin springs but generally i've found that it makes the pick too brittle to give much feel...bits from an ol' jam jar are pretty handy....the radio aerial is anuvva good'un...if ya gotta whip aerial(antenna for our american viewers)then ya gotta good mortice lock bolt tension gismo...telescopic aerials, 'specially stainless ones make good two-in-ones if you're clever enuff!
the good ol' hacksaw blade...what can i say? an absolute must have for the budding picklock! introduced to a suitable grinding device, a multitude of fiddling gismos can be fashioned from this handy blade sirs! yes indeedy! not only your sacred pix but your broken key extactor also!(use the business side of the blade to manufacture these demon little gadgets!)
And too shall i extoll the virtues of our beloved piano wire! Available at all good music shops 'tis not only bendy...but springy beyond belief!(as long as you get the stuff for the deep notes!)
And yay brethren! onto ye olde ice cream tub....so many nightlatches will succumb to her wicked temptations!!!!(no dufus...the cardboard ben an' jerry's ones DON'T work!)
Pick ye thine locks at thine own peril....tire not thine hands on a worthless task....