Making my(your) own lock picks. DIY

[C185]

Fantastic tutorial!! I will be attempting this when winter time rolls around! 12000 grit that is lunacy for picks, some custom knife makers use these super fine abrasives but for picks...very cool!

[emptech1]

When I first saw your post about using a laser printer, I assumed you were going to transfer
the toner directly to the metal, but it appears you are transferring the image by transferring
the paper itself, at least that's what it looks like.

One method people make home-brew printed circuits is to print their image on overhead
projector transparencies material and then use an electric iron to transfer the toner only
to the metal. Some will put a mold release on the clear media first, then print to it, it
assures the image will transfer better to the metal.

The same method for chemical etching printed circuit boards can be used to etch logos
and information directly to the metal. The toner acts as a chemical resist, which is removed
once the etching takes place. The same etching process is used in chemical milling of very
thin metals.

I know this is slightly off topic, but useful information

[blackpearl]

Jesse,
Thanks for a wonderful tute! It is especially inspiring because of the finer details you have provided - the tools, etc.
Just a question, though: the dremel 545 diamond wheel spec says 'not recommended for metal'. How did this tool fare when you used it on the hacksaw blade? Did it survive well?

john

[Luissen]

these put my, and many other DIY to shame. Darn, the picks look amazing, and the documentation easy to follow.

[FFCrash]

Having just moved cross country into a small apartment, I dont have a lot of tools to work with, or even a laser printer. I -did- however find a method that works surprisingly fast for making picks for me.

I use a carbide scribe to trace the layouts into the coating on the hacksaw blades and then rough cut them with a dremel and a basic cutting disc. I've found all i need so far is a large supply of cutting wheels (for when I get impatient and break them) 2 or 3 shaped grinding wheels, some manual rat tail files, and some polish. A small 3" table vise rounds out my tools and works wonderfully. I've even developed my own "Blank" layout for cutting the picks from to give me a fairly uniform pick length and grip with a 1/8" x 1/2" tab on the tip for the head shaping.

I cut a bunch of 5" blanks and then the specific head shapes are roughed out of the very tips with some small rat tail files.

I finish everything out by using the dremel with a felt wheel and some polishing compound to take the coating off the blade and the finished thickness came out 0.023 with my calipers.

So far my blank design has given me 5 picks with comparable sizes to my LAB picks, with just a bit more reach, and a little more stiffness for having 1 1/2" long necks on them. I was going to try and make some tension wrenches, but my tests so far have been VERY unfavorable with the blade just flat breaking.

[fatmanwithanak]

Looks nice!

[Sleutelboertje]

Nice job! Thanks for the info and good pictures!

[stratmando]

very nice thread. One thing that I have found is to make a tension wrench, get some old windshield wipers (I got mine from an old car place) and pull the rubber part off that comes in contact with the actual window. Underneath it there is a long strip of metal perfect for making torque wrenches. You just cut off a small part, and bend it 90 degrees. You can make about 5 wrenches from each wiper. They come out so good, that you cannot tell the difference between homemade and store-bought ones.

Their are at least 4 widths I have found with wiper blades, I dumpster dive local Auto parts store(don't actually get in or dive in), higher yeild on Rainey days. Was recently wondering when these type first came out. In the old days, I would take the steel banding for lumber, cut into about 6" lengths, then into 3 or four strips, and grind into picks or jigglers. Great work poster

[GypsyRaht]

[image]20190218_174551.jpg[/image]
Thanks for the great thread. I'm very new here and am excited to learn all I can. With any kind of luck, my pic will post too. I've found that 2nd hand/thrift shops always have a ton of ss butter and bread knives, some thicker than others and I've only created these 4 & they are still very rough. I'm having great fun grinding & creating something possibly useful to me in the future.

[Squelchtone]

[image]20190218_174551.jpg[/image]
Thanks for the great thread. I'm very new here and am excited to learn all I can. With any kind of luck, my pic will post too. I've found that 2nd hand/thrift shops always have a ton of ss butter and bread knives, some thicker than others and I've only created these 4 & they are still very rough. I'm having great fun grinding & creating something possibly useful to me in the future.

Welcome,

your pic has to be uploaded somewhere and you have to include a link to the somewhere. like facebook.com/myprofile/2019.jpg or imgur.com/myimage.jpg or photobucket.com/Gypsyaccoung/lockphotos/12345.jpg

just having 20190218.jpg doesnt link to anywhere in particular, so that's why your pic up above is not displaying for us.

The forum doesnt have the space for all of our members to upload direcly here or to attach pics, sorry.

[femurat]

close but no cigar.. that image is no longer available..

[damonwill]

Outstanding!! This is exactly what I was looking for.