Some hooks I made and question about wiper insters

[subver]

Hey guys.
So I've made a few hooks a while back with Stainless Steel gauges I bought here - http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/details/7043165;jsessionid=BGH6RqGHHdp7w6xlLXvgnJQyvDbTBvfMVMdXGLvnh4yTgzBJcyhT!-399261850!2145413142.
This was the result:


What do you think? I like them and they work good, however I am not a huge fan of how wide the handles are (1/2")

I had planned on using wiper blade inserts for my next set, but was curious about how good the metal is for a pick compared to this stainless steel..

I would love to get similar stainless steel strips that are not as wide. I really like smaller picks (like raimond's bogota picks)
I can still use the stainless steel strips I have, but it's just a lot of metal to grind away...
Any ideas on better material in similar sizes to the wide wiper inserts?

[subver]

Woops, I meant raimundo, not raimond!
Sorry!

[P1ckma573r]

From what I have seen, especially from this, and other videos by Schuyler Towne http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... cIXBTc4Pvo the two spring steel inserts work really well for picks, there is not a whole lot of excess material to remove though that would also mean being fairly precise in your milling. I personally used one section of insert to make a double ended tension wrench and find it works really well, the width of the insert is perfect for most keyways and the spring steel allows a nice amount of tension control. Here are some pics of my first tools if you would like to see the wrench viewtopic.php?f=4&t=56979

There are other videos by the same author giving more detail about making picks and wrenches as well.

[subver]

Ah cool. I've actually made a couple tension wrenches with wiper inserts as well and they are working out really good. I just wasn't sure about using as material for picks, mainly because a user on another forum said it wasn't... I've seen plenty of picks made from wiper inserts so I may as well try it. I'd love to find that titanium material raimundo uses.. Or stainless steel strips the size if wiper inserts.
Still, wiper inserts are free so what do I have to lose?

[Legion303]

These are looking pretty good. I use wiper blade inserts, and can say with confidence that you'd have no problem making hooks this shallow with them.

-steve

[subver]

Thanks! Yeah as far as the size of the wiper inserts I have I think I can even make a long hook on the romstar template.. the main thing I'm worried about is the type of metal of the wiper insert... I'd like the picks to last and I'll order better metal online if there is any.
I'd love to find titanium strips like raimundo uses, but I'm not sure if I should go for Stainless Steel or titanium if given the choice..

Anybody know of a good source? I'm even debating on somehow cutting my stainless steel feeler gauge strips in half lengthwise... that would be perfect if I could get that done somewhere!!