Lock pick material

[Bill R]

Hi there! I'm newer than new and of course have olds questions!, LOL!
I've been gifted a set of picks that are grade 5 billet Titanium and about .0331 thick. This higher grade Ti is very strong and light and seems to transmit vibration very well letting me feel all the clicks and ridges. I've seen that people don't like Titanium for picks but I'm wondering if it's cheap low grade Ti that gives it a bad rap! When I put one of these in a lock and give it a pretty harsh twist or push to the side it is a little springy and never gets bent or fails to retain its original shape! These are custom hand made not mass produced. Not being much of a lock Picker yet I'd like to hear from some of the pros on here about what they think, I've got some experience with tools and metals and understand the preference for spring steel but like the lightness and way the Ti seems to let me feel what's going on.
What do you guys that aren't to fixed on one material think about this?

[HerrMannelig]

Hi there! I'm newer than new and of course have olds questions!, LOL!
I've been gifted a set of picks that are grade 5 billet Titanium and about .044 thick. This higher grade Ti is very strong and light and seems to transmit vibration very well letting me feel all the clicks and ridges. I've seen that people don't like Titanium for picks but I'm wondering if it's cheap low grade Ti that gives it a bad rap! When I put one of these in a lock and give it a pretty harsh twist or push to the side it is a little springy and never gets bent or fails to retain its original shape!

There are a lot of diverse opinions and preferences for lock picks. In the end, if it works, then it is good. For example, some pickers love the Peterson GEM, but I do not like it as much. I do not dislike it, but I do not see what is so great about it. This is perhaps because I like using another hook shape, and I am just not used to the GEM.

I think your picks are rather thick though. They will be strong, but they may not fit well in certain keyways.

What do you guys that aren't to fixed on one material think about this?

I do not have strong preferences, only that the pick is strong enough and the shape I want. I've not heavy handed and never was particularly.

I think your picks would be just fine, and perhaps better than others.

[Bill R]

Thanks for the reply! I'm looking for lots of opinions!
I had edited a typo, the picks are actually .033
What's the general preferred thickness? These could almost definitely be a little thinner without much loss of strength, although I might change my mind when I have some experience, it seems that light is good so you just feel the lock without extra weight?

[mechanical_nightmare]

Hi Bill R,

I did some conversions between inches and mm: It appears to me that your picks are a little bit too thick. The thickness should be around 0.6mm (.024") to navigate through some of the tighter keyways.

If you are a beginning picker do not let this worry you, as you will probably not be working on tight, paracentric keyways to begin with. (It's best if you don't at first.) Also, the thicker picks will be harder to bend or break, esp. if they are titanium. You will not need thinner picks to pick easy-level practice locks (Kwikset, cheap padlocks, etc.) because they have wider keyways with pretty much straight warding patterns.

As you keep practicing and move on to more difficult locks with tighter keyways, you may need to sand the picks down a little bit. Or, you could make/buy thinner picks. I would say keep learning with these picks until you come across a lock into which they don't fit well, and then consider your options.

Good luck!

P.S. Do you know the manufacturer of the titanium pick set? I'm curious...

[Squelchtone]

These are custom hand made not mass produced.

Are these traditional popsicle handle picks or the Titanium Bogota lock picks as sold by Serepick.com? The reason I ask is because if they are Ti Bogotas from Serepick, then those ARE mass produced and only the Stainless Bogota picks are hand made by Raimundo.

Could you post a photo, I'm curious to check them out. you may upload photos to http://tinypic.com http://imgur.com or photobucket or Flickr and then Copy/Paste the URL in your reply.

Also, don't get lost in the hunt for best or strongest materials, because most agree, it is not the tool that makes the picker, it is his skill and experience. And if you are picking a lock and giving a "sharp twist" or find your tools are bending or breaking, then there is too much force being used. Lock picking is a gentle art, we aren't removing rusted lug nuts off a truck.

Thanks,
Squelchtone

[Bill R]

Here's a picture from the link you posted
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2re5kox ... thZU8u9KK0
Pic makes them look a little thicker than they are, I wouldn't s be the slightest bit concerned about thinning them down to .025, they're really strong! The anodizing is just for fun, mostly they don't come with color. As for where they come from it's a small place, everything hand made and probably less than a 1000 sets so far, but it's not really my place to advertise about it. Mostly I don't want to start out with bad habits learning a new thing so I'm (against my normal nature! LOL!) actually asking question Before I do something for a change!
Thanks for the responses! I'll be around as I get more into this, looks like I got lucky and found a good forum!:-)

[HerrMannelig]

Thanks for the reply! I'm looking for lots of opinions!
I had edited a typo, the picks are actually .033
What's the general preferred thickness? These could almost definitely be a little thinner without much loss of strength, although I might change my mind when I have some experience, it seems that light is good so you just feel the lock without extra weight?

That is a more common thickness for locks in the USA (and some other places).

Locks from Europe and Japan often have tighter keyways, and the thickness of picks for those can be around .023 or something close.

Using thicker picks doesn't hurt if they fit. The weight doesn't matter. It is about fitting in the keyway.

[n00bPicker]

I got an email from massdrop that had I THINK those picks you have, I went in search for "lock pick material" and found your thread and joined since there are knowledge able people here that know what they are doing. I've only ever played with lock picks a little, I think it was a quick pick maybe? And could pick master lock pad locks, but not much else, just couldn't feel the pins. I did some goggling at "perfect lockpicks" and found similar profiles to some of these picks. (the OP's picks, or the ones here - https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tikey-tipik) Honestly any lock I've ever seen these would do fine in. What locks won't they fit in? The price seems about right on with the cheaper versions of these with cheap mass produced, I don't even know how to say it "holder picks" or something? I forget the name now, but have seen other picks that have a holder, and they seem expensive for what they are. I'm rambling, but don't have much forum experience, so pardon that. Hope I got my question across. Jim.

[Squelchtone]

oh so its a jackknife design.. that may not be the best thing to learn on. it's a handy item for a bug out bag once you get good picking with normal picks, but you may lose a lot of needed feedback learning with those as compared to popsicle handle picks such as a set from Southord. Their shapes are also not the standard hook pick, half diamond, or S-rake, they look more like automotive rocker picks.

they do look pretty nice though, I like the anodizing.
Squelchtone

[bembel]

When I put one of these in a lock and give it a pretty harsh twist or push to the side it is a little springy and never gets bent or fails to retain its original shape!

As already mentioned, your picks are very thick. So it's no wonder they won't bend. Let's see what happens to an euro size hook made of titanium...
Yes, TITANIUM sounds cool, so people love it, just for the name. And of course it has some characteristics which are better than steel, but in most cases you will find out that steel's the better choice. For example: You really wouldn't like a knife with a titanium blade.

[Bill R]

Actually I wouldn't use them in the holder, it's an absolutely awesome key holder! The maker just put them in there for me for fun, lots of people buy them that way I think, I'll have to post a picture later of the key holder as a hey holder, it a fine piece of craftsmanship! I think the picks I have are more begginer, I'm pretty sure the maker can do .025 with the same Ti and still have super strong picks that transmit feeling and vibration really well!
I'm not much of a picker yet but I know a bit about metals and I like to feel things as directly as Possible and it seems the lightness of the Ti combined with the strength if it's high grade totanium just feels good in my fingers and although I haven't really learned to pick yet, when I feel around the inside of a lock I seem to get a better mental picture of what's there with Titanium than steel.
Anybody think temperature helps that? The Ti stays the same temp as my fingers while steel goes from feeling cold to feeling warm and seems distracting?
And once again thanks to all who are responding! It's much appreciated!
I'm going to spen some time learning before doing and all the input is very helpful!

[bembel]

So what you're telling us is that you haven't learned picking yet but you already know that titanium picks have a better feedback.
I'm not even sure if I would expect any serious feedback from these funny picks.
I highly recommend to start with a regular pick set with handles, no matter if they're steel or titanium. Just make sure there's a hook, a half diamond and a snake. Once you advance there will be other questions than whether it's titanium or not.

[YouLuckyFox]

Here is an interesting topic from another forum that would appear to be somewhat germane to this conversation:
http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/ti-vs-steel-spring-154909.html
I got a bit of a kick out of it.

[Bill R]

Ha, Ha! Thanks Lucky Fox, that was pretty amusing!
All that arguing over there and nobody discussed what Grade of Titanium they were talking about! LOL! Low grade Ti like Low grade steel is the difference between night and day!
Like would anyone compare 440 knife steel to V30 and argue which one's better for cutting?
Still leaning towards Ti for picks but admittedly I'll probably need lots more experience before I can tell the difference!

[Bill R]

So what you're telling us is that you haven't learned picking yet but you already know that titanium picks have a better feedback.
I'm not even sure if I would expect any serious feedback from these funny picks.
I highly recommend to start with a regular pick set with handles, no matter if they're steel or titanium. Just make sure there's a hook, a half diamond and a snake. Once you advance there will be other questions than whether it's titanium or not.

I respect your point for sure, I'm just a little biased because I have a long background in construction and there's a lot of things I did that involve a sense of touch rather than sight like feeling wood to see if it's sanded enough or wiggling studs to see if they're bearing much weight or even just the first vibration that tells you a power tool is going out. Plus I just like well made tools! Once I get past any decent locks, I'll surely want more shapes.
What I was talking about as feed back was just that even the picks I have feel more alive and sensitive to me than steel when they're not in the jackknife holder.