Should I grind down the peterson picks I got on sale?

[pillar]

I recently got a bunch of Peterson Picks as they were on sale here.
Thing is: Only the "normal" picks, 25 thousands I think. 0.6 mm thickness.
The thin picks werent on sale.

Locks I pick: European Locks mostly. Practising with Abus currently.

Question:
Should I grind down some of them to 15 thousands (0.4 mm)?

Yeah, Im a noob still.

[spandexwarrior]

If I remember correctly, the ones they had on sale were carbon steel which is probably not strong enough to have a long useful life at .015 - you could sand them down a bit though. They are still good for many European keyways even at .025. Also, they do have the gov't steel slenders on sale, they're the ones with green handles.

-Brian

[pillar]

How do I find out which kind of steel?
They have grey handles.

Does the colour say anything about Peterson picks if they come as single picks?

[spandexwarrior]

The type of steel is in the description for each pick on the Peterson website. There have been exceptions, but now generally, this is what the handle colors are:

Blue - .015 slenders
Purple - .018 slenders
Black - Gov't steel
Red - DCAPs
Gray - Carbon steel

I have no idea what was with the green handles on the slenders that are on sale.

-Brian

[pillar]

Am I right Carbon steel are the cheapest then?
Are these picks coated in some way?
Means coated with ... chrome/nickel/whatever and beneath steel so grinding would really damage it?
Or is it one material/alloy?

Do the picks have a pattern or inner structure?
EG as swords do as the steel was folded while forged?

[spandexwarrior]

Yes, the carbon steel pics are the cheapest. I believe that they now have an electroless nickel finish, you will remove it if you sand or grind the picks but I don't think it really matters. Many people sand their picks to smooth them out - I think this was kind of the idea with the nickel finish, it slicks up the surface and it probably costs a lot less than any sanding or polishing at the factory. They used to do a black oxide finish like you see on HPC's carbon/spring steel picks.

As far as what's inside the handle, here's an x-ray, the Peterson pick is the one in the middle. I can't remember where this came from to give them credit, but it was an awesome idea.

-Brian

[billdeserthills]

I doubt You'll be satisfied until you just buy the object you desire, just save these for another challenge

[MBI]

I doubt You'll be satisfied until you just buy the object you desire, just save these for another challenge

This.

[pillar]

Today I grinded down two of my picks.
One Rake for testing and one Gem

I honestly did a bad job, the tip is very thin, about 0.2 mm which is way thinner than I wanted.
The rest is ok at about 0.4 mm.

I do not see any color difference between the original steel with coating and the steel where I worked on the pick.
Should I be able to see a difference between the carbon steel and nickel coating? A difference in color?


I will still do some extensive testing, I have great feeling on this pick. Although it got extremely thin and therefore sensitive...

[kwoswalt99-]

Today I grinded down two of my picks.
One Rake for testing and one Gem

I honestly did a bad job, the tip is very thin, about 0.2 mm which is way thinner than I wanted.
The rest is ok at about 0.4 mm.

I do not see any color difference between the original steel with coating and the steel where I worked on the pick.
Should I be able to see a difference between the carbon steel and nickel coating? A difference in color?


I will still do some extensive testing, I have great feeling on this pick. Although it got extremely thin and therefore sensitive...

Hi,
I have done some nickel plating before, and there is a slight difference in color. Describing the color of metals is difficult because all except two are silver colored. However nickel should have a slightly brighter color. It's sometimes can be very hard to tell though. Maybe most of the nickel came off when sanding?

[billdeserthills]

Today I grinded down two of my picks.
One Rake for testing and one Gem

I honestly did a bad job, the tip is very thin, about 0.2 mm which is way thinner than I wanted.
The rest is ok at about 0.4 mm.

I do not see any color difference between the original steel with coating and the steel where I worked on the pick.
Should I be able to see a difference between the carbon steel and nickel coating? A difference in color?


I will still do some extensive testing, I have great feeling on this pick. Although it got extremely thin and therefore sensitive...

Thing with grinding your picks is it is almost impossible to remove a uniform amount of metal, so you get a pick with some hidden weakness.
Weak areas that are thinner than the surrounding areas that will show up when You become stressed. Then you have bent picks and a pissed off attitude

[pillar]

I really cannot complain despite the fact I payed 1 Euro per pick.
But they only had the grey handled picks, so I will continue modifying.

(Ebenezer Scrooge type personality)

[femurat]

You still want to modify them even if everybody told you not to.. OK, try some sandpaper. That's the best option not to ruin them. Work slowly and carefully and you'll eventually get a good result. Sandpaper eats the thin metal a lot more than you imagine. Put it on a solid and flat surface and take your time. Hurry up and you'll ruin every single pick you touch.

Good luck

[jeffmoss26]

I like to sand the edges down on the carbon steel picks. I have some of the older dipped handle .025 thickness gems and the first thing I do is sand them.

[nickmannnxx]

Where did you buy the petersons ob sale? I could use some standard width ones myself.
-Nick-