Old Bent Picks

[Br0keN]

Anyone who has been picking lock for a while will start to collect bent picks but since they cost so much I would hate to throw them out any ideas on what i could do or make out of old picks?

[mseifert]

First, I would say that if you are bending a lot of picks then you might want to evaluate your picking technique.. Several people have mentioned that they have used the same picks for years..

but with that being said .. I would think that you may be able to go through the annealing process, bend back to normal, then go back through the hardening and tempering process.. but with that you are only prolonging the life a little longer..

Probably just easier to throw them out or grind them into another tool you might need...

[tpark]

I have some bent picks (not bent from picking; my kid used them for repairing an airsoft gun) and I keep them around for scrap material, or sometimes I need to make a custom tool and I can cut em off and use the handle.

[billdeserthills]

You can usually straighten a bent pick using a vise and a hammer, to tap out the dent. Wear something over your eyes just in case

[Silverado]

You could start your very own old bent pick collection!

I would hang onto them for making other tools.

[jimu57]

I dont understand the thing about picks cost too much. I buy standard hook from Peterson for $3. Its the electroless nickel. I buy a dozen at at a time.

[FarmerFreak]

If the bent/broken picks are like HPC picks and the metal runs the full length of the handle. Punch the rivets to take the aluminum handles off. Then you can make your own custom picks, albeit a little bit shorter. I have a lot of short handle custom picks make from broken HPC picks.

While it is true that if you have been picking for a while, you will collect bent/broken picks. It's also true that if you have been picking a lot longer than a while, you will run out of bent/broken picks due to no longer bending/breaking them.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

I've had one bent pick. It was from the first set I ever purchased over a decade ago. It's a Southord half diamond - defeated a lot of locks with that thing.

Anyways, I now use it as a tool by my pinning kit. I mainly use it to depress check pins when disassembling KIK/KIL cylinders. Have also used it to scrap away at funk, debris, etc. Since it's already bent (or curved along its back really) I have no fear of damaging it. Astonishingly it's still going strong. Southord is good stuff.

[jimu57]

I straighten picks and use them until they break.

[Shackle Jackal]

I have a by-pass tool for cheap locks made from an old pick. Works well...

[ltdbjd]

I use them to depress tubular pins when SSPing.

[HT4]

I bend pick with some regularity. Just bend them back. Most better picks are made out of 301 stainless, an alloy that work hardens. Bending them will actually harden the pick. Eventually, it will become brittle, but that takes a very long time. DO NOT try to anneal/reharden your pick unless you are sure it is make out of a heat treatable alloy (like 1095). If you try to heat treat a 301 stainless pick, you will destroy it.

Finally, IMO bending picks does not indicate that you are doing something wrong, as mseifert implied. The best/only indication that you are doing something wrong is if the lock doesn't open. Just my $.02

[mseifert]

Finally, IMO bending picks does not indicate that you are doing something wrong, as mseifert implied. The best/only indication that you are doing something wrong is if the lock doesn't open. Just my $.02

It is normal, to at some point, bend a pick.. But if you are bending them a lot you may want to consider changing up your style .. Less Tension, different pick etc.. I have had the same set of picks for over 2 years now .. Use them at least one even few days and the only pick I have bent is a hook I was using to try and trip the latch on a Master 175 .. End up mangling the crap out of it ..

There comes a point when you have to consider how much pressure you are putting on the pick and look into a different tactic.. In my opinion and experience .. It is not all about Brute force ..

[Br0keN]

There comes a point when you have to consider how much pressure you are putting on the pick and look into a different tactic.. In my opinion and experience .. It is not all about Brute force ..

I agree. but sometimes I feel as though its my only option for example a while ago when I got my Trioving 5652 I could get it to a false set but but after that everytime I tried to set the last pin everything dropped. then I found a video saying to use heavy tension and it comes open now. recently ive been able to open it up without extreme tension but I still use what I consider med to heavy tension. However, I dont see myself being able to pick it with light tension anytime soon if its even possible.

[mseifert]

There comes a point when you have to consider how much pressure you are putting on the pick and look into a different tactic.. In my opinion and experience .. It is not all about Brute force ..

I agree. but sometimes I feel as though its my only option for example a while ago when I got my Trioving 5652 I could get it to a false set but but after that everytime I tried to set the last pin everything dropped. then I found a video saying to use heavy tension and it comes open now. recently ive been able to open it up without extreme tension but I still use what I consider med to heavy tension. However, I dont see myself being able to pick it with light tension anytime soon if its even possible.

I'm not referring to tension .. I am referring to prying/pressure on the pins...