Shrub basic guide to lock pick making

[UCChris]

Really nice guide. Thanks for posting it!

[sterry20]

i use feeler guage off the shelf at harbour freight you can keep them on a key ring and they are just a bit longer than auto jigglers

[sterry20]

i know i cant buy yet but i wish i knew where to get flat steal stock cheap to make some tension tools?

[vladgsm1]

Information helpful
Thanks

[susiesum]

Great guide, very helpful, thanks :)

[Timba]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned (not enough time to read through all posts right now). I keep seeing people recommending hack saw blades for making picks. I'm sure they work well if they are tempered correctly, however, for most new lock pickers, the tempering process is pretty extensive, and can be fairly frustrating. After experimenting with a lot of different objects for picks, I tried making one out of a used sawzall blade. This turned out to be, hands down, the best material I've ever used for making picks out of. I tried tracing a pattern onto the blade first, and trying to cut it out with a dremel, but the trace marks always got messed up in the process, so I ended up eyeing my picks. My sawzall picks are stronger and narrower than any pick I've purchased, and they give more feedback that other picks because they are so rigid. All I use to make my picks is pretty much a vice, sawzall blade, Dremel (w/ cutting and sanding disks) and steel wool.

If anyone would like a step by step, let me know and I'll make a post. Process takes about an hour per pick with practice.

[Syl]

Must wiper inserts also be tempered to be useful as picks? I replaced the ones on my car with a set someone had given me for Christmas and I pulled these out of the old wipers. Excuse the mess. We're still unpacking from our move.



I was able to straighten them by hand. They seem to flex a lot parallel to their flat edge, but almost not at all in the other direction. I guess this is good for picking, but I'm not sure whether the side-to-side flex will be an issue. I'm also not sure whether they will retain their strength in that direction once I have removed most of the material to create a thin tool that will fit in a lock. Here you can see the residue left from scraping the rubber/adhesive off of one side.



The following photo shows the difference in thickness between my HPC picks and the wiper inserts. The metal they are made from is about twice as thick as the HPC picks. I guess it shouldn't be too much of an issue to sand and polish them to be narrower, if need be. I think they were Bosch wipers, but I'm not too sure. I was too eager to tear them down for the metal inside!



I have a Dremel 4000, which I'd like to use for this project, but I admit to being a newb at metal work. Are these aluminum oxide grinding bits my best bet for removing large amounts of material? Or, should I go straight to tungsten carbide cutting bits? Should I do anything between grinding the general shape and sanding to polish? I mean, is there some intermediary step that I am not accounting for?



I'm off to read everything I can on this. I did try a Google search for "site:lockpicking101.com wiper how to" and a couple other terms, but I didn't find what I'm looking for yet. I thought I'd make a productive post in case anyone feels like chiming in on these questions, but I promise I'm making appropriate efforts to find the info on my own as well.

Thanks so much!

EDIT: One more question. I have an old, broken G4 Powerbook with a titanium case. Has anyone tried to cut picks from the case material of a titanium-cased Apple laptop? I don't know how thick it is, but it seems like it may be perfect for making picks and I have no other use for it.

EDIT 2: I found the following in another thread. Since I was able to bend my wiper inserts flat, does this mean that they aren't suitable for picks?

An easy test is to lightly bend the spring with a couple of fingers (put it under light tension to reverse the angle at which it is already bent), then release pressure. If the insert retains the bend, it is not suitable for picks. Decent springs will bend back to their original shape, and make great picks.

[Rock Plicks]

For handles on my set of homemade mini-picks (made from wiper blade inserts) I used some of the insulation from the wiring of old computer speakers. The inner diameter of the insulation was about 1/2 the width of the picks, and I used a lighter to soften it up before stretching it over the picks. It's not perfect, but it's better than plain metal pressing into my fingers.

If anyone needs specific info I'll type it up, but it was pretty basic.

-steve

You might want to consider heat shrinkable tubing.

[Rock Plicks]

where do i get street sweeper bristles??

Prowl strip mall (or any mall) parking lots, on foot, during non-business hours. You'll find the bristles which came loose from the sweeper, especially where the sweeper may have clipped a curb or something.

[Squelchtone]

where do i get street sweeper bristles??

Prowl strip mall (or any mall) parking lots, on foot, during non-business hours. You'll find the bristles which came loose from the sweeper, especially where the sweeper may have clipped a curb or something.

or just buy them from me: http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=60452

by the way you replied to someone's question from 2008.. usually we let sleeping dogs lie.

Postby blade10327 » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:37 am
where do i get street sweeper bristles??

[LockPickViking]

Thanks!

[Dough846]

Dont know if you guys are still here, but i use hacksaw blades and have had problems with them bending and breaking. Now i know why. Thanks for the info.

[GWiens2001]

Dont know if you guys are still here, but i use hacksaw blades and have had problems with them bending and breaking. Now i know why. Thanks for the info.

Yep. Overheating the metal when grinding. I dip the metal in a cup of water every few seconds, and don’t let the metal get red.

My favorite hook I made from a hacksaw blade years ago, and it is still going strong.

Gordon