Better? Spring steel or tempered steel for lockpick?

[Vargh]

I did read the post about which lockpick set to buy but I still have a question.

Is spring steel or tempered steel better for me to purchase when I am buying a lockpick?

I live in the US and I was thinking about buying this five piece set as my first set. http://www.southord.com/mm5/merchant.mv ... mline-Euro

I cannot tell the material type. Is this a good pick set to start out with?

Thanks.

[Jacob Morgan]

Spring steel describes a composition, basically high-carbon steel.

Tempered means that hardened steel has been softened to some degree (usually to decrease brittleness).

The two terms are sort of apples and oranges. Spring steel would normally be tempered, so the two terms might even describe the same thing.

SouthOrd makes a perfectly good line of picks, would not worry about metals or heat treatments from them. Regarding the set you linked to, it is for tight keyways--more appropriate for European locks. Are you in Europe? If you are in North America I would go with more traditional picks (less likely to bend). Also, I would see about a set with more than one wrench, or at least buy some more wrenches a la carte--they can be just as important as the picks and there may be one style you like better than the others, or might fit one lock better.

[indigoalpha6]

detailing this all out regarding heat-treatment of steels can be quite a large task. suffice it to say that "spring steel" is actually "tempered steel". of the four common material states for wrought sheet metal: "full anneal", "1/4 hard", "1/2 hard", and "full hard/spring" it is more towards the "full hard/spring" side of things. a sheet material that is newly wrought goes through a mechanical work hardening process then a heat treatment (tempering) cycle to achieve one of these states.

S/O has a description on their home page of the material that they use: "Full Hard Spring Stainless Steel". I use S/O and it is excellent material.

as far as pick choices, Mr Morgan has good points

[Vargh]

Spring steel describes a composition, basically high-carbon steel.

Tempered means that hardened steel has been softened to some degree (usually to decrease brittleness).

The two terms are sort of apples and oranges. Spring steel would normally be tempered, so the two terms might even describe the same thing.

SouthOrd makes a perfectly good line of picks, would not worry about metals or heat treatments from them. Regarding the set you linked to, it is for tight keyways--more appropriate for European locks. Are you in Europe? If you are in North America I would go with more traditional picks (less likely to bend). Also, I would see about a set with more than one wrench, or at least buy some more wrenches a la carte--they can be just as important as the picks and there may be one style you like better than the others, or might fit one lock better.

When you say bending how delicate are these picks?

I thought it might be easier to pick even American locks with slim picks since I'll have more room to maneuver.

[s0u1h4ck3r]

The southord sett you are linking to would be a good starting point. I would not be concerned about bending them, if you do you are using way too much force. But I agree with Jacob that you need more tension tools, that is the most important tool. A short hook will fit almost all locks, but you will need different tension tools for different key ways too get the perfect turning force.

[Vargh]

What is the difference between standard and metal handle southord picks? I noticed that the standard are much cheaper. Are they also more brittle or just the tip?

[Razor2016]

Southord are available either without handles (you can add your own with shrink tube, standard (plastic handles molded to the pick) or metal (stainless steel bonded to the pick). I have some of each and find I like the shrink tube handles (smoother than the standard and lighter than the metal). I comes down to personal preference and which you feel comfortable handling.

For a little more than the 5 piece set the MPXS-20 gives you more than three times the number of picks and lots more tension tools for about double the price.

Ray

[Silverado]

The standards have no coating or cover on the handle. It's the same thickness the whole way down. The handled ones have a thicker piece of steel which I believe is pressed onto the handles. Some of the sets come without the pressed on handles, but come with shaped rubberized (tool dip/plasti-dip, if you know what that is) handle covers you just slide on. My PXS-14 set came with the rubberized handle covers and I enjoy them.

[Vargh]

The standards have no coating or cover on the handle. It's the same thickness the whole way down. The handled ones have a thicker piece of steel which I believe is pressed onto the handles. Some of the sets come without the pressed on handles, but come with shaped rubberized (tool dip/plasti-dip, if you know what that is) handle covers you just slide on. My PXS-14 set came with the rubberized handle covers and I enjoy them.

Does this mean they are delicate? I have a 3 D printer so I can easily fashion some handles for them and I can get more picks and tension tools for the same price.

Which individual tension tools would be good for me to purchase to start out with? I have a schlage lock a master lock 3 and 140 and a couple Euro locks.

[tpark]

Does this mean they are delicate? I have a 3 D printer so I can easily fashion some handles for them and I can get more picks and tension tools for the same price.

Which individual tension tools would be good for me to purchase to start out with? I have a schlage lock a master lock 3 and 140 and a couple Euro locks.

The Southord tools aren't delicate - If you use excessive force they'll bend, but they're generally good. I like the FLAT-5 Serrated Tension Tool Set from Peterson, I think their tools grip the keyway better than the top of keyway tools from Sparrows. The wiper insert type tension wrenches tend to cam in certain keyways, such as in your master lock 3. IIRC the 140 has a pretty open keyway, so if you use top of keyway tension you have way more room to work. I prefer to use TOK with the Schlage C keyway (a very common keyway) but they can be opened using bottom of keyway tensioning. The Euro locks could be more challenging - some of them are very paracentric and might require a unique solution to tension.

If you go with the starter set, you can experiment with that initially, then buy/make your picks/wrenches as required.

[Vargh]

Thanks. What does TW mean from Southord?

Does it have something to do with thickness of the tip?

Example
http://www.southord.com/mm5/merchant.mv ... sion-Tools

[tpark]

Thanks. What does TW mean from Southord?

Does it have something to do with thickness of the tip?

Example
http://www.southord.com/mm5/merchant.mv ... sion-Tools

Perhaps Tension Wrench?

[Vargh]

Haha I should have gotten that.