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Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

When it comes down to it there is nothing better than manual tools for your Lock pick Set, whether they be retail, homebrew, macgyver style. DIY'ers look here.

Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

Postby adi_picker » 14 Mar 2017 3:25

G'day Guys,

I got an MTL Interactive recently, and wanted to have a crack at getting it open. My cheap GOSO dimple set was still in the mail (thanks a bunch banggood >:/ Stuck in Guangzhou!), and I didn't have any large half diamonds about, so I thought I would try my hand at making a dimple pick. It was a little harder than I had first thought! I didn't find any other designs or plans online, so I had to experiment a little, and hope somebody else might find this useful.

Like a bakers first loaf..

Image

Definitely a little rough.. Putting it mildly. I whipped this up in an half an hour from wiper inserts, a pen casing, and some 4 minute epoxy. It works reasonably well, the shank diameter was good, striking a good balance between thickness and rigidity, but the shank itself didn't set in the centre of the pen case making it turn eccentrically. Originally the hook was a little longer, but I felt it was getting caught up (this was when I first picked on the MTL), so I slowly reduced the size until it became.. too small.

Mark II

Image

With the above in mind, I set about making Mark II. I searched for a better ay to centre the pick to the case, and found that this particular BIC pen has just the right diameter hole to suit my wiper insert on one end. In the larger end I stuffed some bits of paper around the pick to keep it central before topping it off with epoxy again. This pick will definitely come in handy for the future, but I didn't get an open with it, as the shank diameter was this time too small, and twisted easily with rotation torque. I could get some sets with this, but not all, so back to the drawing board it was.

Going off track..

Image

The worst of the bunch. I wanted a thicker shank, but that prevented me from getting a nice tight 90deg bend, so I ended up with this, what I like to call the Golf Club. The part of the 90 closer to the shank interfered with pins I wasn't working on, and to top it off it went soft halfway through the job.. We've all been there.. right fellas? Huh, Huh? I had used heat to try and tighten the bend, and the spring steel didn't seem to take well, and lost its spring. I tried heating to cherry red, and cooling with oil, and water and mild hot and oil and water, but nothing seemed to get it springy again. If anyone has some tips on this, or a good method, please let me know below!

Success!

Image

Finally! Success! This pick proved to be just right. Right shank diameter, good 90deg bend, and a sturdy, but soft rubber handle. Have to admit, I cheated a little on this one, by peeking at a picture of one of the picks from the Souber MTL Pickset, something I probably should have done from the start. I also made a Mark 3.5 pick before I got to this one, but it didn't get photographed as being borked, it is currently residing at the bottom of the bin in my shed. To make the one above, I reduced the shank of the wiper insert, and then put a 90deg forced bend into it, ie no heat. On the 3.5 I silver soldered another piece of insert onto the shank to make the 90. Needless to say, it kept breaking at the weld, despite numerous repairs using different soldering methods.

I'm pretty happy with the result as it gave me my first open on an MTL Interactive! Hope somebody finds the info useful, please feel to chime in with hints and suggestions.

adi_picker
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Re: Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

Postby femurat » 14 Mar 2017 10:05

It's nice to follow your learning experience.

As you've already discovered, heat and bend don't go along well.

Cold bending a stiff wire works well too, but since you've your favorite pick already, go on with it.
My favorite one is a half diamond with a steep tip and a thin shaft, buy you already know that, because I keep repeating this all around the forum.

Cheers :)
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Re: Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

Postby adi_picker » 14 Mar 2017 18:33

Thanks femurat,

Yes, I did indeed find out that heat is the enemy. I'm sure that I read that you could temper picks in an article somewhere, but it really didn't work out to be the case for me. No matter what method I tried, that pick was going to stay soft for the forseeable future. I tried working with a wire to make a pick, but I found the diameter of wire I required tended to lift all the pins as it was inserted, and could have potentially caused me overlift problems, so I put that down before I started.

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Re: Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

Postby Mudman » 14 Mar 2017 23:02

Nice work! I tried making a few myself, but didn't have enough patience. Been waiting for the dimple picks to get back in stock, if I order them asap then it'll probably get to me by the end of the year. :lol:

Now to find a good tension wrench for dimples.

Always fun learning from experience though, despite my lack of patience with certain things. At the end of it, I usually don't regret it, because I learned something.
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Re: Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

Postby Ralph_Goodman » 16 Mar 2017 11:38

I think this is an amazing resource for people starting to make their own picks.

Bravo! Great documentation and explanation.

Pretty sure that this post is going to save time and resources for a lot of people starting out down this road.

Also, I must say that the handle choices are fantastic. Some of the most different, creative, and professional, I have seen. The idea of going with a handle diameter thickness around the same size of a pen is something I rarely (if ever) see.

Seems like a no-brainer. We are so used to holding pens and moving them to achieve small details, why would we go so much thicker (or flatter) for pick handles?

Definitely going to have to try this.
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Re: Crafting a dimple pick for an MTL Interactive

Postby GWiens2001 » 17 Mar 2017 11:20

I would not mind trying out one of those, too. Just don't have time to make one. Have some manual dimple picks, but nothing made for MTL.

Good work, adi. :)

Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
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