Factory vs.Homemade lock picks

[TJ Verrett]

Question: Other than price,what makes the factory aka bought picks better than homemade? I've been seeing both types of picks and what I've seen is that they all look alike. Yes you can tell the difference in the hacksaw blade types.But others made from different steels there's no discernible difference. What are your thoughts?

[billdeserthills]

All picking tools are just an extension of your hand, it doesn't matter if you use a bobby pin
or an expensive pick as long as you get the job done

[stratmando]

Quality Control makes Factory Better than Homemade, However, Due to the Time a Person can put into a Tool, could be better than Factory?
Factories Want to make Money. There is No limit a Person can put into a tool(Materials, Polishing, Fine Tolerances)?

[mattc]

I'm lucky enough to have access to picks from a range of sources (Southord, HPC, Mad Bob, Falle, Peterson) and they all have their merits and "feel", but my home made, former street sweeper bristle, polished to within an inch of their lives, Bogota picks are with me most commonly, and so what I use most.
My only regret is I never took the opportunity to buy an original set from Raimundo when I had the chance....

[greengrowlocks]

At this point I've collected enough commercially available picks that if I need another I can just trace it onto some Starrett stainless steel feeler gage and make my own. The quality of the pick and steel is on par with anything store bought and is a fraction the price. The only thing that is noticeably different is the handle, but a couple layers of heat shrink works fine for me.

[TJ Verrett]

So theoretically there is no difference. It's just a matter of if you can afford the factory picks or not. I personally like making things so I'll stick with my homemade stuff. Thanks for the feed back,BTW this was my first post as I'm still new here.

[billdeserthills]

So theoretically there is no difference. It's just a matter of if you can afford the factory picks or not. I personally like making things so I'll stick with my homemade stuff. Thanks for the feed back,BTW this was my first post as I'm still new here.

So then I won

[AngryHatter]

The worst picks I have still can tell me which stack is not set. Sometimes better than the really good picks. So they can be good for feedback when you are stumped.
BUT...

They can't manipulate the stacks the way the better made picks can.
I tried many types and found it is the curve of the tip and its geometry that determines whether I can use a pick well or not.

If you can make one that allows you to work, then revel in it. If not, buy something.

[GWiens2001]

Have some handmade picks that are of far superior quality and feel than factory-made picks.

Additionally, you will find that you wish your hook had a slightly deeper reach, or that your diamond had a slightly steeper or shallower angle. You end up making what you really want.

My favorite picks are all handmade by me or by other members here.

Gordon

[ragebot]

Keep in mind that just as some folks are better at picking than others the same is true for making picks. Not to mention some folks are also faster at making picks. I do a lot of long range precision shooting. Some guys load their own ammo and are often better gunsmiths than some you would find in a gun store. Others are strictly shooters and hardly ever even clean their weapons.

It is true you may be able to make a one of a kind pick you can not buy, but I suspect that would take a great deal of knowledge of both picking and fabricating. I recently bought a set of TOOOL picks and quite frankly I doubt anyone could do a better job of making a pick than the guys at TOOOL did. There are other top tier pick makers that sell stuff. The question is how much are you willing to pay for top quality.

But the bigger question for me is would you rather spend your time improving your picking skills or spend your time making picks.

[tpark]

I make my own picks as well as buy commercial ones. For some situations, such as the picks used to manipulate the finger pins for Primus locks, commercial picks just aren't available. Sometimes special thin picks are required, such as the 12 thou picks used for Ruko D12 keyways. For a lot of situations, like opening kwikset locks, having your 25 thou Peterson "Government Steel" gem isn't going to get the lock open faster than the HPC hook. I like to imagine that having a large array of picks makes it easier to open locks, and to a certain extent it does help, but sometimes it's just patience and trying different things. Having said that, the 15 thou Peterson Gem is worth the 8 bucks.

I think making your own tools has value since experimenting with pick shapes gives a better understanding of the relationship of shape to picking experience. Even if you're fine with the commercial picks, it's worthwhile to make your own at least once.