Homebrew pick set

[DigitallyChallenged]

1. I can mail you a copy in trade for two of your homebrew picks.

???

3. I use Great Neck hacksaw blades mostly. Plumbing snake is the strongest yet it is only 1/4" wide. Fish tape is too thick and is less than 1/4" wide.

The steel I have should work very well. I got to cutting last night with my dremel and a fiber wheel (never doing that again, going to Lowes today after school to pick up a few things) and had an okay-looking pick made, when I accidentally chopped off the tip . I shined it up with some sandpaper anyway (all the way down to 320 grit) and it looked nice...

4. First picks I made were half diamonds and hooks. Then I got creative.

I was making a half diamond last night.

Sounds like you are cutting your steel with no template for guidance.

Yes.. it was all freehanded with a Sharpie marker.. I found a post that gave generic measurements on a standard pick, so I based it all off of those.

Maybe a cool template system like this will help:

viewtopic.php?t=3693

Definately.. I'd seen that but I think I'll try the "lay template on metal and spraypaint, grind away till no paint" method first.

[raimundo]

to those of you who are asking about templates, try this, get all the keys large and small that you can gather in 10 minutes around the place where you are, home, shop, whatever, and look at them. Remember, picks are considerably smaller than keys, thats how they can be used on more than one lock, now, looking at the keys, discount the shallowest and deepest cuts, because picks work differently, they move up and down, so make slopes that are the same angle as the keys, and make shafts that have a single hook or diamond tip, and when you are finished with these, consider trying to make a pick that has tips that will work pins at both ends of the cylinder, and even in the middle, but remember, its the negative space that counts, do not crowd to many points onto the pick (some of the earliest bogota picks had four and five points, but that was too crowded and experience showed that getting out of the way of falling pins was the key) template shmplate, use keys as examples of what you need. but understand that what you are making is thinner and smaller. then sand just like pickmaker said.

[d_russ]

Hey, I'm trying my hand at making some picks, but I'm currently having a little difficulty in making a torque wrench, I'm using a plumbing snake for the materials, but I can't seem to get it to bend sharply enough, anything close to a bend and it breaks...

so basically I was wondering how you bent yours pick maker??

Cheers,

[d_russ]

Sorry, one other thing I meant to ask about was details on how you made your case, it looks great.

Cheers,

[pick_maker]

Thanks.
Using snake for tension wrenches is dicey- once you bend the steel past 80 degrees there's a 50/50 chance it will snap. So what I recommend is buying a pair of replacement windshield wiper blades and use that steel. It is the right width and all you have to do is take the thickness down some. Very popular here in the forum.

You like my case? Any office supply store will provide you with a good rig. One thing I would do over is flip the nylon wallet interior over so the zipper closes in the down direction. That way you can throw a full case around without fear of items flying out.

Good Luck
(GL)

[PickPick]

So what I recommend is buying a pair of replacement windshield wiper blades and use that steel. It is the right width and all you have to do is take the thickness down some.

Do you happen to own a money tree? My friend just got another bundle of 10 old windshield wiper blades from a mechanic, if you just ask friendly they ususally have no problem with you picking up a couple of old windshield wipers which would go to the trash anyway. They even took out the steel strips for him and told him he can pick up some more if he feels like it.

[pick_maker]

No, I just don't happen to live in Germany under the Euro. Another thing, how many times during the month does the typical mechanics shop get the spare wiper blades request? Kind of unusual activity don't you think? And wouldn't unwanted questions follow?

When my car ingintion broke and stayed locked on I got some weird looks when I asked to keep the broken item.

No, keep it simple sherlock and go retail.

[PickPick]

If anyone asks me why I need such things I tell them that I pick locks for fun, that I also run a local group where we meet to pick our locks and if they're interested, they can come to our next meeting. It's far easier to be open about it. Due to the fact I'm that open about most of my lock picking activities I've had lots of people who gave me locks they didn't need anymore, the janitor of a friend told her that he's got a whole drawer full of old cylinders I can have. And while it amazes even me, I've never ever had any bad experiences. The worst thing that happened to me was when I asked a locksmith whether he had any old locks I could use for lockpicking practice and he gave me some locks with a smile and the comment "for your burglary practice".

But if you really want to be that secretive about it, you should realize what great stuff these steel strips are. Perfect home workshop material, just the right thing for.... that metal sculpture you're working on, you want to build a metal dragon and need the strips for the wings or you're using them to build geometric objects, as raw material for model building or maybe you're trying to weave an all-metal basket. So many uses for the little buggers. And art is one of the best excuses to acquire all kinds of weird s**t.

[pick_maker]

Sure, points taken,
(did not think of playing the artiste card) but where I live, the masses are neither aware of nor accept the "open source" mindset/crusade (which is limited to a minor online population BTW).

How do I know this? I did buy some old keyless Master padlocks at a local junk shop. The seller asked, 'Why are you buying these?' (DUHH- why the fu** are you SELLING them?)

I responded, "I pick them open."

Resoponse:

"Sure, a bunch of friends of mine get together, lock all the locks on a small chain and have a contest to see who can open them first."

Response: ...... and she was about two steps from dialing 911

My frustrations:
I am not responsible for seller hang-ups or shock but when I buy property (keyless padlocks). I can do whatever the hell I want with them- paint them blue, weld them together, cut them in half, et cetera and expect no questions.

I wish the openess you describe existed here but it does not and that's not necessarily a bad thing either.

[PickPick]

I wish the openess you describe existed here but it does not and that's not necessarily a bad thing either.

I don't really see what the advantages would be with less openess. But if you want something similar to the approach for the windshield wiper blades, try asking for old locks, because your school/colege/whatever theatre group is doing a play where they would like to have a selfmade door with a lot of locks on stage, to represent the many problems hedgehogs face in the modern work environment or something like that. I've heard that this approach has worked several time. Or use it for a sculpture again.

[fr0st]

I've made some of my own picks and I know how time consuming it is and how much work it takes to make them look good, and I must say, You've set a benchmark for all diy lock pick makers. Best home made set ever.

Also, that pickgun's design is interesting... where did you come up with / get it from?

[pick_maker]

the pick gun was based on a propane torch sparker. I added the thumb flicker after experimentation with other designs as seen in topics here in the forum.

I hear ya. I don't have a lot of time either. Since '04 I have not made a lot of picks because I already have what I need.

Nowadays I lurk the forum looking for new ideas other folks come up with- improvised picks, tubular picks, electro picks, a how to DVD.

[247lockout]

hey buddy, can you mail me your templates for picks and jiglers they look really impressive. organek@hotmail.co.uk

[pretender]

here's mine, designed to be extremely small and portable and stuff. polished to mirror finish on the important parts. total cost to me: free.

pack of smokes for size reference.





if anyone wants to know my polishing methods, lemme know - but it's pretty simple overall.

[Mad Mick]

Link to 1st pic fixed.