How the #$%@ do I file sweeper blades?

[maldotcom2]

Theres nothing cheap about using something for free and that you have on hand that will get the job done. No need to spend money unnecessarily. wether it's 5c or $500.

[_Ethereal_]

Also never ever attempt to use an angle grinder.

The angle grinder is the best way to make street sweeper bristle picks
* wear safety glasses and have your grinder fitted in a bench vise tightly
1. Grind down one side of the brisle leaving an ungrinded bit on the end for your tip.
2 create your tip by resting the pick on the cover ( - like this |_ <--rest on the bottom part)

a perfect pick, with no troubles.

* try not to cut your hands
If any one wants a pic of this i will post it when my camera is charged.

[_Ethereal_]

Ok, i have some pictures -
This pick was made using the above method. to grind the tip side of the tang i used the other side of the grinding wheel.
It was sanded using 300 grit sandpaper, the design is a fer sawtooth kinf rakes.

This is the Angle grinder set up in a vice ready to be used to make picks:




This is the finished pic yet to be sanded:


I hope this information and pictures helps somone
This is the end result, next to a HPC hook:

[_Ethereal_]

Btw, i didn't mean to say fer sawtooth kinf rakes, what i meant to say is few sawtooth kind rakes.

[xodishox]

files are very time consuming, buy an angle grinder, i got mine for AU$15, just do what was said earlier, put it in a vice and u got half a bench grinder

[_Ethereal_]

Yep, thats what it simulates, though the disk is thinner.

Soon you will m,aster your angle grinder fu and will be making good picks

[raimundo]

you guys gotta discover files. not those beat down rubbing bars in your dads tool box, the sharp kind you get at the hardware store, it will put a whole new dimension in yur pick tips.

[xodishox]

or use a dremel tool with a small grinding disk, they are great for fine tips and shapes

[Sanith]

1. If you are going to get into pickmaking and other metal work big time i would suggest you go out and buy a small belt grinder while not quite as fast it will do anything a regular stone bench grinder will and more. Plus you can buy many different grit belts so you don't have to use sandpaper to polish i use 80, 180, 320, 600 grits on my picks.

2. You could use and angle grinder however i would NOT recomend this as with such thin metal it will easily catch in the grinding wheel and draw your hand in. If you do use this method wear gloves and BE CAREFUL!

3. Dremel tool cheap inexpensive (relatively at least) and will get the job done plus safer than an angle grinder.

4. If you want to just use files you can anneal (soften) metal using a propane torch and then reharden it later. You will probabily not be able to get the metal exact but it should be well within the useable range. To anneal heat metal to cherry-red (a dark room helps here) and let it air cool. When you need to harden do the same and quench it in water (oil would most likely work but since some carbon steel alloys require water quench use it). If you find that the picks are too brittle (too hard) then you may need to also temper them which is the same thing as annealing execpt to a lesser degree. First clean all the scale (black carbon depoisits) of the pick. Then you want to heat the metal SLOWLY until colors begin to show (these are tarnish on the steel so you want to be in a well lit area) first will be a yellow then red, purple and blue the further you go the softer
(less brittle) and more flexible (as in bends and springs back) the metal should become.

Anyway, hope it turns out I'd personally chose ethier 1 or 3 but all should work.

[skold]

I'm thinking of getting a belt grinder, looks cool, has the sander on one side and the grinder on the other, very easy to make picks on.

personally i would choose 1 and 3 but i use 2 the most.

[xodishox]

the angle grinder wont suck your hands in, you hold the pick with 2 hands, not to far away that the pick will jump outta your hands, or not to close so your fingers will fly away.