Proper way to heat treat homemade picks

[dry132]

I am interested in what you have used to make your picks, since I should think it makes a difference how effective this is and how you do this with different kinds of carbon steel.

Also, I would think that if you shaped heat treated material into picks without letting them get too hot it will be just as good, without having to go to all this trouble and potential of screwing up (which is pretty easy to do). Is wear on tools the only consideration?

I used plumbing snake to make my picks, as I have about 30 feet of it. It's a medium carbon spring steel, but the principles here apply to heat treating any type of steel. The higher the carbon content, the more "springy" the final product will be when properly heat treated, or the more brittle it will be when not properly treated.

You're right about shaping the metal without letting it get too hot. Assuming the original steel you're working from had a good heat treatment applied (as plumbing snake does), then if you just take it really slow on the grinder you can avoid the heat treatment process all together and still have quality picks. But on the other hand, it's useful to be able to experiment with how the treatment process effects the final products. Also it's very useful to understand for making and bending torsion wrenches to be as durable as possible.

So in short, if you're very patient with your grinder or cutting tool (which I'm not... hence the heat treating) you could turn wiper blades, plumbing snake, or street cutter bristles into great picks. But cutting through the heat treated tools without slow-cooling it will really eat up even High-Speed-Steel tool bits, and anything other than a diamond or cobalt bit will last hardly at all.

As an example, when I cut pick blanks out of plumbing snake with a regular dremel cutting wheel, I get about 4 cuts before the wheel is too short to be usable. But after removing the heat treatment by slow-cooling the same plumbing snake, the same cutoff wheel will last through making several entire pick blanks into shape.

[dry132]

The tricks I found to the gun bluing are to make the metal very very shiny, then clean it with alcohol prior to applying the glue. Get all the grease and metal bits off the pick, then using a rag dampened with the bluing solution rub it all over the pick repeatedly, trying not to touch the bare metal with your fingers. Latex gloves might be a good idea. Apply more as necessary until you get a nice deep blue color.

Thanks for the tip, Romstar.

[MrB]

The pick in your picture seems to be very thin. Have you tried it in any locks to see how well it stands up in use without bending or breaking?

[omelet]

Yes, and I would also like a comparison using at least 50 samples between picks treated with your method and those just machined down without it based on ultimate tensile strength, please.

Otherwise, how am I to know if it is any better?

[Romstar]

Some people want everything don't they Omlet?

You're welcome for the tip Dry. Alcohol is what I use to clean them as well before bluing. Also, you are exactly right about polishing them. The better the shine/polish the better they look blued.

The bottles of gun blue that I buy are just the right size to dip the picks into. I put one end in and wait about 20-30 seconds, then I flip them over, and wait another 20-30 seconds.

After they are dry, I polish them with 00 steel wool and look for any flaws in the bluing. If there are any, I sand with a 1000 grit wet/dry paper and then reclean with alcohol. After that, they are reblued.

I will have some new images over the next few weeks.

Romstar

[dry132]

The pick in your picture seems to be very thin. Have you tried it in any locks to see how well it stands up in use without bending or breaking?

The pick works great. I prefer it to my SO lifter pick. It's not very thick up and down, but its a little fatter side to side. So far it's held up great, but I just made it yesterday. It's picked two padlocks and all the deadbolts I own. I wouldn't recommend using it to open beer bottles though.

[dry132]

Yes, and I would also like a comparison using at least 50 samples between picks treated with your method and those just machined down without it based on ultimate tensile strength, please.

Otherwise, how am I to know if it is any better?

I'll take donatiions for a UTS machine, and when I get enough for one then I'll happily perform the tests I can do a few fracture toughness tests and post the results if that will make you feel better.

The biggest benefit to heat treating the picks is really to save wear and tear on your cutting tools by not having to cut through hardened pick blanks. It really makes a big difference.

Other than that, you can easily get by without heat treating for lockpicks. They really don't have to be that strong... people pick with paperclips and safety pins. A little localized heating from grinding isn't going to ruin your pick. At the same time, a bad heat treatment process can really ruin a good pick! But a good one will make it better.

So if you want to heat treat your picks to make them as durable as possible, and maybe learn a littl e about metallurgy in the process, then now you know one way to do that. The process sounds pretty complicated on paper, but really doesn't take long to master for small thin pieces of metal. If you tried doing an entire 3/4" thick medieval broadsword this way, you might have a little trouble, but picks are no problem.

[dry132]

This post came as a gift from heaven. I have been thinking about how to propely heat-treat the picks iv made, and here comes the answer before i even ask! I love this forum

Well allt thats left for me is to do a copy-paste and preform

Dry132, thanx for a great post!

Another quick tip. I do the annealing part (the final step) over a butane torch, and it works pretty well. Starting at the tip of the pick, holding it well above the butane flame, let it heat until it starts to discolor, then as it turns bluish move the pick slowly through the flame migrating the color towards the butt of the pick where you're holding it with the pliers. The pliers act as a heat sink, so you can't properly anneal the very butt of the pick, but that's okay since it' just the arse end.

I haven't had much luck annealing in the fire pit, it's too dififcult to tell colors and temperatures when the blank is buried in coals.

[dry132]

Romstar,

Have you used much of the "cold" gun bluing on your picks? The one which I blued looked great at first, but now the bluing has come off somewhat around the tip. It's been in a lock all day, and it's not a big deal, but just wondering if your results were similar.

Also, I was reading about the reaction which "blues" the metal, and several references said that cold-blue gun bluing didn't really impart any rust protection, and that it might in fact promote rust. Know anything about this?

The type I'm using is called Perma-Blue instant gun blue, from my local gun shop (at least it was a good excuse to go to the toy store )

[Romstar]

I don't seem to have any problem with the bluing coming off. I will check it out and get back to you.

I know for a fact that none of my picks have rusted because of the bluing though.

I will run some experiments on it tomorrow though.

Romstar

[dry132]

Ahh, no need. I guess time will tell. It's better than bare metal at any rate, for sure.

I think I've been spending too much time making lockpicks, and not enough time using them I got stuck on a new 2-spool pin cheapo today and haven't gotten it yet.

[coolman]

Guys I've never used heat to treat them. I've made knifes and all your doing is making it more resistant to dulling and more likely to snap under tesion but if you're useing weak materials like paper cilps it could help.

[SaintC]

Cool thread. I have been experimenting with heat treating for a bit, and accidently got it right a time or two without knowing why. Now I know what to do, and what to look for. Thank you very much

[FSSARD]

only one word, excellent. Thank you dry this is VERY informative, i've been trying to find just the right way to heat treat the pick's i'm making (by hand ) and this should help greatly.

[Shrub]

Dry, not sure if your still around but i think when annealing to wait until the material is blueish is too late! You need to go for a straw colour

Otherwise great guide.