Just another 'show off my newbie picks' thread

[Silver]

Hello All,

I'm another newbie clogging up the forum, but hopefully this is a little interesting.

After reading the MIT guide, watching PYRO's video and general surfing of this site, I made myself a set of picks.



I spent several days getting it right; they are made from hacksaw blades, street cleaner bristles (I started preparing last year by chasing the street cleaner at 3am!) and bicycle spokes.

I made them before I ever picked a lock, so now that I have a little experience I will make a new set based on what I’ve learned. I made several of them too fine... they get bent after picking. Others are just too big to fit in any lock. And fine turning the shape of a hook is another area, most are too deep, and I’ve found rounded heads to be best.

I tried to make torque wrenches by bending cleaner bristles after heating with a butane torch, but they always broke quickly. So I just brought a cheap Allen key set and ground a few down.

My favourite is the dipped hook to the left of the picture. It is good as a hook and the back half-round works wonders as a scrubbing tool.

This is the pouch I made for them:


It rolls up to this:



Which fits nicely into my underpants where hopefully no one will ever search.

Any comments most welcome, thanks for looking.

[Silver]

oh, and I must mention my massive indebtedness to PYRO for making such an instructional video, and the rest of the community for all the knowlege I have gained by reading your posts.

Thanks

[omelet]

next time maybe post pics in here

The Homebrew Hall of Fame!: viewtopic.php?t=6420

[Kaellman]

Very nice set ! However, I would put less tape on the handles to increse the feel.

[vector40]

Quite sexy. Nice low profile.

[digital_blue]

Yes, nice work. I agree about the excessive tape on the handles. I am a little concerned about you feeling the need to hide your picks in your underwear tho. Why? Here's a hint. If you have to hide them you aren't doing anything you should be.

But nice work on the picks and I especially like the case you made. Do the picks ever fall out the top and poke you in the scrotum? That would suck.

db

[vector40]

Not sure I'd agree with that. Legal or not I'd make it a rule to try and avoid encounters with law enforcement with picks in hand; you don't want to have to explain everything.

But hiding them in your underwear is hardly the solution to that ;-{

[digital_blue]

Well, my point was that if you have to hide them, you probably shouldn't be carrying them.

db

[omelet]

Do the picks ever fall out the top and poke you in the scrotum? That would suck.

I'm surprised it didn't replace that with road apples or something similar haha

[Silver]

(Ah, I should have called this thread "hideing picks in your underwear".)

Thanks for your comments.

Sorry, I missed the homebrew hall of fame.

I put the tape on because bare metal was hurting my fingers after picking all afternoon while watching TV. I didn't find that my feel was impaired much... although I’m not really that sensitive yet. The round handled picks are dowel covered in a thin layer of tape.

While you have a point in that, if I’m not doing anything wrong then I don't need to hide them... this is a hobby that is misunderstood easily.

Hah hah, and no, I've not been poked in the scrotum.
<warning: I will now discuss the intricacies of hiding picks in your underwear>
Generally I put them in the top of the underwear for easy access. The set rests sideways on ones male organ, so the set is horizontal to the ground. This leaves the ends of the picks pointing out into the thin air beside ones leg. This placement is actually comfortable and secure... one can do cartwheels without dislodging them. If you Really want to you could get a feel for it by putting a cardboard toilet roll down your pants.
</warning>

Hah hah, this is a very disturbing starting post.

[Geek142]

Hmmmm.... well at least if you get caught with your picks and then you quickly hide them down there and the cops trys to put his/her hand down there you can charge them for sexual harrasment. lol.

Geek

[Addi]

<warning: I will now discuss the intricacies of hiding picks in your underwear>
Generally I put them in the top of the underwear for easy access. The set rests sideways on ones male organ, so the set is horizontal to the ground. This leaves the ends of the picks pointing out into the thin air beside ones leg. This placement is actually comfortable and secure... one can do cartwheels without dislodging them. If you Really want to you could get a feel for it by putting a cardboard toilet roll down your pants.
</warning>

Muahaha.
That made my day.

[AcidBurn]

i love the set...im just starting to make my first set..got a question..do you th9nk just a simple dremel tool will do..in pyros video he used a grinder..but i dont wanna spend 60 bucks...so im gonna try to make one..kinda using yours as a guide..btw did you pick any locks yet(im asking to see if it is a good working set)

[Silver]

Thanks, I'm flattered you want to use my pickls as a guide.

They are just my first set, and I just went to work for a few days making whatever seemed common.

I've been picking several locks with them, I started practicing on cylinders (just the core of the lock) from Mitre 10. They are cheap and you can take out some of the pins, so to start with you are picking a one pin lock, then put in 2 and when you get that: 3 pins... This gives a really nice learning curve, I worked my way up to a 6 pin lock.
The best I’ve been able to open so far with this set is a Schlage commercial lock. Tricky keyway on them.
And I’ve been defeated by the five pin lockwood 120/40 padlock so far. (Anyone have any tips on that?) (had my set for about 2 weeks now)

Here is a whole pile of picks I quite admire, by Geek142

viewtopic.php?t=5937&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

I think you could use a dremel tool, some people just use hand files to make picks. Although maybe someone else could answer that, as I haven’t got around to buying a dremel tool yet (not sure even sure what they are called in New Zealand)
One thing I found invaluable in making picks and fiddling with locks is a small vice. Its like having three hands!

Well, best of luck to you AcidBurn
(by the way is that nickname perchance from the "hackers" books?)

[Geek142]

Hehehehe Thanks for the compliments, Yours are good, better then my first try.

Geek