make pick.

by **supermhr** » 18 Jun 2005 9:08

hi.
im an amateure newbi whatewer.ihave a question.how could i shape those hacksaw blades in a lock pick?i cant cut them with iron scissors.so what should i do?im not english so sorry about grammar or spelling mistakes.

by **tester293** » 18 Jun 2005 10:15

http://www.gregmiller.net/locks/makelockpicks.html

by **helix** » 18 Jun 2005 10:15

Use a grinder.
Make sure that you quench the hacksaw blade every
three seconds during grinding.

Don't let the hacksaw blade vibrate at all or it will
snap as well.

WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!

...and Read this:

http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=6558

It is all about the SEARCH button the different
ways it can be useful.

Good luck and don't forget to post a picture of your picks
when you finish the set.

by **Shrub** » 19 Jun 2005 5:31

helix wrote:Don't let the hacksaw blade vibrate at all or it will
snap as well.

Sorry, but wrong.

by **helix** » 19 Jun 2005 9:48

Hey Shrub, thanks for correcting that.

While I am grinding, if I don't hold the skinny bit
of my picks, they tend to snap.

Any idea on why that might be happening?

I just thought (I guess wrongly) that it must have got
a bit of a shake up or something.

by **GateTwelve** » 19 Jun 2005 10:29

If they are catching on the grinding stone, and being pulled violently down, then it's a natural reaction for the blade to snap or at least bend. If it is just vibrating due to the friction against the rough wheel and snapping, then you've probably gotten the steel brittle. Do you see any discoloration on the steel? Just because you quench every three seconds does not guarantee that you've kept it from becoming brittle. If you ever attempt to take off several milimeters in just one grind and think "Well, if a put a decent amount of pressure on it, it should only take a second or two...", then you've probably ruined that peice of steel.

by **helix** » 19 Jun 2005 10:56

GateTwelve wrote:If they are catching on the grinding stone, and being pulled violently down, then it's a natural reaction for the blade to snap

Thanks for pointing that out to me, Gate Twelve.
I think maybe that must have been what happened.
No, I don't see discolouration, I sort of take quite a while to
grind and let the grinder do the work.

Thanks guys and sorry Supermhr for the misinformation.

*Gets back in his box.

by **Geek142** » 20 Jun 2005 2:53

Go here and download for info on making picks. viewtopic.php?t=6269&start=0

Geek

by **Shrub** » 20 Jun 2005 6:18

Geek,
Like new sig,

Helix,
No worries, like gate said it does sound like you are getting them too hot, you may not see discoulouration before they get damaged depending on the steel, the way you describe grinding could make excessive heat just the same as heavy grinding will do, if you gring holding the saw blade with your fingers then it will be too hot to touch before it gets too hot for the material, dont grind holding material in anything other than your fingers as on items like these wearing gloves or using pliers will destroy the pick before you realise its too hot,

How are you quenching? you need to dunk the work into clean cold water, move it around and keep it there until cold, a quick dunk and then back to the grindstone isnt adequate,

What saw blades are you useing, bi-metal ones tend to be the best but normal ones are also very suitable, the ones that perhaps arent suitable are the cheapest ones as they will have a softer composition that said many on here have good results with the cheap blades,

Are you following standard pick shapes? if you are making things too thin they will break regardless of all other factors,

Lastly, yes it could be a vibration problem, level up your tool rest, adjust the tool rest to be as close to the wheel as possible without touching, clean the wheel or if not up to that have it cleaned or change it, never gring on the side of the wheel unless it has been stress releived (unskilled persons wont be able to check this properly and 99% of grinders bought do not have them as standard) you should be resting your work on the tool rest and not in mid air (unless you are proficient on a grinder and then these bad habbits creep in)

If you want any further advice or instruction i will be more than happy to help, any mechanical engineering question can be answered :wink:

by **helix** » 20 Jun 2005 9:03

Shrub wrote:
a quick dunk and then back to the grindstone isnt adequate,

Hey, thanks, Shrub.
That sounds like it maybe what I have done wrong....

A quick dip instead of a thorough cooling.

I haven't been able to download videos at all, so i am
at the moment, limited to reading only.

I must have misunderstood the technique.

So does this mean that my picks are not very strong
(or as strong as they could be) because i just dipped them?

Do I understand rightly that getting the metal too hot will stuff the whole
piece of steel and I can't reverse that?

I haven't broken one in a keyway yet, only while manufacture.
I'm not sure what blades I am using, but I am assuming that they
would be expensive, high quality blades that you would buy if your trade
revolved around the life of your hacksaw blades.
(from my dads shed, he doesn't buy rubbish).

Thanks for your help.

Oh, by the way, I just got a new Lockwood combo lock for my collection.
A lady gave it to me because my neighbour mentioned to her that I
like locks. Sweet! *knock knock, hi, here, thanks, bye. off topic, oops.

Thanks again for your help.

by **supermhr** » 20 Jun 2005 14:51

thank you all.really thank you.ive findout that my uncle is a ,well i dont know the english name.hear we call it gold maker witch make jwellry out of gold and silver.any way he has a set of grinders.i will meet him soon.by the way about shrub.i choosed the brazilian blade named STARRET(eshterret!!!)a good quality so im not worry about it.again by the way could you give me a link for scale and shapes?not greg miller's.
thanks...

by **helix** » 21 Jun 2005 0:28

I just did a search for the word templates and it came up with
quite a few matches.

About needing them to be the right size, there is a post
written by Chrispy that has some templates that, when printed out
as A4 size, should be spot on.

I think the title of the subject is something like, "I Need Templates" or
something, but it isn't far down the first page.

Good luck dude.

Oh, and I think that your uncle is what we call a jeweller.

by **Shrub** » 21 Jun 2005 5:14

Helix, yse you can get the required hardness back if youve messed up,

I dont think your picks will be soft and will probably be ok, they will wear rather than snap, you shouldnt ever snap a pick as the force is in compression it just shouldnt happen regardless of hardness, if the tips are getting worn quickly then yes your material has gone soft, drag a file accross the pick, if it skates across without even hesitateing then its fine, if it trys to cut or dig in then yes your pick is probably useless in that state, read below though if this is the case,

Heat the blades till cherry red then quench immediately (dunk in the water and stirr it around a bit until cool to touch) then clean up the pick with emry paper until its shiney then heat again until a straw colour then quench it again, this will give the correct hardness back.

For templates keep looking until you find some that have a ruler next to them, its a lot easier to scale a printout when youve got a ruler on the picture, search for zekes site i think templates abound are there.

I aggree Starret blades are the dogs danglies, ive used hundreds of there bandsaw blades etc and have only ever had a couple of failures over that time, there jigsaw blades can take one hell of a hammering.

by **supermhr** » 21 Jun 2005 5:38

who has the most experience in making picks and lock picking?maybe i just contact him by private message and avoid spam or whatever you call it.

by **supermhr** » 21 Jun 2005 8:34

thanx again.
by the way the job is goldsmith.

make pick.

make pick.

Who is online