thickness of a lockpick?

[sharpe]

Hi folks,
what i would like to know is how thick a lockpick needs (must) be at a minimum and maximum???

[magician59]

No thicker than about .020 inch. Consider also the material. You can get by with a lot thinner, if it is a strong steel.

[jruther2]

No thicker than about .020 inch.

As one who can be a bit heavy handed at times, I respectfully disagree on this one. I measured five of my favorite homemade picks and they ranged in thickness from 0.025" to 0.030". The Southord slimline picks are 0.020" thick and I prefer my thicker picks to them. I have yet to come across a lock that the Southord picks could get into that my thicker homemade picks could not. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

[happykill]

I agree with jruther2 on this as the majority of my homebrew picks are about 0.028" - 0.025". The first being mainly wiper insert picks and the later being cut from a sheet of 0.025" stock. I *do* have some that are thinner but I like the feel and weight of the thicker picks.
Of course with the locks I have to play with here I really have no need of anything thinner yet.

[sharpe]

that means round about 0,5 mm to be the "golden" middle?

by the way...i'm using springsteel

[ToolyMcgee]

The widest range would be between .015(.38mm) and .040(1.02mm) so in the middle of those two is .0275(.69mm). Most of mine are between .023 and .029, but there are those for really tight keyways as thin as .017. Anything that thin isn't generally getting used in a lock that doesn't require it. I would say a good spring steel short hook at .024(.61mm) that is well sanded should cover most beginner/intermediate keyways and still be tough as nails. It ultimately depends on the steel of the pick, the keyways you are working in, the condition of the lock, and your preference.

If my metric conversions are off a hundreth it's because I'm working off the digital caliper SAE and hitting the button. Good luck.

-Tooly

[RangerJ03]

Most of my home brew picks are .025" and that will get you through most locks. Now I do keep two at .020" for locks like lockwood or yale. But I have to say i use those two on almost everything I just love how thin they are.

A little tip if your going to be using a thinner pick. It's a must you get to know how to properly adjust your tension, so not to bend the pick all to hell.

LOl I just noticed you name haha good one everybody needs a one.

[sharpe]

then u might say that 0,3-0,5 mm is acceptable?

@ranger: my nick dont have any thing to do with lockpicks, it's the character
of the TV series "Sharpes rifles" with S.Bean.
I've noticed some character similarities with Sharpe thats why

[uklockpicka]

The steel i use for my picks are hacksaw blades, i find that the thickness and strength of the steel is just right, but if you are just starting out then i would suggest using stainless or wiper inserts, as there is alot more give if too much pressure is applied when picking, where as the hacksaw blade will snap the stainless steel will bend first then snap. : 0 hope this helps.

ps this is my personnal preference and am not suggesting for a second that you should do exactly what i have suggested but to mebbies use it as a guide line : )

happy pickings

Uhh, if you're making picks... wouldn't you just make them with the thickness that suits the locks you're picking?

[sharpe]

usually i would say u r right but for one the question is/was out of curiousity and second
i make my from Springsteel and thats not a "easy to get" steel, sometimes i'll get 0,25 mm somtetimes thinner and sometimes a bit thicker mostly however btw 0,25- 0,5 mm.

So you see it's very dependent of my access to get S-steel.