Creating a new Lockpick company...

[jailersmith]

What about a clifflockpicks removable handle that the picks could be inserted into. That would address ease of transport, one handle and numerous unhandled picks. Just a thought.

[piotr]

What about a clifflockpicks removable handle that the picks could be inserted into. That would address ease of transport, one handle and numerous unhandled picks. Just a thought.

That would also keep the cost down. The Kaba/Illco pick sets (or at least two of them) are designed like this:

http://www.kaba.com.au/Products-Solutions/Locksmith-Products/Locksmith-tools/32934/picks.html

They have a removable plastic handle (the blue thing in the picture).

[LocksmithArmy]

i dont know how to remove the bubbles... look back at the previous posts where i dipped some in black... they are extreamly bubbly
does anyone know how to dip shtuff without getting the bubbles?

Most of the picks are perefectly smooth and only one has clearly visible bubbling so it looks like your technique has improved with the red dip. Are you shaking or vigorously stirring the dip and unintentionally introducing air into the pot of dip? I'm guessing that because of the viscosity of the dip, once you introduce bubbles into it they would be difficult to remove because they will not float to the top (like they do with milk for example when you use a shaker cup to blend protein powder into it). Could the black dip have been agitated heavily during transit, filling it with air bubbles before you even opened the lid?

you know thats very possible... that is was shaken... can you think of a way I could convince the bubbles to come to the top before I dip? maybe an agitator or someting to gently vibrate them up?

[piotr]

you know thats very possible... that is was shaken... can you think of a way I could convince the bubbles to come to the top before I dip? maybe an agitator or someting to gently vibrate them up?

Gentle vibration sounds promising but I am no expert on this. However, I do know someone that has a PhD in rheology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheology) and I will ask him for his expert opinion. He is an engineer so his knowledge is of an applied kind so he should be able to offer something useful or at least point me in the right direction. I'll try and have something for you by the end of this week.

[LocksmithArmy]

lol welcome to the world of social networkiing... everyone knows someone important

[Aedalas]

Vibration should work to an extent. It's not the greatest though with something really thick. I don't suppose you have access to a vacuum chamber do you?

[spandexwarrior]

The bubbles in mine were from shaking the can. Unfortunately, the plasti dip has a relatively short shelf life after you open it. Even if you seal it up with saran wrap under the cap so it's a little more air tight, it still thickens up. I shook it up because it was too thick and wasn't applying evenly. I think I read that you can thin it with paint thinner or denatured alcohol - that might help but you might need more coats.

I also noticed that the last batch I did is still a little tacky - not bad, but feel like it's not quite dry even though it is. It would be interesting to know what Peterson and Sparrows are using and how they get the texture (some, not all had this).

-Brian

[LocksmithArmy]

yeah I noticed this stuff goes bad after like a week... I have stirred and shaken cans back into use after like a month though... but nothing I sold was like this (I bought the cans then dipped all the orders so they were not old) but when I stirred an shook my blue back to a nice even thickness it did not have bubbles...

[Aedalas]

Heat works as well, but I don't know what that would do to that stuff. You could try warming some up and just stirring slowly as it cools down. My advice though would be to get one of those venturi type vacuumes that you just hook up to an air line and make your own chamber. An old pressure cooker would be ideal for that.

[jeffmoss26]

My plasti-dip experiment did not work, namely because the can had been open for WHO knows how long and was solid rock!

[mdc5150]

My plasti-dip experiment did not work, namely because the can had been open for WHO knows how long and was solid rock!

This makes me wonder about pouring into shapes of the size of a 12 gauge slug and making my own rubber bullets!

From what I've seen for best results dipping very slowly and pulling out very slowly are the best ways to avoid bubbles. There was someone who did a whole write up about it here once for pick handles but I don't remember who it was or how to look it up.

[Aedalas]

From what I've seen for best results dipping very slowly and pulling out very slowly are the best ways to avoid bubbles. There was someone who did a whole write up about it here once for pick handles but I don't remember who it was or how to look it up.

That was Lumpy.

[mdc5150]

From what I've seen for best results dipping very slowly and pulling out very slowly are the best ways to avoid bubbles. There was someone who did a whole write up about it here once for pick handles but I don't remember who it was or how to look it up.

That was Lumpy.

Thats right, thank you.

[Lumpy]

I found if you dip them slowly, pull out slowly (easy now!) it helps reduce bubbles.

Once out tapping gently helps bring any bubbles to the surface.

I actually don't mind the minimal bubbles. It adds texture and grip.

[LocksmithArmy]

thanks for all the advice... ill try again one day and impliment the new techniques...

I also did not mind the bubbles