First try making Bogota rakes

[LockManipulator]

So i made 3 different ones, but only two are in the picture since i sold one to a friend before i thought to photograph them. I never was much of a rake person but i have to say, Bogota rakes are the best!

The bottom one is the second one i made and it works great! The one on the top is the third one i made and i made it according to the position of the pins in the lock. Each bump is where a pin is, so fully inserted, the first bump hits the first pin, second bump is on the third pin, and the third hump is on the fifth pin. This set up works so much better i found out. I can open all my lock so fast now It looks kinda like the top rake doesn't have the shaft long enough to rake locks that have 7 pins but because of the length of the humps it still fits great into 7 pin locks.

To make them i took windshield wiper inserts and ground them down with a dremel and sanded them with sandpaper up to 600.

[muddassarusa]

Look nice and as you explained work good too keep it up man

[nozza36]

Well done daggers ! feels good making your own picks (that work ) ! don't stop there !

[selim]

very nice daggers - spacing is everything

Well done

[LockManipulator]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try and put handles on them soon so they'll actually look like proper picks. I'm just trying to determine the best material to use

[gnarus8429]

Those look good. I got a cheap polishing wheel kit ( I like the sewn cloth ones) with polishing compound (white) that hooks up to a drill at harbor freight for $5.00. It really puts a nice finish on the picks when your done. I have some smaller rakes like your bottom one that work well on things like National mailbox locks. Definitely keep that guy around too.

[clearmoon247]

I would recommend the twisted pair cabling from a cat5/cat6 network cable
Then use heat shrink tubing on the two ends to keep the cable in place. It has worked well for me up until now

[uklockpicker]

Pretty cool i can see these being quite effective

[elbowmacaroni]

Hey daggers... they are quite decent for a first go at them. A suggestion for your next attempt. Work on the spacing of the peaks and valleys. Also, and I don't know if you've since done this to the set above or not, but I'm going to mention it anyway just in case for this set and any future sets. When sanding them, you also want the tips of the peaks and valleys thinner than the midline of the rake. so if you're looking head on it would be kind or like /\ at the peaks and \/ at the valleys. This increases the smoothness of operation within the keyway. It is what Rai does and recommends in his discussions on the matter. I don't remember if his guide was clear about that or not though as it has been quite a long time since I've read that. But seriously man, good job for a first go around, I have seen MANY people do FAR worse on their first try at them. You're pretty close there Nice job!

[LockManipulator]

Thanks elbow! I did not know that so thanks for the tip I realize i got the spacing wrong on both of them lol The bottom one has spacing way too close together and the one on top isn't even. The first spacing is a bit wider than the second. I also don't think i made the valleys deep enough, when looking at a pair of Rai's, it has different proportions. But for a first try, i'm happy with them!

[elbowmacaroni]

Yeah, for a first go around, they are pretty damn good. As I mentioned, I've seen FAR worse on people's first try. Using Rai's method of using chainsaw files in my experience has been by far the most effective in getting the right sizes and spacings.and th midline to top and milline to bottom tapering really helps alot for movement in the lock. The tapering is not something you will find on any of the commercial stamped out knock-offs. Only on Rai's and others who Rai has "authorized" to make/sell them, or obviously on homebrew picks where people paid attention to Rai's recommendations/comments about that.

-Elbow