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Hi all:
Ubernoob here so go easy on me..... or deride me effusively your choice.
If you read my intro of recent you may be aware I am impatiently awaiting my picks, so as I'm an impatient bastard I decided to see if I could make some. The results were less than spectacular but they actually work or at least the 2 short hooks do. Without further ado here's the pics (pun intended) I'll give some details following assuming I do this right.


Ok all these were made with chainsaw files and a small triangle file. The first on the right (sorry for it being upside down) is made from a mini hacksaw blade (with elec. tape for a handle) which is probably too thin so I may regrind for small padlocks or accidentally/intentionally lose it. The next four are made from stainless taken from the weatherstripping on an exterior door seems to be a perfect thickness but depth is small but surprisingly strong,handles are insulation from 12 gauge solid wire. Far right is a blank and three on left are crude tensioners farthest being a filed down allen key.
key. Well that's my first dip in the pool hopefully I can produce something more attractive going ahead.

Good stuff experience is what matters the more we make the better they are . Picking with your own tools is very rewarding and drives you to make more

Good work. With practice (both picking and pick making practice), you will find specific shapes that work better for you. My experience says that the second one from the right (with the black handle) needs to be thinned down, or it will not be able to work well in tight keyways. The shaft of the pick will press down the first pins while you are trying to pick the back pins.

Keep up the good work! Be sure you sand and polish them for best effect!

Gordon

I think your results are AWESOME! Now you need to polish them up, nothing beats a smooooothly operating pick! Seriously, you need to practice that aspect of the manufacture also. And it will make a world of difference in the tools performance. Great job!

Hey man , not bad you should see my first impatient homebrews I don't know how I even picked anything with them they were huge compared to a standard pick but I didn't know that at the time

Great start.

Maybe you will need to thin down the shafts on the hooks - which look very good, BTW - for at least the length of the key way.

Now that you have started making picks, you have developed another addiction.

Don't throw any of them away. You will find that one day one of them will open that lock that has defeated all your other picks.

Again.

Great first attempt.

Thanks for the input and encouragement guys it's greatly appreciated.

Hi Raydoh I went in the opposite direction and undersized, which by pure shit luck worked well for me. As soon as I find some suitable stock I'll be banging off some more customs and see if I can come up with some functional designs. I liked the thin stock I found but don't have anymore unfortunately.

nice work doogs! fun isnt it?

Asolutely! Having a blast with this.

Yeah, I agree with everyone... great start Mike... and thanks for sharing!

And sanding/polishing takes longer than you'd think, but well worth it.

I'm looking forward to seeing the next batch.