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Pick making blanks?

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McLockpick

Newbie

Posts: 5

Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 10:36 pm

Location: California

Post Mon Jul 25, 2016 2:20 pm

Pick making blanks?

Does anyone know where I can buy some 301 high yield stainless steel to make sum picks I've been looking around but no love yet. Please if you know post it any advise it appreciated
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MBI

User avatar

Site Owner

Posts: 1545

Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:25 pm

Location: Utah, USA

Post Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:11 pm

Re: Pick making blanks?

I'd try feeler gauge material on Amazon. You have your choice of steel and thickness.

It comes in 25' rolls, usually 1/2" wide. Find rolls in a couple thicknesses you like and put it in your wish list then watch them. Retail is around $35-$40 but they have algorithms that adjust price based on sales and competitor prices, so the price varies daily or even hourly. I've seen rolls sell for as little as $8 including shipping if you time it right. Just make sure you BUY, not just put it in your cart when it hits a price low. It won't stay low for long.
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WestCoastPicks

Familiar Face

Posts: 189

Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 10:45 pm

Location: British Columbia, Canada

Post Mon Jul 25, 2016 5:45 pm

Re: Pick making blanks?

301 is a soft steel. Even cold rolled. This is why sparrows picks bend 10 times easier and dont last as long as pretty much anything else.

As stated above feeler stock is probably your best bet.
If you can find the right stuff, fish tape can be good too.
These are both 1095 high carbon spring steel with a Rockwell hardness of 56 - 58 and will last twice as long as 301.

Feeler stock has the added benefit of coming in any guage you want. But it's not cheep. Fish tape is the best price, but unless you find the right stuff, it will be the wrong guage.


In short, I would stay well away from 301. If you want to know how soft it actually is, try bending a sparrows. Now try bending a peterson or literally any other name brand pick. 301 is butter in comparison.

If you still want 301, try any metal supply shop, most carry all the soft stainless metals.

If you just want some good metal to make a few picks for free, bone out a couple old windshield wipers. The metal inside is very good, but usually a touch thick. There are many tutorials and videos on how to go about this.
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McLockpick

Newbie

Posts: 5

Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 10:36 pm

Location: California

Post Mon Jul 25, 2016 7:30 pm

Re: Pick making blanks?

Thanks guys I appreciate the input and I've noticed that my sparrows so bend a lot easier the my Peterson picks so I'll most definately find the right feeler gauge and get to work thanks again.
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LockManipulator

User avatar

Active Member

Posts: 593

Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:33 pm

Location: California, US

Post Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:13 am

Re: Pick making blanks?

I agree with WestCoastPicks. I can't use picks bought from companies as they're just too flimsy. I use windshield wiper inserts. But I find that there's a big variety of sizes. There's the silver ones most of them are way too small to make a pick out of, and the ones wide enough to carve a hook from bend too easily. Those are good for tension wrenches though. And there's the black metal inserts which are really nice. Hardly any bend to them. Some are too thick but you can sand down the head of the pick to fit. Hard to find those ones.
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MBI

User avatar

Site Owner

Posts: 1545

Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:25 pm

Location: Utah, USA

Post Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:23 am

Re: Pick making blanks?

Starrett 666 is a nice feeler gauge material to work with. Elbowmacaroni recommended it to me years ago and it's nice stuff. I prefer .018" for most of my picks, then once you're finished shaping the pick, sand everything down to smooth off the rough edges so the pick glides past warding easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Starrett-666-18- ... 007IVP9TG/

Bookmark this link then try back periodically and check the prices on all the various thicknesses. Sometimes you can get pretty lucky and catch a huge price drop. At the moment the cheapest I'm seeing is $25/roll shipped, but I've seen it for much less at times.
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AppendixG

Newbie

Posts: 7

Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2016 9:48 pm

Location: Michigan

Post Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:45 am

Re: Pick making blanks?

MBI wrote:Starrett 666 is a nice feeler gauge material to work with. Elbowmacaroni recommended it to me years ago and it's nice stuff. I prefer .018" for most of my picks, then once you're finished shaping the pick, sand everything down to smooth off the rough edges so the pick glides past warding easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Starrett-666-18- ... 007IVP9TG/

Bookmark this link then try back periodically and check the prices on all the various thicknesses. Sometimes you can get pretty lucky and catch a huge price drop. At the moment the cheapest I'm seeing is $25/roll shipped, but I've seen it for much less at times.

Thanks for this link, I've been using feeler gage from Eastern Gage:

http://easterngage.com/stock-feeler-gages.asp

And, while it has a great finish and strength when worked properly... it's really hard to work properly. Going to give the Starrett 666 a go on your recommendation.
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McLockpick

Newbie

Posts: 5

Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2016 10:36 pm

Location: California

Post Tue Jul 26, 2016 12:22 pm

Re: Pick making blanks?

Thanks for the advise I really appreciate it a lot

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