Newest Bogota Style Pick

[Malekal]

Since my last homemade bogota died with honor, I tried making a new one.

We'll see how it goes.

[Wizer]

That looks like a really effective rake, although I don´t like it when 3 hump rakes get called "Bogota" , because for me Bogota does not come with a popsicle handle. Raimundo didn´t mean it to be like that.
Cool popsicle handle tho..

[Neilau]

Nice looken pick.

What metal did you use?

One thing I found is that if you round off the tips a LITTLE the pick doesn't chew up the pins as much. Even using the "too much coffee" technique there is still a little bit of raking going on.

I agree with Wizer about calling them Bogotas.

I think they should be referred to a "Bog style" picks. then every one is happy.

Anyway, looks like it will work quite well.

Nice job.

[Malekal]

It's a hacksaw blade. .24t

I did round up the spikes a bit and as for the name, well there is style in the subject!

[Neilau]

My bad......didn't notice "style" in the subject.

It's early in the morning over here and I haven't completly woken up.

No big deal re: the name.

Bottom line.....NICE pick.

A good steel for picks, I've found, is the stainless strap (headband) on cheap PC headphones. The ones sold in $ type stores. They are about 1/4 inch wide.

It lasts a long time and takes a lot of abuse. The most durable picks that I have made have been from these straps.

[rerun12]

Looks good, I like that profile. Don't forget to sand it up hard.

BTW, if anyone needs a pile of varying widths of wiper blade inserts I probably have close to 1000. If you'd pay the shipping (or trade me a Bilock mauahaha) I'd be happy to send out a bundle to whomever could use em.

[luxocculta]

Hi Rerun

I'm a noob - I've made hooks, half diamond and tension bar from wiper blades, but the blades I've got (mazda sedan) seem too thin to make rakes. Or rather the rakes I have made end up really flimsy.

Any advise on the "ideal" wiper blade?

Cheers

[Neilau]

I agree with luxocculta. Wiper blades are made of good metal but are a bit narrow to make Bogs from. It can be done but the picks are not optimum.

I've used SS shims that I got on ebay. Packs of 10 @ 25 thou. Quite inexpensive and I made a lot of picks from these shims.

Another source are cheep Chinese feeler gauge sets that you can get in auto shops for about $10. Use the 20 to 32 thou blades and you still have the thinner and thicker blades for specialist jobs.

Hack saw blades, I have found, tend to be too brittle unless you get the really TOP quality, Premium blades and even then it is expensive and (in my opinion) not the best steel for picks.

If you don't want to test all the different steels yourself, a few hours spent reading through "Home Brew" will give you a good idea of what others have found.

[WestCoastPicks]

I agree with luxocculta. Wiper blades are made of good metal but are a bit narrow to make Bogs from. It can be done but the picks are not optimum.

I've used SS shims that I got on ebay. Packs of 10 @ 25 thou. Quite inexpensive and I made a lot of picks from these shims.

Another source are cheep Chinese feeler gauge sets that you can get in auto shops for about $10. Use the 20 to 32 thou blades and you still have the thinner and thicker blades for specialist jobs.

Hack saw blades, I have found, tend to be too brittle unless you get the really TOP quality, Premium blades and even then it is expensive and (in my opinion) not the best steel for picks.

If you don't want to test all the different steels yourself, a few hours spent reading through "Home Brew" will give you a good idea of what others have found.

Ummm, The wiper inserts I get are wider than streetsweeper bristles (what raymundo and many other people BEFORE him made them out of). I don't have a problem finding them at all.

[Neilau]

Westcoastpicks says: "Ummm, The wiper inserts I get are wider than streetsweeper bristles (what raymundo and many other people BEFORE him made them out of). I don't have a problem finding them at all."

I have no doubt that this is true but we all live in different countries and what we have access to differs.

I was just offering some alternate sources of metal.