Sun Nov 07, 2010 6:51 pm
Solomons homebrew cack
Thought I'd share some of my homebrew stuff, old and new. Any time I make something new I'll add it to this post.
These are the first picks I ever made:
I used wooden spoon handles with a notch cut out, a bit at the end of the wiper insert is bent and inserted into that hole then wrapped nice and tight with string. They're terrible.
Speaking of terrible, behold the worlds most god-awful disc detainer pick:
The pick part is a bobby pin, the tensioner is a filed down part from an old aerial with a handle from a hobby knife for grip. The handle which grips the pick is from a plug.
This is another disc detainer pick, not strictly homebrew but I did modify it quite heavily to get it to this state:
These next tools are for simple padlocks. The one with the black handle (from an automatic centre punch) is for bypassing padlocks where the locking dog can be retracted through the keyway. The blue handled one (needle file grip) is for warded padlocks. I actually gave these away a while ago and planned to make myself more, but never got around to it.
On the subject of bypass, this is a thumbturn tool I made recently:
It doesn't work on the ones I have as they don't have notched cams, so I plan to get some cheaper thumbturns in future to test it on and make some different shaped wires aswell.
Here is an assload of tension wrenches I made before:
I was bored that day...
Also made a feather touch wrench from 19swg wire. It's spring steel and gives very good feedback, although I still prefer the normal type. I didn't make it like the commercially available ones, this is just a straight wire with a loop at one end:
Now for more picks... don't wanna bulk out the thread too much, so here are the latest ones:
They're both made from wiper inserts, hand filed and sanded. The first one is a short hook and has 4 layers of heat shrink for the handle.
I went a step further with the medium hook and added another length of insert to each side before adding heatshrink. The handle is sort of squared and very comfy to hold, feedback is excellent too. Much better than the wooden spoon picks
Thanks for reading. Will be adding more crap as I make it
NEW!! Dental picks:
This is a pocket set with 3 picks made from spring steel wire (19swg). There is a medium hook, offset and rake... everything sits inside the handle nice and tight until needed. I plan on adding some wires suitable for dimple locks aswell.
New... dimple pick:
Fiddly to use but it works ok.
And a mini disc detainer pick for the 30mm padlocks with smaller keyways:
First batch of hacksaw blade picks, even made a tensioner with one... proper old school stuff!!
I abandoned the dental pick idea, as seen above... it does work but this new one is much nicer. Retractable pocket pick with short hook, city rake and 2 tension wrenches:
My first lever wires for non-curtain mortice:
New hook with leather wrapped handle... I like this one a lot. This was supposed to be a short hook but it actually turned out more like a peterson gem.
These are the first picks I ever made:
I used wooden spoon handles with a notch cut out, a bit at the end of the wiper insert is bent and inserted into that hole then wrapped nice and tight with string. They're terrible.
Speaking of terrible, behold the worlds most god-awful disc detainer pick:
The pick part is a bobby pin, the tensioner is a filed down part from an old aerial with a handle from a hobby knife for grip. The handle which grips the pick is from a plug.
This is another disc detainer pick, not strictly homebrew but I did modify it quite heavily to get it to this state:
These next tools are for simple padlocks. The one with the black handle (from an automatic centre punch) is for bypassing padlocks where the locking dog can be retracted through the keyway. The blue handled one (needle file grip) is for warded padlocks. I actually gave these away a while ago and planned to make myself more, but never got around to it.
On the subject of bypass, this is a thumbturn tool I made recently:
It doesn't work on the ones I have as they don't have notched cams, so I plan to get some cheaper thumbturns in future to test it on and make some different shaped wires aswell.
Here is an assload of tension wrenches I made before:
I was bored that day...
Also made a feather touch wrench from 19swg wire. It's spring steel and gives very good feedback, although I still prefer the normal type. I didn't make it like the commercially available ones, this is just a straight wire with a loop at one end:
Now for more picks... don't wanna bulk out the thread too much, so here are the latest ones:
They're both made from wiper inserts, hand filed and sanded. The first one is a short hook and has 4 layers of heat shrink for the handle.
I went a step further with the medium hook and added another length of insert to each side before adding heatshrink. The handle is sort of squared and very comfy to hold, feedback is excellent too. Much better than the wooden spoon picks
Thanks for reading. Will be adding more crap as I make it
NEW!! Dental picks:
This is a pocket set with 3 picks made from spring steel wire (19swg). There is a medium hook, offset and rake... everything sits inside the handle nice and tight until needed. I plan on adding some wires suitable for dimple locks aswell.
New... dimple pick:
Fiddly to use but it works ok.
And a mini disc detainer pick for the 30mm padlocks with smaller keyways:
First batch of hacksaw blade picks, even made a tensioner with one... proper old school stuff!!
I abandoned the dental pick idea, as seen above... it does work but this new one is much nicer. Retractable pocket pick with short hook, city rake and 2 tension wrenches:
My first lever wires for non-curtain mortice:
New hook with leather wrapped handle... I like this one a lot. This was supposed to be a short hook but it actually turned out more like a peterson gem.
Last edited by Solomon on Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:38 am, edited 10 times in total.
