Experimentation with exotic materials
I am interested in working with really exotic materials to try to produce a pick that provides feedback that exceeds even the best spring steel homebrews. I need to know some more about metal properties to make this work.
But to pick out candidates, I need to know a bit about metal properties as they apply to lockpicking.
It seems to me that the three important properties are ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elastic modulus.
My understanding of these is that the two most important properties are a low elastic modulus and a high yield strength. Is this a correct interpretation?
It is worth noting that I am going to do a lot of experimentation with more forgiving materials first- I do not want to waste samples of some exotic alloy that will likely be extremely expensive.
Prominent candidates include:
Titanium 6-6-2
Phynox (superalloy)
Ti-3Al-8V-6C5-4Mo-4Zr (also a superalloy)
Any input would be appreciated!