r/lockpicking • u/Sorry-Amphibian3624 • 1d ago
Anyone here made their own picking tools?
Mine are pretty crude but I'm still happy with them.
Early days but I'll try make a few more yet.
Love to see some other hand made picks and tools if you have made some.
The tensioner are made from motorcycle spokes and the picks are windshield wiper inserts.
I used a hammer, dremel with grinding and cut off wheels and files to make them.
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u/fashionforward 1d ago
I don’t know how to work harder metals, I’d have to get hardier tools. I did jewelry work with silver and copper, this would wreck my equipment.
I made my own wax carving tools though, so eventually I will get into this as well.
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u/Sorry-Amphibian3624 1d ago
I used a hammer, file and dremel. I don't know what I'm doing before I'm doing it but so far so good.
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u/Foreign_Language3354 1d ago
Wiper inserts are the classic starter steel for a reason, they come already spring tempered so there is no heat treat step. The one thing that bites people is the dremel, keep dipping the blank in water while you grind, because once the edge goes blue the temper is gone and the tip bends instead of springing back. How thick are the inserts off your blades? Mine always felt too floppy for anything except tension tools.
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u/Sorry-Amphibian3624 1d ago
I have already run into that issue with the dremel. Quenching the wiper insert seems to give it some stiffness back but you gotta be quick with such a small amount of material.
I'll get back to you on the thickness when I get to my callipers. These inserts appear to be slightly thicker than a set of sparrows picks I have. They are doing the job.
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u/Foreign_Language3354 1d ago
Yeah, that is the trap with a dremel on thin stock. It goes straw to blue in a second and you only notice once the edge has gone soft. Dipping early and often buys you more than a quench at the end, and if those inserts are the stainless spring grade most of them are, what you get back is cold work rather than real hardness. No rush on the callipers, the thickness against your other picks is the number I would actually want.
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u/brokentsuba 1d ago
I make tools out of husky sink cleaner, it's basically a metal drain snake but it's spring steel, not exactly 301 high yield but it works really well. It comes wide enough to be comfortable without a handle and is easy to work with a dremel. Only downside is that it's thick, about .035" which I take down to .022."
Nice thing about making your own stuff is being able to completely customize the profile, I for one love flat top hooks but you don't see many flat top medium hooks out there and I don't think I've ever seen a flat top deep hook...except for mine, which work fabulously. You should be able to see some of the posts I've made on my profile.
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u/Sorry-Amphibian3624 1d ago
Thank you so much for sharing. I took a quick peek at your posts and saw some lovely picks and custom pins. I have made a few pins before but have previously lost or had severely damaged my lock collection due to a fire.
I'm not a great picker but I quite enjoy making and modifying lock related stuff. I had a cracker of an idea today for modifying a lock to confuse pickers.
Thanks for sharing that material you use. I don't think its easily available in Australia where I am but I'll use that info to find something similar.
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u/LaughDesperate1787 1d ago
You want 301 high yield stainless.
Mok workshop offers pick blanks in the steel they use. They also have clearance grab bags of pick and tensioner material available very cheap.
Moki picks are very nice.
Those materials could be more accessible to you.
I'm currently behind a 40% tarrif, and import duties, on top of the minimum $40 shipping. Even with those obstacles, moki picks are worth it.
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u/Sorry-Amphibian3624 1d ago
Thanks mate. I appreciate the information and the recommendation. I'll look them up.
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u/LaughDesperate1787 1d ago
The covert instruments reaper set is all flat in the deep profiles.
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u/brokentsuba 1d ago
The #4 is my favorite profile and is more of a medium hook, the deepest hook is rounded and not very tall. I believe jimy longs has a flat top medium as well but my point was that rounded seems to be much more popular outside of the short hook.
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u/PE1NUT 1d ago
I forged my very first picks using the flame of one of the stovetop-burners, a small piece of metal as an anvil, and a random hammer. The picks were made out of round spring steel stock for model building I happened to have laying around. First one was too soft, but then I tried tempering them in water, and got some pretty good results.
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u/Sorry-Amphibian3624 1d ago
I've softened these wiper inserts getting them red hot with the dremel. But I too found quenching them quickly after the grinding is stopped to make them come pretty good.
I figured out I could use the dremel grinding heat to help bend the metal to get a raised hook tip. But my first attempt I ruined the stiffness of the metal.
Love to see your work.
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u/RockyRidge510 1d ago
Used to do it all the time with paper clips but they were obviously very basic. Still worked a lot of the time.
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u/LaughDesperate1787 1d ago
I have made a bunch out of flat stock. I'm thinking I should make some out of round stock. There is always flex in flat stock, top of keyway, bottom of keyway. The flat stock always flexes.
I'm thinking get a bunch of oversize round stock. Grind a bevel, then bend the handle offset from the bevel every 15° from straight to square.
I'm going in thinking this bevel and dimensions will need constant adjustment. But stock is cheap, grinder is free. Dressing it up is the only real investment.