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Building your own lock picks
The first thing that you need to do is find a material that has
some spring to it. Stainless steel is a good choice. But where can you
find stainless steel relatively cheap, and in the width that we need?
The following is a tutorial on how to build your own lock picks from
old (or new) windshield wiper blades. As you all know I do not advocate
theft in any way, but now is a perfect time to check what type of wipers
are on your neighbor/professors/ex-girl-and-or-boyfriends vehicle.
Tools/Materials
- Wiper blades (the ones with steel stiffeners)
- Lineman or needle nose pliers
- Side-cutters (wire-cutters)
- Assorted files
- A Dremel (or use the files)
- Dowel (plastic or wood)
- A vise (useful when filing)
What we are looking for is a blade that looks something like
the one pictured below. These particular wiper blades contain
2 stainless steel stiffeners that run the entire length of
the blade. All we need to do now is remove them.
You will notice on the right hand side of this blade that
the stainless pieces are flared to keep them in place.
The easiest way to get them out is to make a cut on the spine
with your side-cutters, just before the end of the blade.
When this has been done the entire assembly (the blade itself
and the 2 stainless stiffeners) will easily slide out.
Two more cuts, and each piece will be free.
Torque Wrench
We are now ready to make some tools. Let's begin with a simple
torque wrench. Place a piece of steel into your pliers like so:
In order to get a tight bend you want to have pressure as close to
the pliers as possible. So, while pushing into your pliers with your
thumb, slowly roll your other hand until you have an "L".
Once the bend is completed you can trim the torque wrench to size.
You should end up with something like this:
Lock Picks
I will demonstrate with a simple hook pick. I have chosen this pick because
it is one of the most common, and because I can demonstrate how to bend
the steel laterally so that you can get more depth. The picture below is
that of a pretty aggressive hook pick. Looking at the the width of the
stock below, some may wonder how we could duplicate this pick. The answer
is simple, we will bend it. Allow me to demonstrate.
Trying to bend something so thin across it's thickness can be difficult.
The object skews and wants to flatten out. This particular problem can
be addressed by using pliers that have serrations in the jaws.
If you place the steel into these serrations then you will be able to get a
decent grip and the steel wont have the ability to 'flop out' when
pressure is applied.
Now to make the hook, what you want to do is make a bunch of consecutive
small bends within the span of the last 1" of your steel, alternating
your position as you go. If you bend too much you will deform the steel.
Just take your time and you will end up with a nice fluid bend as you can
see pictured below.
All that is left now is the finish work. By far the easiest way to clean
up the edges and shape the steel is with a Dremel. I find that the sanding
drums work really well. This is not a necessity though. If you keep your
picks simple, for example the hook pick pictured above, you can easilly
break the edges and fine tune the shape with a small file,
it will just take a little longer.
Below you can see a pick starting to take shape.
Also, if you had no idea what a Dremel was up till now, one is pictured below.
As for handles, I have had good experience with plastic dowels. I simply
torch up the end of the pick for a few seconds and insert it into the dowel.
It should melt a nice path for itself and seat almost immediately. You could
also use a hardwood dowel that was pre-drilled, setting the
pick in place with a little epoxy. Below you can see 2 picks that are a
little more creative, and that utilize the plastic dowel for a handle. The second
pick is very effective. Play around with your designs, you might find something
that works better for you.
The ability to design your own picks can come in very handy at times.
Most of us, at one point or another, have experienced frustration at
the limitation of a particular pick. Those "If my pick was just ______! " this lock
would open. Once you have played with a few designs,
you will quickly find out just how useful it can be to build your own picks.
Good Luck!