Bryanxwhite's Home Brew

[Bryanxwhite]

I have finally found time to make a few picks. The short hook is ine and the other is for a friend. I used .030 Starret feeler gauge and some square brass stock as suggested by Kokomolock. It's 3\16 X 3\8". I spent quite a few hours figuring out the best way to secure the pick into the handle. JB Weld works wonders. The second pick is based off of Southord's Max #10. I told him I would do the best to replicate it. I think it turned out fairly well. Hope you guys like them.

[chris]

Those are some damn fine looking picks. How do they feel in use?

[whizdumb]

I love the short hook/gem profile you got goin on in the first pick.. And I also love the offset half diamond as one of my favorite profiles of all time.. Well executed and great pictures too. Great job on those picks man. Keep it up.

[Indypicks]

Really great looking picks. Where did you get the square brass for the handles?

[Bryanxwhite]

Those are some damn fine looking picks. How do they feel in use?

Thank you! They feel great. I based the short hook off of modifying my Southord Max #8 when I was trying to beat my first m3. Turns out I have come to love that style short hook. They don't flex under heavy load at all. .030 is thicker than what the other guys make they're pick out of but I also thinned mine out a bit by sanding and polishing. It's around .025 which works great with heavily warded locks. I would like to make more but I hate having to wait on the JB weld to set.

[elbowmacaroni]

As far as a mechanical joining of the pick to the handle, might I suggest rather than JB, size the pick so that it will be a good friction fit then sweat solder/braze it in.

Nothing wrong with .030, it is much more forgiving of stray tooling marks and whatnot as you can sand right through them and still have a very usable pick. I've had many picks where the dremel slipped and left an ugly mark that was too deep to sand out using thinner stock, didn't hurt the usability in any way; however, it did make the end pick not as nice looking as it could have been. With the .030, which I have used (thanks JR!) you can just rip right through it and keep it looking awesome, and still have a quite thick pick. The most recent pick I made was a postal and I made it from starrett .020 and it wound up at .017 after sanding and polishing (no uglies on that one thank god) and it is amazingly strong! I have to use it some more, but I'm already getting the impression that it's stronger than the govt steel slenders (which claim to be .015, but are usually between .016 and .017)

[edit] Holy shit! I got all that in there and forgot to say, nice job man!

-Elbow

[KokomoLock]

They both look great man, excellent job!!!!

[jeffmoss26]

Beautiful!!

[Bryanxwhite]

Really great looking picks. Where did you get the square brass for the handles?

Towerhobbies.com . I would have ordered it from the place that Kokomolock suggested but they were on backorder. Shipping was quick, but keep in mind that price for a pack of them is only for 4. I thought I was ordering 12 of them but I was mistaken. Along with the JB weld I use another of Kokomolock's suggestions and used wiper inserts as shims to hold it tightly in the tube. The JB weld is more for looks than securing the pick to the handle.

[sandman]

As far as a mechanical joining of the pick to the handle, might I suggest rather than JB, size the pick so that it will be a good friction fit then sweat solder/braze it in.

that sounds like a fantastic idea. i wonder if the jb weld dampens the vibration from the steel to the brass, the solder/braze would be a better conduate of vibration i would imagine.

[uklockpicker]

Great work - very well done they look stunning

[the picker]

very well made and the transition from the pick to the handle looks quit clean

[s1deshowmick]

Hmmm, Me likes them also. Classic (styled) looking picks...

[jruther2]

Nice looking picks Bryan!

[Bryanxwhite]

Thank you everyone for the kind words! I hope to try some different styles. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!