Handle Materials Experiments 1 and 2

[nine4t4]

I was told that lock picks were uncomfortable without handles. They are. So I covered my picks with various materials to see how they worked out. I think a pack of shrink tubing is in my future.

IMG_20140324_144545.jpg

The top pick (blue) is wrapped with Kevlar. I only tried this because it was around, had a known thickness and it's Kevlar. I used drops of crazy glue every few wraps.
PLUS side. Very grippy, highly resistant to wear (see youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ0GN417JIA), flexible enough to leave the flex of the pick untouched, Very nice feedback.
CON side. Abrassive. YOU CAN USE IT AS A WIRE SAW!!! Which makes that handle an emergency saw, still cool but rough on the hands.

The others are all leather. 8 or 9lb I think. Had it around (strops for tools). Attached with contact cement. All of them had the edges impregnated with crazy glue. Similar idea to makeing leather washer knife handles. It allows the leather to be shaped like wood, without it looking frayed. All were finished with a top coat of grazy clue ( the leather changes colour and it was just easier to add than remove). Because the leather changes colour with the glue I tried something akin to stag horn with number 2 and 3. It's done freehand with a dentist bit in a dremel so it's not great. The darker one had more CG added after 'engraving' and actually looks better though not like horn.

Number 4 was sealed and given a wipe with 600 grit. The easiest of the bunch and I'm happy with the feel.

The rake at the bottom had the CG removed with a wire brush. IT now has a suede feel. The feel is great but it's going to look dirty fast.

Overall I'm happy with the leather. It's stiff enough, feels good, and has potential to look good too. It does absorb some vibration, but the acrylate glue mitigates that. The standard and half diamond are my favorites for handles. Followed by the kevlar, it's hard on the hands but almost magnifies the vibrations from the tip. It may be the pick (De Forest?) but it's my first pick to try out, and probably has the best success rate.

For the other picks I have some peices of white acrylic that I'll use for handles. It's boring, and plastic, but it shapes well and should transmit feel almost as well as kevlar

[Neilau]

Good ideas.

I started a post last year on handle materials. You might be interested in some of the responses.

http://keypicking.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=8269&p=73318#p73318

Your picks look quite good. How long have you been making them?

I have also used nylon webbing soaked in super glue but found it very abrasive. Now I just wrap some tape around them and then put on some heat shrink or use a couple of layers of heat shrink. I like the feel of heat shrink. I have some pics in Home Brew.


Cheers.

[jimylongs]

I really like the look of the 4th one, did you use CG on it as well? I've really wanted to try leather for handles, I researched it a while ago and came across some pictures and videos of Fredypick. I don't know the guy but they're definitely worth checking out, he has some videos of him making them on Youtube as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredypick/

[nine4t4]

Thanks. For the positives and the link. I thought about using penblanks, they produce some amazing patterns and are easy to shape. Not having a proper blade for acrylic on a power tool, I'll need to cut the blanks with a hand saw. Not difficult, but without a fench I know I'm gonna waste some.

I've been making picks for about a year mostly with wiper blades, hacksaws or stainless shim sheet. Sayal hobbies has steel, brass, copper, aluminum (it has it's uses) etc. Thickness varies but it's usually .015-.018, .032 and some at .064.

I think all those picks were Sparrows. The REALLY needed a handle. I'll post some other homemade stuff. With a dremel, some x-fine grit paper, and polishing felts it's easy to turnout much better stuff than factory made, IF YOU HAVE MATERIAL WORTH SHAPING. Even the factory stuff still gets a finer polish before using.

Regarding the #4 pick, yes. After bonding the leather to the pick, I tried to only soak the edges but dripped and stained the flats. The easiest way to cover it was to completely stain the pick. Shaped with a file or sanding drum (CG takes a file quite well) until the edges were rounded enough. Soaked in a few more coats and then passed some 600 grit over it. The feel is very close to the leather handle on a hunting knife (or Ka-Bar). For results/effort it's the fastest, feels good and looks good.

One slight drawback is that my pick case is better suited to picks without handles (or next to none). The Kevlar is the only one that's close to uncovered thickness. I wanted a larger case anyway Things like a microdriver, magnifying tweezers, and duct tape (wrapped around a straw to save space) don't fit well in this one.

The next handles are not going to be done with a dremel. The hand filing is slower but worth it in the long run. Some of the waviness on the edges isn't intentional, it's purely esthetic, but it could have been better. I'll probably go to Lee Valley by the weekend and grab a blank or two. I'll post the result. They should kick ass, since I have a better idea of how and what shape I want.