Anero's Picks

[Anero]

Hey guys,

I'm new around here, been lurking for a little bit and I figured it was time to create an account and start interacting with you all. I've been picking and making homebrews for a few years.

here is my current set. it isn't much but it does what I need it to do

[Oldfast]

Welcome! Very glad you've come out of 'lurking' status

Those are some gorgeous picks! I really love the handles.

Thanks for sharing 'em.

[g_kinz]

nice picks the bottom is the king and queen correct?

[Anero]

nice picks the bottom is the king and queen correct?

yes it is. double sided king and queen pair.

[jharveee]

Like your picks!
So did you work your way up to the King and Queen
or did you start out with them?
Every time I see those two picks, I gotta try em.

[Anero]

Like your picks!
So did you work your way up to the King and Queen
or did you start out with them?
Every time I see those two picks, I gotta try em.

They were actually the first picks I made this time around, but I have made dozens of them in the past. they were one of the most challenging designs for me to get right.

here is an older pair that I made a few years ago.

[mastersmith]

Very Nice Anero! Would you enlighten us as to your materials of choice? What steel and wood do you prefer?

[rerun12]

nice work man, i like the slender handles. i gotta try out these kings and queens one day, dyin to see what all the fuss is about

[Anero]

Very Nice Anero! Would you enlighten us as to your materials of choice? What steel and wood do you prefer?

the steel I'm currently using is a high carbon spring steel .025" thick, I order it from McMaster-Carr in rolls.

the first 2 picks are ironwood the second set is walnut I think and it might have been stained.

what I prefer, it depends on what kind of mood I'm in the ironwood can have gorgeous patterns in it but it is a very very hard wood around the same hardness as ebony. other than that just about any hard wood, I have a wood workers source pretty close to me that sells a bunch of hardwood pen blanks so I'll go through their stock every once in a while and grab the nicer looking grain patterns.

[Anero]

jharveee,

to go a little more in depth about making king and queens.
For me the back cutting has always been the hardest part, knowing when to stop with the files and start sanding. making bogota's way back in the day really helped me with that when I started making KQ pairs.

after reading your post and thinking about that I went out my man cave and whipped up these to pay homage to the picks that got me started with homebrew. sorry if the pictures are bad, I only have my cell phone camera and I'm using the top of my toolchest as a light box.

[Neilau]

Welcome Anero.

Beautiful picks. I also love wood handles.

Looking at your Bogota picks. It's interesting that on nearly all the Bogs that I've seen and made, the distance between the first two humps is always a little bit more than the distance between the second and third.

I think that they work a bit better that way.

Again, Nice work.

[Papa Gleb]

Great stuff buddy and happy to hear youve come out from the shadows.
Rush read this thread so I might have missed it but how good are those weird angled picks? I see Sparrows started making them dubed King and Queens but I have yet to hear any feedback or see how good they are. Any info would be great again rushing this all as I am running out the door so If its already been said my bad.

[Anero]

Neilau,
that could be an optical illusion, I use a 1/4" round file(chain saw file) to make bogota's per raimundo's original design. I just measured and all the peaks are a hair over 1/4 apart.

Papa Gleb,
the King and Queen pair do work very well in some locks, the design is really old but it has recently gained popularity from people using them in speed picking competitions over the past few years.
I think it was originally published in a paladin press book on lockpicking.

they are not rakes though, so keep that in mind if you pick up a set. they are used more in a rocking and lifting motion, the objective being to simulate as many possible pin/key configurations as possible.

[deralian]

I just made a king and queen pick. I agree that they seem to work well in some locks. For me they aren't as fast as using other picks but I haven't been practicing with them for to long. +1 on the lifting-rocking. My problem is that I usually have one pin that they don't get

[DCT]

Nice work Anero!