Lock Picks
I have been interested in picking locks since I picked my first lock in science class one day during 7th grade. Last year, I purchased a number of lock picks from various manufacturers (SouthOrd, Rytan and Peterson) and found that, although good in their own right, I could not get the right “feel” from them. After seeing a number of posts on lp101 about making lock picks, I decided to start making my own.
Although my first pick was nothing phenomenal (dual falle hook), it was good enough to encourage me to make more and better my pick making skills. Fast forward to now, I have been making custom picks with custom, exotic wood handles. As I have made a few commissioned picks and seem to be gathering interest in my work, I thought I would make available my work here on my site.
Here are a few of the pieces I have made:
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Absolutely love these! Lockpicking is a small hobby of mine, and I agree that most of the picks you can buy are lacking in the ergonomics department. These are beautiful and functional, awesome job!
Thanks, Jess. I appreciate your kind words. Should you ever want something custom, you know where to go.
Nice – I saw this on Make. Looks like Bocote and maybe some Ebony? I do wood and metalworking, but never was much good at picking anything with more than three pins.
Those are sexy. Someone like Southord could make bank if they hired you to design some full pick sets for them.
James, I had to look up your reference to Make. I am actually blown away that this made it to Make.
Indeed, the picks you saw on Make have Bocote and Ebony handles. Right now, the biggest issue I have with the wood handles is getting a proper shellac gloss coat. I am picking up some tips here and there, but if you have any, I gladly welcome them.
As for picking, I am not a phenomenal picker, either. I mainly do spp, but need a good rake every now and again.
Thanks, for the comment and stopping by.
-Doug
Thanks, David. It would be really cool to be picked up by Southord (although I would rather work for HPC or Rytan…then again, Peterson International is my favorite) to do design work, but I am thinking that I probably will not fit their model. Who knows, though, right? Do you know anyone at Southord? heh.
Nah, i’m just a Southord fan. I don’t believe i’ve ever used HPC or Rytan, but i’ve added them and your fancy picks to my list of tools to try out.
HPC (http://www.hpcworld.com/) makes some really solid picks. Rytan (http://www.rytan.com/) does, too, but they are different than HPC. Rytan uses ergonomic plastic handles for their picks. Said material makes for really solid resonance in the pick, but does leave you feeling like you have to work gingerly with the picks. Peterson picks are absolute brutes. They are good for heavy-handed pickers, but also good for experienced pickers who want a robust pick.
If you want to pick up some of each, I would recommend calling Leslie at LDM Enterprises (http://shop.ldment.com/). She will help you pick out a solid set.
Those are beautiful works of functional art. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at lock picking, but I have just never gotten around to it. Are you selling these? If so, how much?
Jason,
Thank you for your kind comment. I do sell these picks. Currently I do custom, commissioned picks. My order queue is out to next month, but if you want to order one, you can go to the following URL:
http://www.thegeekispeak.com/lock-picks/lpstore
Thanks,
Doug
Those are absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with next.
Eric,
Thank you. I am happy that you like my work. I am currently working on a custom pick for a fellow lock picker that will consist of two Bogota rakes (a three/four combination) with a Cocobolo handle.
-Doug
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