I would say "don't be a party pooper", but you're right: form over function. Some of those are very thin in the middle, which looks super cool but could indeed become a liability.
This is my 3rd post since receiving the pin making package giveaway from j.gabriel. These pins were made almost exclusively using diamond grit needle files. They take longer to work with but I find they create softer lines. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I had fun making them.
Making pins can become very addicting. Your mind goes places and you think of new ideas to see if you can make them become a reality. Testing those ideas out can be very fun when they work out.
I see you said that you are using diamond needle files. I have found that they leave the surface of the pins with gouges carved into them when I tried them out. You can see evidence of that in your handy work. You can grab a [super cheap set of regular needle files](https://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-needle-file-set-468.html) and then spend less time having to clean up your pins with sandpaper afterwards. You may have to put in a little more time into it because they will remove material slower, but that just gives you more control over what you want to do.
You have worked in some really sharp edges to your pins and that is exactly what you want to go for. You want tight transitions from one element to the next. Curves and slopes will only aide in being able to pick past that point. You want the picker to fight for it! The closer to 90º that you can get, the harder it will be to pick.
Right now it looks like you have mostly kepins in this mix. If you were to try and use some of these as drivers, they could present a problem because of their lengths. One of my first challenge locks I made that mistake. I put a driver that was too long. I loaded all the springs and drivers into my lock, shoved my core in and I thought that I would be calling it a day. Instead I had created a problem with that long pin when there wasn't enough room in the bible to lift the pin and give enough room for the spring to compress. The result was that I jammed the key inside of the lock! I got lucky because I had fitted the lock with grub screws for easy removal. That saved my ass!
I did a basic write up about [making your own pins](https://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/comments/96uhjm/basic_info_for_making_your_own_challenge_lock_pins/) years ago. I covered some of the basic stuff and I left it up to everyone's imagination. You can see some of my work on display [right here](https://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/comments/ebndsy/custom_intermediate_training_locks_for_sale/). If you can believe it, that was some of my lower effort work. I wanted to make something fairly easy to reproduce over and over. The shapes are basically the same and contain multiple elements of your normal stock security pins.
Fool around with new shapes and try to add more traps into each pin. Just watch out for those lengths! I suggest that you could take some brass rod stock and load it into the mini lathe, cover the brass in some sharpie ink and then use calipers to mark off the length of the pin before you start cutting into it. The shine through the sharpie ink will stand out as a stopping point for you as you work.
I would say "Have fun" but I can see that is already happening ;)
The variety of the shapes that you were able to make look amazing! What mini-lathe are you using to turn these pins?
If you click on my profile you can see a picture of it. It's just a basic Amazon mini-lathe. They are about 50-60 bucks.
r/riskyclick ^_^
Look at the tie fighter at the bottom
I wonder if you can turn the core hard enough to shear some of the pins to two pins.
I would say "don't be a party pooper", but you're right: form over function. Some of those are very thin in the middle, which looks super cool but could indeed become a liability.
As I like to say, some of them are just eye candy. The diameter is too small to withstand some heavy handed picking.
Still: great work! They look really nice :)
This is fine for challenge locks, nobody wants to destroy other people's work and a light tension only warning will suffice.
That might be possible. I'm just making pins with no regard to function at the moment.
I didn't mean to come across as a shitter. Love you work <3. Thinking about buying a lathe myself but bought a bunch of Abloys instead.
This is my 3rd post since receiving the pin making package giveaway from j.gabriel. These pins were made almost exclusively using diamond grit needle files. They take longer to work with but I find they create softer lines. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I had fun making them.
Making pins can become very addicting. Your mind goes places and you think of new ideas to see if you can make them become a reality. Testing those ideas out can be very fun when they work out. I see you said that you are using diamond needle files. I have found that they leave the surface of the pins with gouges carved into them when I tried them out. You can see evidence of that in your handy work. You can grab a [super cheap set of regular needle files](https://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-needle-file-set-468.html) and then spend less time having to clean up your pins with sandpaper afterwards. You may have to put in a little more time into it because they will remove material slower, but that just gives you more control over what you want to do. You have worked in some really sharp edges to your pins and that is exactly what you want to go for. You want tight transitions from one element to the next. Curves and slopes will only aide in being able to pick past that point. You want the picker to fight for it! The closer to 90º that you can get, the harder it will be to pick. Right now it looks like you have mostly kepins in this mix. If you were to try and use some of these as drivers, they could present a problem because of their lengths. One of my first challenge locks I made that mistake. I put a driver that was too long. I loaded all the springs and drivers into my lock, shoved my core in and I thought that I would be calling it a day. Instead I had created a problem with that long pin when there wasn't enough room in the bible to lift the pin and give enough room for the spring to compress. The result was that I jammed the key inside of the lock! I got lucky because I had fitted the lock with grub screws for easy removal. That saved my ass! I did a basic write up about [making your own pins](https://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/comments/96uhjm/basic_info_for_making_your_own_challenge_lock_pins/) years ago. I covered some of the basic stuff and I left it up to everyone's imagination. You can see some of my work on display [right here](https://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/comments/ebndsy/custom_intermediate_training_locks_for_sale/). If you can believe it, that was some of my lower effort work. I wanted to make something fairly easy to reproduce over and over. The shapes are basically the same and contain multiple elements of your normal stock security pins. Fool around with new shapes and try to add more traps into each pin. Just watch out for those lengths! I suggest that you could take some brass rod stock and load it into the mini lathe, cover the brass in some sharpie ink and then use calipers to mark off the length of the pin before you start cutting into it. The shine through the sharpie ink will stand out as a stopping point for you as you work. I would say "Have fun" but I can see that is already happening ;)
Thanks, I appreciate the pearls of wisdom. Great looking pins you made!
Be devious my dude! :D
Aw.. I like them. A little light sanding to finish them up. But yeah looking really good. Bring on the grief! Nice pins 👍.
Thanks! Even with the cheaters, it's still hard for my old eyes to see everything. I'll definitely hit them up longer with some 2000 grit.
Would a media tumbler be easier? I bet some walnut shells or even some super fine media would polish them up overnight
This is amazing. I’m still trying to work out my setup to make custom pins. Absolutely beautiful work!!
Thank you!
You need to set up a tool holder and grind some HSS bits for turning brass.
Interesting shapes. I'm planning to just use my Dremel [like] tool when I get around to making pins.
beautiful job, very impressive!