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I originally posted this on Steve's Forum and thought I could get a few

more responses from different folks over here.


As most of you guys noticed I make and sell picks, this all came about from

me making picks for myself and other detectorist wanting to know where they

could get one.


So I would like to know,


What are you using?

What do you like about it?

What do you dislike?

What handle length, inches?

How about a picture of your pick.


Ivan

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Hey Ivan,

I will post a picture of what I'm using, but love the Walco picks, always have. That being said, they are not being sold in the US anymore, only Australia. At one point I was selling hundreds of Walco W3's per year.

Another major player now in the US is Apex Picks. I know the owners pretty well and they are manufacturing some high end picks, but are a bit pricey.

If you want quality, you will have to pay for it.

I've had plenty of $30-50 picks sent to me over the years to use, I've broke all of them.

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Hey Ivan,

I will post a picture of what I'm using, but love the Walco picks, always have. That being said, they are not being sold in the US anymore, only Australia. At one point I was selling hundreds of Walco W3's per year.

Another major player now in the US is Apex Picks. I know the owners pretty well and they are manufacturing some high end picks, but are a bit pricey.

If you want quality, you will have to pay for it.

I've had plenty of $30-50 picks sent to me over the years to use, I've broke all of them.

Hi Rob I would like to hear more on what did break on the picks, handles ?

Hear is my wacko pick.???

post-71643-0-32086400-1442409494_thumb.j

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Ivan
I like the looks of some of your picks including the one your showing here. the only thing Im wondering about is the hardness of the steel? I went to your site and could not find a specific mention of it?or even the type of steel? Hi carbon or low carbon? Do you have a approximate Rockwell hardness on them?. the only thing I found was "mild temper" "can be sharpened with a file" Is that mild tempering or hardening? any guarantee on them?
AzNuggetBob

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Has anyone taken a look at the Supersede pick that I see showing up

in Oz? I think JP carries one. It looks very interesting and well made.

It features replaceable pick points and backs. take a look.

I like it Flak and I use spring steel in mine too. (large leave springs) thanks for the info. havent heard about that pick until now. AzNuggetBob

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Ivan

I like the looks of some of your picks including the one your showing here. the only thing Im wondering about is the hardness of the steel? I went to your site and could not find a specific mention of it?or even the type of steel? Hi carbon or low carbon? Do you have a approximate Rockwell hardness on them?. the only thing I found was "mild temper" "can be sharpened with a file" Is that mild tempering or hardening? any guarantee on them?

AzNuggetBob

Hi Bob, here is a little more info on the steel I am using.

1144 (Stressproof-equivalent) steel
Carbon around 0.40%
Rockwell Hardness all depends on what scale B95 / C17
When I said a slight temper the cutting edges are heated to remove
any brittleness, I would rather have a bent or smashed point than a
broken point.
any guarantee? that is a rock and a hard place question.. Its a pick
you are slamming it into the ground, you are prying rocks with it..
Yes I will guarantee it, if you don,t abuse it. Pretty hard not to abuse
a pick. I take my pick every now and then an take the grinder to it.
Ivan
ps: do you live in AZ? what areas do you MD, allways enjoyed your writings.
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Nice looking picks....I like the look of the Big scoop pick....great for diggin and refilling holes. Reminds me a bit of the hermit pick I have been using. The only problem with the hermit pick is that it developed a long fracture in the wide part, otherwise its light and very effective.

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Nice looking picks....I like the look of the Big scoop pick....great for diggin and refilling holes. Reminds me a bit of the hermit pick I have been using. The only problem with the hermit pick is that it developed a long fracture in the wide part, otherwise its light and very effective.

Good comparison, except the BigScoop is all one piece and thicker steel.

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Jasong,

The man who makes them does not have a distributer here in the US.

He is willing to send them overseas to us however he thinks the shipping fees may be a bit much.

I thought if a few of us got together maybe we could get say, two or three of them shipped at the same time

with some spare tips etc.

They are not cheap but when I think of being out in the middle of nowhere with an inadequate pick,

expense becomes irrelevent to an extent.

It's hard to see in the picture but the broad back of the pick has little sides on it so

scraping more dirt out of a hole is possible.

I also really really love my Hermit Pick.

In the right circumstances there is no better pick imho.

This is the Supersede below:

post-615-0-59569500-1442541437_thumb.jpg

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Flak, I'd go in on a combined shipment with other people if it was affordable, send me an email if you have some others interested and know what shipping is. Slight problem is I will be without a shipping address for a while starting soon until I get to an RV park or something later this fall so that may put me in or out depending on order timing.

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Ivan

Thanks for the details on your picks. I reason I asked is Ive been building my own picks since the 80's and I've seen people build picks out of very mild steel and hey they look great but when it gets down to it they turn out to be about useless as far as durability.
I use hi-carbon steel leaf springs with a high yield strength on mine, and when Im done shaping and welding the handle neck on I get it just hot enough to relax the steel slightly only on the tip of flat edge and a little on the point tip to help stop it from chipping or just snapping off the point. sure you can turn any pick into a sledge hammer if you use it for a rock hammer with a long handle.

I've dug some of the toughest ground from N. Nevada thru Mexico and I agree like any tool you can use it or abuse it. Choose your handles well and make sure the grain is lined up with the pick head or it wont last.
I was going to build a new one with a fabricated wider head as there is only so much you can do with spring steel on a small scale,and I may use quilted hard rock maple handle.
I dont run a retaining pin or rivet through the side of my pick handle. there are three other methods I like better. but all of them require more labor to build.
Like I said I like the looks of your picks and now that I know the details about them I like them even more.
AzNuggetBob

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