(187) How to Make Your Own Tension Tools From Wiper Blade Inserts

Remember: only pick locks that are yours and that are not in use! Keep locksport legal!

#locksport #lockpicking #locksmith #pentest #hacker

[LockNoob]

I hope this clears up any mystery for beginners :-)

[UncleFjester]

FYI we can get all the free wiper Blades you can want by going to any auto parts store trash cans on a rainy day. Walmart too!

[gsau]

Here's a tip: Bend the end first before you cut it to length in case it breaks when you bend it.

[Eis_]

6:00 My heart kinda sank when I saw you fumbling about with a tape measure when you literally have a cutting board with measurements right in front of you. Lmao.

[danijelvrhovec]

Made me a couple of these. Very satisfied with rigidity. Easy to implement torque but still bends enough to feel feedback from the core. Thanks!

[geekchameleon]

I've found that the bristles from street sweepers are awesome. If you see a street sweeper in a parking lot at night, spend a few minutes looking around that parking lot the next day and you may find a couple that broke off. They aren't pretty, but are nice spring steel and the dimensions are perfect for tension wrenches. Their thinnest dimension is actually thinner than what you have in this video, and being spring steel, they handle the pressure as well as (if not better than) the thicker stock but give you more room in keyways. I spend a minute or two with high-grit sandpaper to smooth the faces before I start bending or cutting. The grocery store I go to most often has a pretty overzealous sweeping schedule, and over the course of a six month period, I was able to find enough bristles to last me decades _and_ hand some over to some of my locksport friends. All I did was park at the end of the first set of stalls and look on one side of the walkway going in to the store and the opposite side on the way out. I'd choose a different lane each visit and averaged around six bristles per week, going to the store one or two times each week.

I have learned to love making the wrenches so they're "bent the other way, " so that once bent, the are as flat as the metal is thin. You have to use a torch and get the metal glowing hot, but most metal appropriate for a tension wrench will bend this way beautifully when hot enough. It takes a bit of practice to get a pretty bend, but once you figure it out it's easy. Once bent to the angle you want it, heat it up again and use your pliers to flatten it out since they usually want to twist a little bit. Note that if you make wrenches like these, the body will be pointing vertical, not horizontal.

[dallas]

Best video I have seen.
I was about to pay $20 + $10 shipping for multiple Tension wrenches now I just went to auto parts trash can and have 20 Tension wrenches (9.5 x 0.3cm).
Thank You for this Great Video!

[micksbiggestfan]

Thanks so much for this. I too, heard the "make 'em out of wiper blades" referenced in several video's and was clueless.

[kerrylamb]

Cracking me up! The cutting mat has CM marks and would be easier to measure using it than a tape! LOL

[mariosantizo]

The end of the blade with a groove that you cut and discarded at minute 7:45 is useful to make a pick, other teacher on youtube shows how to do it right.

[miallo]

What I added to the design is that I took a triangular file and with the edge I made some serrations on the sides of one end of an otherwise symmetrical Z-wrench (I copied it from some pry bars). This greatly improves the stability if you use it top of the keyway so it doesn't slip out that easy. If you want to use it bottom of the keyway I like the smooth end better because otherwise it might bind up at the sleeve (and it usually doesn't slip out that easy anyways)

[WilliamMancel]

Sad to hear they are going to a cheaper, more brittle insert in the new wiper blades. If you live in a city, you can find street sweeper blade's on the street, and they work also.
Excellent video on the lowly tension wrench buddy. They don't get the Wow factor of a pick, but having the correct tension wrench can make all the difference between wether you get into the lock, or not. You covered everything in detail. I really enjoy watching your videos. It's like I'm sitting in your living room, and you are teaching me how to do something with locks, without interruption. 😁 Because in an actual training situation, questions come up all the time, and it can take forever to finish your lesson. Video instruction, combined with hands on experience, is the way to go. It all depends upon your instructor, and your ability to understand, and implement the material.
Don't think something is too mundane to be of interest to anyone. I will watch anything about Lock Picking. You never know when you will learn something very useful. Bravo mate!
👏

[loadapish]

My dad told me to become a locksmith, he said it will open so many doors for me

[LockPickingPatrolman]

Great video! I think these were the first tools I made when I started picking 😃 I've never been able to manage making an actual pick from any though, I think because of the width of the inserts (mentioned by Leon's comment)

[ogghostprepper]

Street sweeper machines shed bristles very often. I use them to make picks as well as tension wrenches.
A small bit of heat from a handheld propane torch allows you to curve them upwards enough to make some high ended picks.

[figdish]

you can also just pinch the end of the wiper and flex/pull the end towards the middle of the blade. thats what those notches at the end are for(manufacture). you have to over pinch so the notches pass and over flex the middle so the blade shortens enuf to pull out of the tangs. lil safer/quicker not sure you can be trusted with a razor ;)

[darrentinman]

I used the wire from my wife's old bra. Made quite a few. They fit really nice in most euro locks

[MrJools]

Made loads of these, they work equally as good as bought ones, I use a 6" shifting spanner to bend them and bend them upwards, My local garage is starting to wonder what the F*** I`m doing though I think lol :D

[RubberBanned]

Is that a soldering mat! You're multi talented! I've honestly never made a turning tool from a wiper insert, and this was pretty good! Love these!

[ernestgalvan]

Older video… but maybe some tips….

Your local scrap yard / junk yard / pick-n-pull yard is a gold mine for these things….

Wiper blades
engine dip stick
Transmission dip stick
Power steering fluid dip stick

On the wiper blades, I always take the metal out and leave the rest. Most junk yards want $1 for used wiper blades, but I’ve been given as many as 30 metal inserts for free… at times they’ll charge a quarter.

Same with the dipsticks… i take just the ‘stick’ portion….

Other uses for these, beyond tension rods…

One is poking clogged sink drains.
Another is a hook for getting things out of tight spaces, such as behind furniture, or between car seat and center console.

BTW.. another item I love grabbing from older vehicles are the radio antennas… the straight single rods are stainless steel.;; if they are bent, i always get them free.. i just count them as ‘shorter rods’.
The gold ones are the ancient retractable ones.. these get me four to six aluminum tubes…
I use some of these things in my modeling hobby…