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Getting The Kids Involved!


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Hi All,

I'm new to detecting and this group. Have only been out a few times myself looking for coins/relics/jewellery etc. I'm a bit of a shed tinkerer and decided to knock up some picks from old leaf springs from a LandCruiser. Made two different sizes. One for my older son and one for my girl. Thought I would share them with you guys. I was pretty stocked with them!

Cheers

PS. They do not look like this anymore... I didn't want to get them dirty at first. They were almost mounted on the wall! hahaha

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They look nicely made mate but you ground the angle on the scraper end on the wrong side. It should be the top side not the underneath. The tips too will want angling on the top side too. Makes digging and scraping so much easier. Google up a walco and you'll see what I mean. 

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Thanks Busho,

Yeah I was tossing up on which side to grind the bevel while holding the flappy disk grinder in my hand. Ended up choosing the non-standard side (won't say wrong side because they still work a treat). Lesson learnt for the next round of picks.

I haven't tackled any really hard earth yet so the tip as is is working fine. I'll have to bevel it before heading to any rocky areas. 

Slowly building my faith in them as I swing harder and harder... 

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Cheers all,

I did consider knocking a few of them together and seeing if I can sell them. Bit hard to sell them to you guys being spread all over the world!!! 

I'll test them out for a while on some harder earth and see how they go. I need to have some confidence in them before handing them off to people to use. My kids did attempt to dig a hole in some concrete at one point although a 6yo swing is a bit different to a grown man swing!

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I did consider this in the original builds phrunt. Ended up against the idea due to the additional straight welds required when using 70mm LandCruiser leafs. 

I have a heavy diesel mechanic mate who might be able to get me some wider truck leafs. May need to do some upper body strength conditioning to swing them haha

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Could you just use lighter steel for the scoop blade welded onto the leaf spring, leaf spring provides the support. You aren't really bashing anything with that end. (Disclaimer: I know nothing about prospecting picks)

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22 hours ago, Westy27 said:

Thanks Busho,

Yeah I was tossing up on which side to grind the bevel while holding the flappy disk grinder in my hand. Ended up choosing the non-standard side (won't say wrong side because they still work a treat). Lesson learnt for the next round of picks.

I haven't tackled any really hard earth yet so the tip as is is working fine. I'll have to bevel it before heading to any rocky areas. 

Slowly building my faith in them as I swing harder and harder... 

Yeah mate. All picks you buy will have it on the upper side for good reason. Scraping with it that underside will see it bounce over rocks and pull away from you. It actually, not being a smarty but just from years in the game, is actually the wrong side. If you compared the 2 its chalk and cheese. But the craft of your work is very good. Hey mate, we all live and learn, I did and still do. ☺️

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