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My Walco Pick Finally Arrived!


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Yah Rob, I agree, totally. Good gear in addition to the detector is paramount.

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19 hours ago, Rob Allison said:

Hey Reese,

   Ya, I'm sure they would sell well, but the price of steel and material in general has jumped.  It's funny, people will spend up to $8000 or more for a detector and accessories, but bitch about a high quality $100+ pick.  

I have high quality picks sitting in the garage that are an easy 10+ years old, well worth the investment and all the gold they dug out of the ground.  

If you're going to purchase a high dollar metal detector, don't go cheap on all of your other gear that is just as essential. 

Rob

 

well said, rob. the adage "you get what you pay for" is truer now than ever. i stopped buying cheap stuff a long time ago and the money you save in the end is more than worth the initial outlay. i've had the same Estwing rock hammer for over 30 years! $100+ for an essential tool in your arsenal is nothing.

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Hey Bryan,

   I can tell you a quick story about buying cheap items.  I had a customer about 10 years ago come out for field training.  He purchased a new, early GP series detector.  He seen some of the gear I had, quality prospecting pick with magnet, scoop and such.  He said it's not worth buying all that high end stuff, you can get the same quality or make it yourself.  I didn't want to challenge the guy, but he had some pick that had a yellow fiberglass handle and the pick looked like something you would use in your garden.  He was digging a target out of the hard, granite bedrock and a piece of the pick broke off and shattered his eye glasses!!  He was startled to hell and back, he thought he lost his eye (no shit).  After examining the pick, the pick wasn't hardened and when it hit a hard surface it just shattered.  

I ended up letting him use a older, high quality pick that I carried as an extra for training.  At the end of the day, he said it's time to get a good pick I guess.  

Trust me, the picks you purchase at hardware stores and such are not the same quality metal and handle as you will get when you buy a good prospecting pick that was designed for what we do.  Also, it's surely not worth loosing an eye over saving $50-60 bucks.  

Just my thoughts,

Rob

 

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This is JW's pick to the left, my pick to the right.... you can tell who has done the most prospecting, instead of breaking they just wear down over the years, they started off both the same size 🙂   These are Gold Digger Picks.  They seem invincible especially with the way I treat mine using it to lever and flip big rocks over all the time, it's crazy how strong the wooden handle is.  It spends a lot of it's life smashing up bedrock too.   Australia seems to have some really good strong durable hardwoods and that seems reflected in the prospecting picks coming out of OZ.

picks.thumb.jpg.cc15ce25c558e73b09373acf312e2f23.jpg

I couldn't agree more buying a good quality pick is well worth the investment.... I started out on the cheaper ones, the amount of times I replaced my cheaper one for a slightly better one before giving up it on too I'd spend more on junk than it cost to just buy a good one in the first place.

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3 hours ago, phrunt said:

This is JW's pick to the left, my pick to the right.... you can tell who has done the most prospecting, instead of breaking they just wear down over the years, they started off both the same size 🙂   These are Gold Digger Picks.  They seem invincible especially with the way I treat mine using it to lever and flip big rocks over all the time, it's crazy how strong the wooden handle is.  It spends a lot of it's life smashing up bedrock too.   Australia seems to have some really good strong durable hardwoods and that seems reflected in the prospecting picks coming out of OZ.

picks.thumb.jpg.cc15ce25c558e73b09373acf312e2f23.jpg

I couldn't agree more buying a good quality pick is well worth the investment.... I started out on the cheaper ones, the amount of times I replaced my cheaper one for a slightly better one before giving up it on too I'd spend more on junk than it cost to just buy a good one in the first place.

Nice pick, Simon. And welcome back!! A pick I would love to have is a Supersede (see pic below). I think Nenad and JP had them some years back. Anybody knows if they are still available??

image.thumb.png.30eb92e84942d377d6f0c894530218af.png

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I tried getting a Supersede a while back, it was too expensive to ship here though IIRC.

I wish Bunk would update the Hermit pick to something better resembling this pick. The shovel end gets ruined after 3 months and needs welded, rewelded constantly until there is nothing left, it's too thin for anything beyond weekend use IMO, and needs bended sides like this one.

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Jason, if you have a welder and grinder, get one of these and you will have about 13 picks from one disc. 22 or 24" works good. 3/16 thickness if you want lightweight.  5 mm or 1/4 inch if you want heavier.

Plow disc

 

I use  1.375 x .065 dom squashed down in vice for the handle tube,and Link brand handles. Some of the Link handles fit pretty good with minimal belt sanding.  Just make sure its a nice tight fit and then add some gorilla epoxy when final fitting the handle. Ive made dozens of these picks in all different lengths and it has saved me some $, plus its satisfying making your own gear and good for gifts or trade to prospecting buddies you meet on the road.

20210520_203740_resized.jpg

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I saw the proto Gold Digger Picks made by a prospecting wheat farmer. He used one of the used plough disc. He is a keen prospector that only chases gold for the enjoyment.

One of the best things about Ozzie Picks is the mountain ash handles, take note that the best are the ones with the grain orientated the same as the pick blade.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Supersede picks look really nice. 😎

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