Prospecting / Miners pick information and questions

[Potbelly11]

Lol I won't bother then :|

 

[Wolfy]

Pretty light cheap stuff i saw at bunnings. Also, made for digging soil in the garden, not prospecting.

 

[bazxa]

You're making specialist tools, no comparison.

 

[Davent]

no.will post a pic of my hand pick, its a beauty, cost $45, its well made and very handy, is quite heavy and dosnt require a lot of effort to move dirt.
very similar to this one, but has 2 different style digging heads, 1 x normal mattock style head, and reverse is a diamond shaped , pointy end head.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/1-5lb-short-handle-mattock-pick_p3360364

actually, the reverse to the standard mattock head is shaped like the ace of spades, spade.

 

[Potbelly11]

Looks good to me

 

[limpalot]

Same brand as I saw, had 5 different head configerations, looked to be a good weight, don't know about the durability though, being cast steel. Spring steel would take more punishment, I think, and you can weld a new tip on if needed.
Cheers LL

 

[user 4485]

I started out with one of those Bunnings picks & used it with VLF's. It wasn't great & the tip actually folded over in hard ground.
IMO you'd be better off spending a bit more & buying something purpose built like bluejeansronald little digger for $70 or making something yourself.
If you want something smaller than one of these would be better for similar money:
http://www.minersden.com.au/walco-no-3-small-pick/

 

[Davent]

I have a walco, and one of the harts hand picks. the first one I grab is the harts, it fits on my belt in a hammer holder, and is always at hand. the walco is a really nice pick, but has a longer handle , no good for the belt. I have no idea how you could bend the point of one of these harts! You must be much stronger than me, and swing it a lot harder than I can.
Unfortunately, we don,t have any dedicated prospecting shops in the NT at all, our only stockists of Minelab, are totally inflexible, and have zero knowledge of the products. They stock some basic stuff, but when the bloke behind the counter says what's a coil? oh you must mean the head.... don't stock em, but I can get them for you, I question his knowledge.
Anything I buy has to be from interstate or a local product that will do. So if I need something now, its a case of, that's close enough.

 

[soggybottom]

I'm new, so here comes the first of many silly questions

Why is spring steel so important?

Cheers

 

[Luke]

I guess it's tougher and last longer

 

[casper]

I've had my 'garden' pick 8 years now - i like it because it's heavy hitter and makes easy work of the hard sun baked Golden Triangle dirt. The big advantage of the common detecting pick shape though is it's dual function as a scraper.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=39525#p39525

casper

 

[ballaratgold]

I was around at someones house today who has some new picks for sale... Made out of a plowing disc (spring steel) I didn't bother asking how much he wanted because I don't need a pick but if there cheap... well it would be a bargain!

 

[Wishfull]

So I'm looking at making a new detecting pick and figured while I'm at it I may as well make up a few extra to sell...

I like the look of the ones on eBay made from Spring steel (leaf Spring or plough disc) I don't have either but I have access to 4mm hardox plate. This is what is used as wear plate on dozers etc...

Just looking for some feedback on what size heads work best for people and what shape. I would personally like a timber handle but is a steel handle ok?

Thanks for any advice/help...

PB

Here is a pick I just finished. Made from 5 mm thick plow disc cut to 240 mm x 90 mm , handle is Hickory 420 mm with rare earth magnet screwed and glued in the end.
Handle is glued and screwed in place. Painted with Hi Vis marking paint.
If you want one p/m me.

 

[Wishfull]

I'm new, so here comes the first of many silly questions

Why is spring steel so important?

Cheers

There are no silly questions just silly answers.

Spring steel is very resistant to wear and bends to a certain extent without breaking or
loosing it's shape, so will retain it's point and won't wear down much from continual digging in hard dirt/rock.
It is difficult to bend without heat though.

 

[Potbelly11]

Wishfull where did you source your handle?

 

[Wishfull]

G'day Potbelly, sourced handle on Ebay mate, made in Germany, it was 200mm longer but it tapered out at the end and was too wide so the ferule would have been too close to the edge of the pick head, also would not have been enough of an edge for scraping dirt away and I wanted to put handle at center of gravity for balance so 200mm got the chop. I was also trying to reduce the weight, (no I haven't weighed it yet) the 5mm steel is fairly weighty. The picture actually makes the steel head look smaller than it is cos it's taken from above.

Btw steel handles get too hot to handle in summer and they jar when you hit rock.

 

[AKPhineus]

Potbelly11,

Do have any of those fine picks for sell?

 

[bend]

Spring steel is one of a variety of hardened steel alloys. Steel really isn't steel when you buy it, more carbon in the alloy provides hardness and wear resistance, more chromium provides corrosion resistance and so on. Spring steel is usually hardened 1040 or similar, 1040 steel has .4 % carbon, which is enough to make it hard but not brittle, probably somewhere around 30-50 rockwell (is that the unit? it's been like 3 years since I did any serious metallurgy). That's a little softer than your kitchen knife but still pretty hard. Means it'll cut well, won't wear too fast and won't snap like an over sized knife would if you tried to belt rocks and lever open crevices. Plough disks, leaf and coil springs, old knives, files and all sorts of other stuff's made from similar materials.

 

[Potbelly11]

Potbelly11,

Do have any of those fine picks for sell?

I was waiting for some feedback on one I sent out already but haven't heard much yet... Weather has been terrible so not much digging going on. What length handle would you need?
Cheers

 

[AKPhineus]

Potbelly11.

18" should work well for me.