btoth76 Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 I have been doing some crazy stuff, that turned out to be very good. I have done some picks from river gravel before and liked the tone I was getting with them. I tried some different shapes, and wanted to craft one that is really perfect. My favorite regular plastic picks are the Dunlop Big Stubbys. They fit me perfectly. So, I made one from stone. Here it is... First, I looked for thinnest gravel that was about the size of the pick I wanted to copy. Also, it is important to work with a solid one without cracks, and with very uniform grain. The very first step is to create on flat surface for reference. A bit further on the road... This has been done using diamond files, and very coarse sanding paper (40-60 grit) attached on a true surface. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Continued filing until I have achieved the biggest flat surface. When one of the sides was ready, did the same on the other - taking care that the flat surfaces are parallel: Filed and sanded it until the preferred thickness is achieved. Then, I laid the Big Stubby over it, and carved it`s contour to the stone using the tip of a diamond file: The shaping and bevelling was done with small diamond files. After that, I wet-polished it with a 2000-grit polishing paper: ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Done! Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Wow.. Cool stuff man Ive tried a few alternative type picks... I have a pure silver one and one made from mother of pearl (actually bought for me)... And for me they are a bit novelty since I like thin picks so they are too ridged for my playing style and preference.. But they are cool though :) I recently bought my brother in law one made from blood Jasper.. he really likes it .. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stone-Tones-Bloody-Individual-Plectrum/dp/B009P0RDHY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1493052163&sr=8-6&keywords=stone+guitar+pick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Thanks for posting that Bence. I've done a lot of pick research over the past 3 years or so. I have adapted a lot of them using files, grinding bits and emery cloth. I also use 3.mm Dunlop stubbys too (among others) but the triangular ones. I re-shape them and add points before using them. I may try to re-shape some of my stone ones based on what you've shown. I have a lot of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Nice job, Bence! How long did it take, start to finish, would you reckon? Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Nice workmanship. Are they slippery or hard to hold onto? Sort of gives new meaning to "rock" music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Nice job. I bought some Stone Works picks a couple of years ago. They do change the tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 Nice job, Bence! How long did it take, start to finish, would you reckon? Pip. Hello Pippy! Thank You. It takes around 10 hours to finish, but I wasn`t able to work more than an hour a day on it. Exhausting job. Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 Nice workmanship. Are they slippery or hard to hold onto? Sort of gives new meaning to "rock" music Thank You! :) The key is to not to polish them the proper way of using gradually finer papers. After filing, I have only used the 2000-grit wet paper on it. This makes it shiny, but leaves tiny surface imperfections for proper grip. Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 I'm unclear as to how you held the stone while working it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 I'm unclear as to how you held the stone while working it? Between teeth. :) No. Kidding. I laid it on the marble plate that has sanding papers taped on. Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 It takes around 10 hours to finish, but I wasn`t able to work more than an hour a day on it. Exhausting job.... Ah. Shame it takes quite so long as it seemed like it might be quite a nice way to spend some free time but the end result must be a satisfying thing to use! I suppose there's no rush, though. There are always other picks which can be used as the stone is being crafted. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Very cool! I'll never think of the Stone Age without recalling this post☺ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 Ah. Shame it takes quite so long as it seemed like it might be quite a nice way to spend some free time but the end result must be a satisfying thing to use! I suppose there's no rush, though. There are always other picks which can be used as the stone is being crafted. Pip. Hello Pippy. It also depends on density of the gravel. As with everything in life: the better ones are the hardest to work with. Like this one... I put it into a vice to let it split where it wants to. It didn`t wanted to split at all. It took very long until I could find the right position for it in the vice, that applied pressure split it. And even now, it is like impossible to file: But it looks very nice. :) Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Longevity comes at a price! A few months ago I was gifted a pick made from copper. It was fabricated by a Native-American (Hopi, I think) craftsman/artist based in New Mexico and has a traditional pictogram representing the Sun in the centre of it's surface. It's very very nice - in the decorative sense - but the tip wore off after around an hour's playing... Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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