A find at the hardware

[Stormy05]

Have been searching the net for fossicking picks and the price range is from $70-$120. Not paying that for a pick, so I decided to hunt around for a leaf spring to cut to shape and weld a handle on. Went to the hardware to get a flange for the handle and found this little cracker for $13.

 

[Keitzy]

13 bucks.? .. is the handle balsa.?

 

[Manpa]

Nice find, for those that are detecting, prospecting etc on a shoestring as it's just a hobby, finds like these help to keep costs under control.

Cheers.

 

[Stormy05]

G'day Keitzy

I had to dress the handle down to fit and it isn't balsa, the label says hardwood but being Chinese it could be pine. For $13 I'm not complaining
Cheers
Stormy

 

[bbrook]

I used a Trojan brand one from Bunnings for a while , looks the same , made a longer handle out of hardwood .Still works well , though I use one I made from a plough disc now because its shorter so it fits in a hole easier and the blade part is wider and better to scrape with .
thanks ,Brett

 

[aussiefarmer]

Yep cheap :Y: there is $50 more value in a proper pick when you use it sideways to drag off dirt or to back fill :Y: but that will serve you well until you can afford a $75 pick.
I have used both.

 

[xcvator]

I carry a Trojan brand one from Bunnings
Still got the rubber cover on the pointy bit 8.( 8.( 8.(

 

[madtuna]

I carry a Trojan brand one from Bunnings
Still got the rubber cover on the pointy bit 8.( 8.( 8.(

 

[davsgold]

Hey Tuna, show em what a real pick looks like.

cheers dave

 

[madtuna]

Mate.... your pick is still by far the best pick I've ever owned, surprisingly still on the original handle too.
What surprises me the most is I've still got the bloody thing.

The pick I had before it was okay, but I went through 3 handles and 2 heads.

 

[davsgold]

Good to hear your getting a good run out of it ay.

Madtuna has the large one of these picks

cheers dave

 

[Occasional_panner]

Yep cheap :Y: there is $50 more value in a proper pick when you use it sideways to drag off dirt or to back fill :Y: but that will serve you well until you can afford a $75 pick.
I have used both.

Depends what you use it for, if detecting, the side scrape strait scrape area can't be beat, I welded mine up with wings on it so it dug into the ground, but still had flat sides, it's a nice bit of kit.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23676
That was the pick I made, it got altered a fair bit, a tad shorter, and all edges ground to a sharpish point, very solid in the field, seems to dig down and find it's way down rather than forcing it down into the ground.

 

[RM Outback]

Stormy do yourself a favour and buy a decent pick when you can afford one if money's tight. Nothing worse than digging a target and checking the hole to hear another that's only shrapnel from the crap steel of a cheap pick. That'll have you scratching your head and wondering is it me or the machine. There is value in quantity and looks like davsgold picks equal the coin based on MT's appraisal. If ya handy have a crack at making your own, nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.