Help with bent tortoise pick

[mandoman4807]

I have a Tortoise pick that has developed a bend or slight cupping in it. What is the preferred method for heating and straighting it out?

Thanks

Darrell

[sunburst]

The prefered method is to clamp it between two flat pieces of metal and put it in the oven at 250 degrees, then let it cool clamped in the metal.

The way I do it is:
Heat it with a heat gun 'til it's soft, put it on the top of the table saw and hold it flat with a cold cloths iron 'til it cools. If you over heat it, it's ruined.

[mandoman4807]

Thanks John,

250 degrees, approximately how long? As you said, don`t want to over cook the pick!


Darrell :-)

[sunburst]

Well, it can't get any hotter than 250 in there. Too much heat is the enemy, not so much how long it's hot.
I'd leave it 'til you're sure it's hot through, tighten the clamp, (with a pot holder) and let it cool.

[Flowerpot]

Sunburst is right on the money, my preferred method.

Remember that at 250 degrees F, the tortoise is fairly pliable. Therefore if the two pieces of metal are not perfectly smooth, the pick will take on the surface roughness of whatever it's clamped between. I have also used two small pieces of glass (little round mirrors) backed by flat wood pieces with good results. The wood is there to keep the C clamp from cracking the glass.

[Charlie Derrington]

I have an alternative method if you are interested.

If you want to be sure and not overheat, clamp the pick between two flat, polished pieces of aluminum (you might have to use some Scotch tape on the opposite side of the cup to compensate for the slight memory of the pick) and place in a boiling pan of water for 2 minutes(that way you are sure that you won't heat the pick over 212 degrees).

I then "shock" the pick by immediately dropping the whole thing in a pan of ice and water (mostly ice). I find that this sets the pick better than letting it cool slowly.

I prefer this method because it doesn't deplete the natural oils in the pick as badly as dry heat. If one lets the natural oils escape, the pick will become brittle and chip.

Hope this helps.

Charlie

[mandoman4807]

Thanks folks for the great information.

The boiling water for two min, sounds like a great way to avoid over heating, as well as keeping the natural oils in the shell. Simple but effective!

Darrell :-)

[Desert Rose]

Living here in Japan I have a good amount of exposure to tortise shell and my friend Sumi and I visited a traditional tortise shell craftsman a few weeks ago.

For what its worth Charlie is right on about the use of hot water to bend or straighten the stuff.

I use the hot water method whenever working with tortise shell

Safe effective shaping of any kind can be done this way by using water and male female jigs

Scott

[Flowerpot]

The boiling water works a lot better if you live at sea level than if you're up at some elevation. I'm at a bit of elevation where I live, and the picks will still have some memory and don't like staying in shape if I just boil them in water. But I have never had trouble with material getting brittle with the oven method. I tend to limit the time to 15 minutes or so. But if you can get a good set with the water, more power to you.

[mikeyes]

The other option is to see if the slight cupping is an advantage in your playing. I have several picks in which the slight cupping helps my attack and helps me hold on to the pick. If you decide that you need a straight pick and use the heat method to straighten it out, you might consider deliberately adding a slightly rough surface for the sake of grip.

[Scotti Adams]

Ive always preferred a little bit of curve in my turtle picks...seems to work better for me...in fact Ive always heard that a little curve is good and is natural of these types picks.

[Desert Rose]

Sumi and I live in Nagano where the 1998 winter olympics were held so you could say we have a bit of elevation here.

Still water works best

My first exposure to water shaping was a shock.

I wanted to tighten up a tortise shell banjo thumbpick.

I boiled water and put it in a coffee cup, let it set to the point where the steam rising wouldnt scald me.

I held the pick by the tip and submerged the thumb grasping section by my fingers and in 15 seconds the entire pick unrolled to perfectly flat!!

This is the effect of hot water.

I like Charlies idea to shock set it with cold water, this I also did by accident with the same pick after first rolling it back up (g), and it set fast and strong

Scott

[GeoMandoAlex]

Would this method (hot water) also work well with the "mock-turtle" picks? #I've bought a few from Elderly and a few of them were cupped/bent. #
The one solution of using the bend to your advantage works. #Unfortunately, the gnome living under mycouch took it. #

[G_Smolt]

This method works on pretty much all "organic" pick compounds...

The heat denatures the proteins, allowing them to be rearranged to varying degrees (lots for TS, less so for horn). When the pick is cooled, the disulfide bonds reform to a "new" (flat) configuration.

Better pickin' through chemistry...

[GeoMandoAlex]

Thanks. This should be interesting tonight when I try and explain to my fiance why I'm boiling picks. LOL. She's definitely going to think (or at least be convinced I'm obsessed)with the mando.

[G_Smolt]

To echo Flowerpot's post...

The surfaces that touch the pick must be MIRROR SMOOTH. Not "slightly smooth" or "smooth enough".

Since you are denaturing, any and all imperfections will mirror on the pick.

Tip #2: Don't clamp too tight, or the pick will actually thin out, as well as deform along the edges.

Found that one out the hard way with a nice set of old earrings... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif