arched teardrop celluloid picks.

[jantzadam]

so i have this pick that i got from an older friend of mine and its closely related to the older gibson 1930's arched teardrop celluloid picks. I love this pick and is the only one he had and that ive been able to find, does anyone know if there is a manufacturer of vintage picks or any other arched teardrop picks online or just even any of you guys on here that would be willing to sell these?

[mandroid]

Hmm, Given, modern picks are a thermoplastic.. you could get clever
with a couple table spoons and some boiling water,
and make up tooling to hold your rig clamped together till it cooled,
then you would have an abundant supply..

[mandobassman]

There's some vintage pick collectors out there who you might be able to contact.

Try this

or this

Maybe they might be able to steer you in the right direction.

[jantzadam]

does anyone have experience with remolding celluloid?

[Jim Garber]

I would think that you could shape some cellulloid or other sheet plastic into exactly the shape, thickness and profile you want. Get some and fool around with it.

Yours looks like an elongated teardrop -- or is that just the photo angle.

That one labeled "AO-006 First Herco Pick" from the first site e-shop page that mandobassman linked to may be close to what you are looking for.

[mandobassman]

I would think that you could shape some cellulloid or other sheet plastic into exactly the shape, thickness and profile you want. Get some and fool around with it...

Just be very careful as celluloid is VERY flammable.

[Jim Garber]

I bought 12 X 12 sheets of Ultem plastic which is pretty tough and has a nice shell when converted to a pick. I rough cut it out, then shaped with a Dremel and finished with sandpaper. Works pretty well. I got it froma site that has since been bought by Amazon. Non-flammable AFAIK.

[Paul Hostetter]

does anyone have experience with remolding celluloid?

Yes, and it's not rocket science. Boiling water, speed and precision of movement using two mating spoons. Dip pick in the boiling water briefly, pop it into one warm spoon, sandwich with another, and hold it tight and run it under a cold tap until it's cooled.

But I have a hunch that pick you showed is real tortoise, not celluloid. (But you can mold real tortoise the same way, it's not much harder to do.)

[Paul Hostetter]

Sorry, mandroid had already answered the salient points in post #2. But maybe you'll get some hints here about how to simply make the blanks rather than trying to find them ready-made.