Workshop · Shop Tools

Pick Sets and Dental Hooks — Gaskets, Seals, and Clips

A four-piece pick set costs less than a coffee run and pays for itself the first time you pull a stuck O-ring without gouging the groove behind it. It's the tool that reaches where your fingers and screwdrivers can't — and does it without wrecking the part you're keeping.

Why this matters

Half of the seals, O-rings, clips, and gaskets you'll ever replace sit in a groove or bore that has to survive the removal. Scratch that sealing surface with a screwdriver and the new seal leaks the day you install it. A pick reaches under the old part, lifts it out, and leaves the metal untouched. The other half of the job is fishing out things you dropped, teasing out broken clip fragments, and hooking retainers you can't see — all of which a screwdriver is too clumsy to do.

Key point: A pick's job is to move the part you're removing without touching the part you're keeping. If you're prying against a sealing surface, you're using it wrong.

What's in a set

A basic set is four picks, and four is enough to start. The shapes each earn their place:

Straight pick — pokes, positions, and starts a lift. Good for prying a seal lip up far enough to get a hook under it.
45-degree bent pick — the workhorse. The angle lets you reach into a bore and pull toward yourself.
90-degree bent pick — reaches around a corner or behind a lip where the 45 can't get purchase.
Hook (curved) pick — the seal puller. The curve catches the underside of an O-ring or seal so you can drag it out whole.

Dental hooks are the fine-tip cousins — thinner, sharper, and stiffer. Real dental picks (or dental-style sets) shine on small electrical work: backing spade terminals out of a connector, lifting a locking tab, teasing a tiny clip. They're precision instruments, not pry bars, and the tips bend or snap if you lean on them.

The right way to use them

Pulling a seal or O-ring: Slide the hook pick between the seal and the bore wall, not between the seal and the shaft. Catch the seal's back edge, then lever against the seal itself — never against the machined surface. Once it lifts, roll it out with the curve. For a stubborn O-ring, get a bite on it and pull steadily; picks are for lifting, so let the hook do the work rather than stabbing at it.

Installing an O-ring: The pick guides more than it forces. Lubricate the ring, start it in the groove by hand, then use the straight pick to walk the rest of it in without twisting or spiraling it. A twisted O-ring leaks.

Clips and retainers: Slip the 90-degree pick under the clip's leading edge and lift it clear of its detent before you pull the connector. On hidden spring clips, feel for the tab, hook it, and release the tension before applying any pull to the wire or line.

Protecting soft surfaces: Steel picks will scratch aluminum, brass, and plated bores. When the surface is soft or sealing-critical, reach for a brass or nylon pick, or wrap the tip. On anything that seals — injector bores, caliper pistons, valve cover grooves — treat a scratch as a future leak.

Buying: what actually matters

The cheap sets are fine to start, and you probably don't need a name-brand set to pull a few O-rings. The difference you'll feel over time is the handle and the tip hardness: a comfortable, non-slip handle saves your hand on a tight one, and a properly hardened tip holds its point instead of mushrooming. If you buy one upgrade, make it a set with a hooked seal-puller tip and a cushioned handle. Add a couple of brass or nylon picks separately for soft surfaces.

Sharpen, don't toss. A dull or bent steel pick comes back to life on a bench grinder or a file in a minute. Keep the tip profile it came with and you'll get years out of a $6 set.

Common mistakes

Prying against the sealing surface. The single most expensive mistake — a scratched groove or bore means the new seal leaks. Lever against the old part, not the metal.
Using a dental hook as a pry bar. The fine tips are for delicate lifting. Load one like a screwdriver and it bends or snaps, often into the connector you were working on.
Steel on aluminum. A steel tip gouges soft metal without you feeling it. Match the pick to the surface.
Stabbing at a stuck O-ring. Puncturing it leaves you fishing out pieces. Hook the edge and lift.
Installing a twisted O-ring. If it went in with a spiral in it, it will leak. Lube it, seat it evenly, and check the ring lies flat before you close things up.