Brass Rods

[DylanK]

Where do you buy brass rods from? Checked a few hardwares and they dont have any, would bunnings?

Cheers

Dylan

[trikegeoff]

hi dylank
i had alot of trouble trying to get some brass rods for handle pins and also some flat brass to make bolsters etc.
the only place i could get it was at a local flea market. i had to pay for it tho, im sure the seller knew it is hard to get.
if i go there on the weekend and he has some there ill buy it and sell it via the trade blanket at what it cost me.
i do know that bunnings dont have it and are not interested in getting it in.
maybe try an engineering shop.

[clinton miller]

try a machining shop. what diameter and length are you after? sometimes they have lengths of round bar in various sizes.

[GrahameA]

Since you live in Brisbane - George Weston's and they will do small pieces. They stock all non-ferrous metals.

[woodie]

for handle pins you could try braising rod, you hay have to take the flux off and give it a polish. you should be able to get it from a pluming supplier, or bunnings bay have it.
woodie

[clinton miller]

does it have to be brass? i'm assuming you need something for limb locating pins. how about stainless steel bolts. 6mm bolts 100mm long should yield what you want. bunnings would have them.

just a thought.

[DylanK]

Thanks for all the info. It is for knife handle pins and I dont really want stainless. I like how brass looks, expecially when combined with a nice wood handle.

I have gone to markets but havn't found any as of yet. Thanks for the link Grahame, I'll use that shop as a last resort though, as it is fairly far from where I live. I will try the braising rod as that seems the easiest to obtain.

Dylan

[clinton miller]

if it is just for knife handles then yeah, brazing rod is what you'll want.

[ichiban]

some modeling stores have that sort of thing

[jindydiver]

I buy my brass rod at the local hobby shop, you know the sort of place that sells remote controled cars and the like. They have it in all sorts of sizes both metric and imperial. A good tip is to work out what size drill you need and then buy rod that is about 5 thou smaller. When you drill your hole (say a 3mm) you will find that the rod the same size will be very hard to get in some woods.

For instance, a 1/8th rod is .125inches so you use a 3.5mm drill (.137"). There are charts you can find on the internet to help you, also the drill bits sold at bunnings have mm marked on the imperial bits.
If you use the same size drill as rod the tight fit means that you don't have much in the way of epoxy in there. I also put the pins in my hand drill and turn it on while holding the rod in a piece of 100 grit sandpaper to give the epoxy something to bite into.

[Mike-dy]

What Jindy said, haven't been in a hobby shop yet that didn't have the rack of brass rods etc.

Mike