What's new

Straightening pin material

I ordered some nickel silver rod off ebay and I was kind of worried this might happen given the nature of things, but the rod is a little wavy. I feel bad because the first package got lost for a few days so the guy volunteered to send a replacement (then showed up and he sent brass the first time on accident anyways, which I have an abundance of), then the second rod showed up and it's a little crooked. I'd hate to ask him to send a 3rd package on something that was only a couple of dollars (at this point postage alone is going to kill his profit).

Is there a way to straighten it? It's not terrible, but also I don't want it to ruin the blade alignment. I was thinking maybe drill a hole in something fairly thick and run it thru, while possibly also heating it up, but I want to make sure I don't damage it and also not sure if it would actually be effective. Suggestions?
 
Like I said, not terrible, but I've only got 6 inches and no local vendors I know of, so I want waste as little as possible
 

Attachments

  • 15586184283481557415015206154889.jpg
    15586184283481557415015206154889.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 13
If your holes are drilled straight and inline with just a tiny bit of clearance and not too much it shouldn't hurt you. I would just tweak them by eye then check them by rolling them on a flat surface. Gentle tweaks until it's pretty close will be more than good enough. There is a method to straighten longer lengths of wire but it won't be a lot of use for something so short.
 
There is a method to straighten longer lengths of wire but it won't be a lot of use for something so short.
For future reference, what is the method for longer lengths? I'm sure if I make it thru this piece and still hold interest, I'll buy larger stock next time.
 
There are a few, but one I've successfully used is to pull the wire through a spinning tube (in a lathe). The tube needs to be bent so that it's shaped sort of similar to a question mark shape but with an exit inline with the bottom of the question mark rather than a hook, and the bends need to be made to such extent that the yield point of the wire is just exceeded in each bend. Wire that looks like it came out of a birds nest can be pulled through this setup and it will come out dead straight.

You can also pull the wire straight by exceeding the yield strength in tension, but the wire diameter will decrease if you use that method.
 
So in attempt to find a video of what @eKretz mentioned, I found a guy straightening a piece of wire maybe 12-18" with a drill and a piece of wood. I gave that a run and it's almost perfectly straight now. So if anyone did want to give it a go (the wire he used was far more bent than mine), just drill a hole just large enough for the wire to fit thru, thread the wire thru it, chuck it in the drill and pull it at a slight angle while the drill is running. I did it twice, flipped the rod (chucked the opposite end) and did it twice more.
 
That's an interesting approach, nice one. The little jig I mentioned does the "multiple pass" thing all in one go. It makes things a little easier when you can use a simpler jig and do multiple passes.
 
Yea, plus using a 3/4" thick block of wood allows it to be useful for almost any length. Just to see, I also tried to straighten out a keyring. It worked decently, but it was a harder metal and reamed out the hole on the wood. Flat metal stock would probably have been better for that, but I didn't really need it, just wanted to see if it would work.
 
Its not a big deal. If its kinked than its an issue. As said, your using just a little bit at a time. Glad you found how to straighten but it doesn't have to be perfect to use.
 
I have been using the eBay Nickel silver rods For years and it’s never been a problem when it’s a bit wobbly. Being in Europe I usually run into scales with pinholes less than 1/16”, a 1,7 mm drill usually will address this problem when rescaling.
 
Top Bottom