"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
On Jul 30, 1:37 pm, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
A while back I posted some pictures of a balance beam I made in the shop
out
of 6061 bar stock aluminum. I was thinking I might like to give some away
to my fishing club if I could make them cheap enough. The aluminum is
certainly cheap enough if I buy it from a metal distributor, but there are
a
few things that add up.
To attach the handle to the beam requires some form of ring so that the
beam
can swing freely. I used key rings on my first three, but they are all of
unknown quality and materials. ...
So what alloy wire should I try for this, or can you suggest a source that
is different entirely?
Bob La Londewww.YumaBassMan.com
These are cheap and hold up quite well outdoors, especially if you put
a drop of oil in the gate spring hole. There is an oval or pear-shaped
version that fits a finger more comfortably than the D ones.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47658
Yeah, I looked at those. I have actually found what I really wanted for
attaching the handles. A stainless steel key ring 1.25" dia. They range
from .29 to .75 each by the hundred. It actually looks like my holdup may
be finding sources for decent quality stainless spring wire in small
quantities to make my hooks. Bits of wire had 10lb spools of 302 for around
$90, but they shut down their website on July 31st. For .080 that was about
800 feet I think. The guys I got the 17-7 from have limited inventory of
salvage and scrap only.
This is my bending jig.
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5986/dscf1191jb5.jpg
I actually made three of them, four if you count a major modification to
this one. This one still needs a little refinement, but I am holding off
until I decide on my final wire before making another one. The varying
height of the various pegs is so I can make the first couple of bends and
swing over the back bending pegs. Then I slide the wire down and make the
next bend. If you notice my pins are nopt all straight. It does not really
have any negative affect on my bending process, but I used 1/8 plate for
protyping this jig. When I do the final jig I'll use 1/4 or 3/8 which will
help me to hold all the pins straight during the welding process.
These are my experimental stainless snap hooks made from .093 spring wire.
Open
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1441/dscf1192il6.jpg
Closed
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/230/dscf1193me5.jpg
Left to Right
1. Hand bent and used to layout first failed bending jig.
2. Bent on bending jig shown before latest modification
I decided I needed the point to stick out further when open. By making a
wider radius bend at the bottom and then back bending the point I was able
to do this with enough springyness to the final form.
3. Hand bent modification to number 2 per comments above.
I removed a 3/8 bending pin as used to make number 2, and welded in a 3/4
bending pin in its place.
4. Jig bent on jig as in picture. Oops. Cut the pokey end a little short.
5. Nearly perfect final of protyping process. Slight adjustment made to
circumfernence of final peg bend, and back bend.
The final design in number 5 also allows me to cut to length and sharpen the
end more easily after the entire bending process is completed.
I think I am going to set this project aside for now until I get a few more
wire samples in to experiment on and decide on my final wire.
Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com