On Jan 22, 10:33*pm, Rich Grise wrote:
Is it safe to use a gage pin as a mandrel to do something like this?

http://mysite.verizon.net/richgrise/...ire-on-pin.png

The wire is ER70S weld filler, nominally .062, and the pin would represent
the .160 OD screw shank I want to wrap around it, but I don't want to use a
brass screw as a mandrel to bend steel filler rod, because it could wreck
the screw, and I only have 8 of them, and they're like a buck and a
quarter a 4-pack!

But in the shop, they have a set of gage pins. Are gage *pins hard
enough that I could use one as a mandrel to bend the copper-coated
steel wire around it without marring the gage pin? There's only
one rule here about my using the shop tools - I break it, I buy it.

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm assembling another one of
those "HDTV" 4-bay bowtie antennas, and the local Home Depot didn't
have any brass washers, and the heads of my expensive brass screws
are only .300 OD, so I don't want to try to catch my elements _and_
#14 Cu transmission lines under the screw heads without pre-forming
the elements and transmission lines.

So, is it OK? About the gage pin, I mean.

Thanks!
Rich

A cheaper and less risky alternative might be to use a 16d (penny)
nail -- #8 wire gauge -- 0.162"