My wife wants some stem supports for long-stemmed flowers. She saw
them on the web for $5.95 each, wants a couple dozen of them -- for
openers.

I spent an enjoyable afternoon making a jig. I can now make her stem
supports in a minute or less each from about 35 cents worth of 1/4"
dia steel rod. (I bought 80 feet of rod a couple of days ago).

http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/stem_support/

On Fri, 03 Jun 2005 21:17:29 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/stem_support/

Hey, Don--
That's a nice jig! Very pretty when you cleaned it up, too. Thanks
for showing it to us. The web page is nicely done, too.

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
My wife wants some stem supports for long-stemmed flowers. She saw
them on the web for $5.95 each, wants a couple dozen of them -- for
openers.

I spent an enjoyable afternoon making a jig. I can now make her stem
supports in a minute or less each from about 35 cents worth of 1/4"
dia steel rod. (I bought 80 feet of rod a couple of days ago).

http://users.goldengate.net/~dforeman/stem_support/

That's a nice die, Don.

I find making tooling like that to be very satisfying, esspecially when it's
built quickly and saves a lot of time.

Any plans to build dies for the pre- and post-bends? Perhaps over kill, but
you can reduce your costs by not using a torch.

And if you want to get really fancy, you could combine all three dies into
one unit so that you have three parts (at different stanges of completion)
in the tool at once. Deluxe.

Tool design is fun ;-)

Regards,

Robin

Don:
Really nice .
Where do get the 1/4 rod? I was able to find copper clad rod at a
local welding supply, but I thought $2.20 plus per pound was a bit
high. They won't be stocking it anymore. I am in St. Louis. Bare
steel 3/16" is 20 feet for $5. at .094 lb per foot that is also more
expensivie than welding wire, which I buy in Chicago for $.80 lb. Even
with freight its cheaper to buy out of town.
-Mike

On 5 Jun 2005 06:38:59 -0700, "mclorson"
wrote:

Don:
Really nice .
Where do get the 1/4 rod? I was able to find copper clad rod at a
local welding supply, but I thought $2.20 plus per pound was a bit
high. They won't be stocking it anymore. I am in St. Louis. Bare
steel 3/16" is 20 feet for $5. at .094 lb per foot that is also more
expensivie than welding wire, which I buy in Chicago for $.80 lb. Even
with freight its cheaper to buy out of town.
-Mike

Have you considered using the mild steel 3/16 wire used for the top
tensioning strand in chain link fences? While it does come on a
roll..its easy to straighten and is dirt cheap. But it is galvanized.
A bit of a dip in a PVC tube of swimming pool acid..and the galvanized
is gone. Stainless steel wire for the same purpose is not much more
money either.

Shrug.

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years,
the world has a long way to go to regain
its credibility and reputation with the US."
unknown

Like the way you think... I'll take look at both. Have to learn how to
weld the stainless though.
Mike

Robin S. wrote:
That's a nice die, Don.

Indeed! I have special admiration for its simplicity. Complicated is
easy, simple is hard.

I find making tooling like that to be very satisfying, esspecially when it's
built quickly and saves a lot of time. ...

Indeed, again. It's probably the most satisfying thing that I do.
Using machining skills to produce well-made things is nice, but my real
satisfaction is taking a problem and creating/inventing a (good) solution.

Bob

BTW - I've used the hex head and wrench technique, but I use a hex nut
and weld it on the inside, so the wrench slips on without welds
interfering with its seating.