Just for fun I got a pound of stainless steel TIG infill rod and tried it out for scale pins. Didn't work very well with my watchmaker's riveting hammer, but I got a 2 oz ball peen and a riveting block, and it works great. 304 Stainless, I think (or 308) non-hardening.
It's significantly harder than nickel silver (which is brass with nickel in it, little or no silver!), so one must be careful not to hit too hard else the pin will bend, or worse you will rivet the back side while setting a head in the riveting block. It's also much more difficult to cut, so a good pair of side cuts is really necessary.
I do recommend setting a head on the pin using a riveting block first, as I've gotten tired of chasing small washers around as they bounce out and go into an alternate dimension. Sorta wasteful as the block I have is 3/4" thick, a 3/8" might be better but they cost much more. That way you have the head set and can put a washer on when you put the pin through the scales and only have to set one end in place.
You only need 1mm of rod above the washer -- much more and you will be hammering forever to shorten the pin enough to get tight.
Just thought I'd pass along the info.
Both nickel silver and stainless infill rod are cheap on eBay in the industrial section, usually sell by the pound in 36" pieces in 1/16" rod.
Peter
It's significantly harder than nickel silver (which is brass with nickel in it, little or no silver!), so one must be careful not to hit too hard else the pin will bend, or worse you will rivet the back side while setting a head in the riveting block. It's also much more difficult to cut, so a good pair of side cuts is really necessary.
I do recommend setting a head on the pin using a riveting block first, as I've gotten tired of chasing small washers around as they bounce out and go into an alternate dimension. Sorta wasteful as the block I have is 3/4" thick, a 3/8" might be better but they cost much more. That way you have the head set and can put a washer on when you put the pin through the scales and only have to set one end in place.
You only need 1mm of rod above the washer -- much more and you will be hammering forever to shorten the pin enough to get tight.
Just thought I'd pass along the info.
Both nickel silver and stainless infill rod are cheap on eBay in the industrial section, usually sell by the pound in 36" pieces in 1/16" rod.
Peter
