Question for folks that find their pinning rod at the hobby store

What section do they hide it in? I've wandered all over 3 of them, and can't find anything resembling brass rod. I've got some coming in the mail, but it would be nice to find a local source.

And while I'm thinking about it, do you have to use rod for our purposes, or could a straightened piece of 14 ga. wire serve the purpose? I've seen some wire spools in the jewelry section of craft stores, but passed it up since I'm not certain if that would be too soft. And most of it is copper or aluminum, brass seems to stop at 16 ga.

Look for the K&S display where they sell balsa sheets and dowels.

A good well stocked Ace hardware will also have the K&S display as well or any good knife supply. I use Texas Knife, USA and Jantz.

Most of the time I find it hiding near the model railroad section. It's usually in a little vertical rack with a bunch of tubing, rod, flat stock.
Also my local Ace Hardware stores have a rack filled with the same stuff. Gone to a couple of different Ace stores and they both had it.

I've seen tubing and flat stock. May have overlooked it, but I wasn't in a big hurry. Might have to check out the ACE hardware store. Never been in there before, Lowe's and Home Depot are closer.

I did score a 4 Oz ball peen for 4 bucks thougj, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

I'm currently using wire that Raol picked up for me at a jewelers supply in cow town. Works well.

Nope, not at Home Depot or Lowes and not all Ace, has to be an old school Ace, I have a bunch of Ace hardware stores by me, but only 2 have the full K&S display and keep it well stocked.

They are both old stores, been hardware stores for many years.

I know Lowe's and Home Depot won't have them, I probably know those aisles better than the people that work there. But the ACE store is worth a look, since I've never been inside. It's been there for years, so it might just have what I'm after.

I miss having an HQ around. They carried a better selection of lumber and project materials - not just things for commercial builders.

The Ace near me has some, so does Hobby Lobby if they are up in your area. Another craft store worth checking out would be Micheals.

Amazon has it. Free shipping from a couple of their vendors too.

Haha, I get more than my share of things from Amazon, particularly when I can take advantage of a free shipping deal. In fact that's where I found the rod stock, washers, and brass plate I ordered. But having to wait on shipping is less than desireable when I'll probably have the scales carved out sometime Saturday.

Apparently there's a dedicated woodworkers supply shop here. With I'd checked it out sooner. I'll have to put that on the list of places to check along with Ace and hobby lobby. There's one here, but the only day I have to shop around is usually Sunday.