Thread: Soft/Hard Pins

Had a talk today with a large supplier in Northampton.
He explained that they can get me rod as strong or as soft as i want. Adding more copper to the brass mixture will increase its strength.
This stuff would be made in Germany and then shipped over to the UK. The only problem is that i would have to order 500lbs :/

Really nice guy who told me that i could contact him for any metallurgy questions in the future..
Thanks..

Thats only 10,000 razors or so.

You would be getting pretty good at pinning after using it up!

Originally Posted by JOB15

Had a talk today with a large supplier in Northampton.
He explained that they can get me rod as strong or as soft as i want. Adding more copper to the brass mixture will increase its strength.
This stuff would be made in Germany and then shipped over to the UK. The only problem is that i would have to order 500lbs :/

Really nice guy who told me that i could contact him for any metallurgy questions in the future..
Thanks..

Brings to mind when Neil Miller was searching for a source for Genuine Linen.

If memory serves, the supplier's minimum order would be enough for Neil to make tents for an entire Regiment-------

If i was single i would buy it

If I had a nickel for every time that thought popped in my head.

Originally Posted by JOB15

If i was single i would buy it

Originally Posted by jfk742

If I had a nickel for every time that thought popped in my head.

For a VERY REASONABLE fee I won't tell your lovely brides about this---

Originally Posted by cudarunner

For a VERY REASONABLE fee I won't tell your lovely brides about this---

Brides? I had no idea.

Back on topic, I have had some overly soft brass pins, and then some NiAg pins that were so hard they were almost unusable until I got a butane torch to anneal them. I have also had some 1/16" pin stock that was over-sized and wouldn't fit my collars.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Brides? I had no idea.

Back on topic, I have had some overly soft brass pins, and then some NiAg pins that were so hard they were almost unusable until I got a butane torch to anneal them. I have also had some 1/16" pin stock that was over-sized and wouldn't fit my collars.

A few years ago 1/16" nickle silver rod was a bit hard to find but I'd found a supplier and I ordered a few feet. I let a friend who was searching for that rod as he was out and used a lot of it. So I let him know that that I had a source and he asked if I could send him a sample and I said sure.

I had never thought about brass or nickle silver rod being too hard or soft. However my friend found the quality right on and ordered in a bunch of it. Sometimes I get lucky

There are a lot of different alloys of nickle silver rod.
I find 18% nickel to be ideal for razor pins.
The 12% nickel is more common to find because it is used to make screws, and it is hard to peen by hand.
I can't remember what the brass pins I like are, but I think they were higher percent copper than the stuff sold at Hobby Lobby.

I should start making rod. I have probably 500 lbs of yellow brass and at least 20-30 lbs of nickel silver/German silver in scrap...
Alright this is picky and I don't mean to be an ass, especially since I think most everyone knows it but it cracks me up to see people give nickel silver the chemical symbol NiAg. I know, I know, it's just an abbreviated way of saying it but there is no silver in nickel silver