Thread: Dumb questions about pins from brass rods, got tips?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Well I am stumped mine are the K&S rods too,,, I will get the tag numbers, maybe they have different alloys????? but I have never even paid attention to that....
will post the info soonest...

My rods are K&S as well, picked up from a hobby/RC store.
What I do, is before cutting off a length or anything, peen one end of the rod. I hold it in my hand, maybe rest one end on my pants/belt while I am watching a movie, and just have at it. I have a 2oz polished ball peen hammer.

My first set of pins though was a disaster.
I used a 16 ounce framing hammer, and used heavy taps.
It basically folded the brass over instead of mushrooming it.

Ok went out to the shop and dug out the cello wrapper (from the trash ) of the set I just opened last week, I have used up one rod already so I know this stuff works... it is marked

K&S Engineering Chicago Il.
Stock # 8162
Brass Rod
1/16
3 pcs/bag

Hope that helps you out, I have used feet upon feet of this stuff....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Put your finger on the anvil. yep I am serious take the hammer and tap your finger right on the edge of your fingernail , yeah the really sensitive part.... If it hurts your finger your tapping to hard...
Polish the ball end of the hammer and keep it polished...

Tap down and around when peening not just straight down you have to go around the outside of the peen, this is what takes practice to get the hang of it....

Look in the Wiki for the instructions I did and the video that Alex did....

Annealing the brass does help but I have never had to do that to rod stock only actual Estruntion (sp*) pins needed it...

Many many light taps work better than few hard taps...

Make sure you are using a file ...

When i watched the video from asheville this really helped me. I didnt realize how hard i was hitting until i put my thumb on the anvil

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Ok went out to the shop and dug out the cello wrapper (from the trash ) of the set I just opened last week, I have used up one rod already so I know this stuff works... it is marked

K&S Engineering Chicago Il.
Stock # 8162
Brass Rod
1/16
3 pcs/bag

Hope that helps you out, I have used feet upon feet of this stuff....

Mine are Stock#1626, and work just fine as well.

Joseph, here is a link to the pinning video Alex made... this, along with glen's wiki (and post comments) got me through pinning.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...01-videos.html

I finally got one pin done, here's what I did.

I have a really small jeweler's anvil from tandy leather, $12. I drilled a 1/16" hole 3/4" to 1" deep. I also drilled little divots in 3/32" and 1/8" as others suggest such as alex in his videos on the hammer, to assist with peening later.

I have an old metal ruler which I drilled a 1/16" hole through. I then cut off a piece of brass 1.25 inches long. I put the brass rod through the ruler and then line up with my deep hole. I am then able to push the brass pin to the bottom where it is supported on all sides to prevent bending. I was then able to mushroom out the end fairly easily, I had to hit harder than I thought I would but with no give anywhere the top mushroomed out. I then remove the pin by pulling up on the ruler!

I have some stainless steel washers, size 0, that I got from Ace Hardware. I might try to re-pin a loose razor tonight! I'll probably just end up cleaning up a couple with polish that I want to hone and use.

Thanks to everyone for their help! I hope my little post here with details of my anvil set up will help somebody else in the future.

Wait a minute...

How exactly were you holding the brass rods to begin with? Were they in a vice grip?

If i'm following correctly, the rod is pushed into a 1/16th hole drilled into the anvil. I've got no vice, or anywhere to put one & this is the method i use. There shouldn't be a problem with that technique.

Originally Posted by Leighton

Wait a minute...

How exactly were you holding the brass rods to begin with? Were they in a vice grip?

At first I did it holding it on top of my anvil, holding it in my hand but mostly holding it in a vice grip. I have a table-top hobby vice that is pretty nice. It has rubber hands. I think it gave too much and didn't allow the brass to peen.

That's why I asked how you started the first peen and about the one picture where the first peen is done behind the vice that I couldn't see...unless I was looking at the right picture. I wasn't sure if I was holding it correctly.

Yes Ben, I am shoving it in a hole in my anvil now. It is working great for me. I would suggest buying a good hard metal drill bit and trying it. I really like it.

So, when it wasn't working before you had maybe an inch or half an inch sticking out of the top of the vice? And now you have only 1/16" sticking out unsupported? If so... doh! why didn't I think to ask that from the start.