So 8mm rod is prohibitively expensive anywhere that I’m lucky enough to find it. Most industrial places and metal shops near me just flat out don’t have it.
I figured that I would pick it up off of wish or AliExpress since my gf is always ordering off of there and there was a bunch posted at $4 each.
Of course when I put in how much I needed there wasn’t a single place that could get me what I need under $100.
My second best option is to spend about $33 on O1 drill rod. The accuracy should be far better than needed and I imagine that it should be plenty rigid in the lengths required.
Are you sure? These are frequently sold for 3D printers and are very cheap. Amazon has some for about $12/2. Searching for “8mm 3D printer rod”. Gave me some good hits, but I had to skip through a few suggestions to find it. I can’t remember what lengths it needs, something like 300mm-400mm?
I’m not saying you should buy this one, I’m no rod expert. But this is an example of what to look for. I would expect them even cheaper from aliexpress or banggood.
Yup, I just did another quick search, including US amazon (I forgot to mention my geographical handicap, being in Canada) and the ones that will ship to Canada are all priced well over the drill rod.
Drill rod will be very tough to cut, it’s hardened steel and a typical hacksaw will just dull the blades. Aliexpress has vendors selling it around $4-5 per piece and you only need the six pieces, but shipping is essentially the same cost as the rod itself. Uxcell has them on Amazon for under $8.00 each shipped, I don’t know if they also ship to Canada for the same price. Remember you can get them longer and they still work, just stick out a bit.
I just had a peek to see if the other places could get me a deal on drill rod, since I didn’t think about that!
Unfortunately, no love there either.
Drill rod is actually no problem to cut with a hack saw, as it isn’t usually hardened until after you turn it into a reamer or whatever.
The trick with hacksaw is to keep your speed down to 50 strokes a minute, and use a blade that maintains at least 3 teeth in contact with your material.
Once you know that information, you’ll find yourself using hacksaw a LOT.
Don’t get too excited when you’re sawing and you’ll be surprised how fast they cut, and how long the blades last!
