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Naive question: Can nails make decent slugs?

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  • Naive question: Can nails make decent slugs?

    I'm not nearly as well-versed in the particulars of the assorted metals that the pros in this area use. I just experiment for myself, and keep my eyes peeled for things in the average decent hardware store, Home Depot, or Harbour Freight type outlet, that could be co-opted for interesting pickup purposes.

    Of course, asking the staff at such places for information about the composition of many of the things they sell will be followed by blank stares. So I thought I'd ask you folks.

    So, could a person saw some regular nails of suitable diameter, smooth the edges, and use them as slugs, or even polepieces with, say, a ceramic magnet underneath?

    Are there any other things one might typically find in a fastener outlet that might also prove interesting for experimental or one-of-a-kind pickup construction purposes? For example, a place near me has just about anything that exists in the way of black Allen-head bolts and pins/roller-bearings.

    Alternatively, is there anything out there besides formal polepieces and bar magnets that is made from Alnico?

  • #2
    Nails are made from mild steel (What Are the Compositions of Steel & Their Properties? | eHow.com). Material such as 1018 or 1022, sometimes used for slugs, is also mild steel.

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    • #3
      "Bridge rivets" or any iron rivet would be even easier to work with and would be softer yet.

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      • #4
        You can go right to Home Depot and get plain steel rods. Ands bars too. That's what I used in my first pickups. It worked fine and sounded good too.
        Last edited by David Schwab; 12-14-2010, 07:44 PM.
        It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. — Albert Einstein


        http://coneyislandguitars.com
        www.soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon

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        • #5
          Can't you just go to a nail salon?

          :-)

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          • #6
            up here in Canada
            Canadian Tire & Home hardWare carries cold rolled 3/16 rod
            my guess its something similar to 1018
            but its cheaper at welding shops
            "UP here in the Canada we shoot things we don't understand"

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            • #7
              Yes you can, as well as many other iron products if their dimension suits you.
              Most bolts, including Allen head ones don't, because they are made of harder alloys.
              Good for strength, bad for magnetism.
              The practical rule is "if it can be easily bent, it works ... if it cracks ... not"
              Relatively worst is stainless steel, tool steel (as in a drill) and cast iron.
              Rivets should be quite good, because they are designed to be shaped by hammering, without cracking.
              Juan Manuel Fahey

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              • #8
                You Canadiens are closer to the North Pole, too...that ought to be good for something other than fast deliveries from Santa...

                :-)

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                • #9
                  I could, but the fumes might impact on my winding skills.

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                  • #10
                    Santa doesn't deliver here. Somethng about that mezuzah, or whatever.

                    And around here, we just call it "rolled steel", rather than "cold-rolled". The "cold" is implicit.

                    In all seriousness, though, thanks for the replies. Very helpful. I think I have a suitable iron rod in the garage right now. Time to fire up the Dremel.

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                    • #11
                      If you just want 3/16" cold-rolled 1018 stock, it's so cheap at your local metal supplier that it's hardly worth the effort looking at nails and pins. I bought 20' of 3/16" 1018 last week at Industrial Metal Supply, and it cost me a whopping $3.67. It cost me more than that in gas to drive my old pickup over there and back!

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Bruce Johnson View Post
                        If you just want 3/16" cold-rolled 1018 stock, it's so cheap at your local metal supplier that it's hardly worth the effort looking at nails and pins. I bought 20' of 3/16" 1018 last week at Industrial Metal Supply, and it cost me a whopping $3.67. It cost me more than that in gas to drive my old pickup over there and back!
                        And, if you buy 1018 by alloy number, you know what you are getting, and can always get more. Unlike mystery metal - it can be anything, so a recipe developed using one bit of metal may fail with the next piece.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mark Hammer View Post
                          And around here, we just call it "rolled steel", rather than "cold-rolled". The "cold" is implicit.
                          Well, there is also "hot rolled steel", so the term "rolled steel" is ambiguous. All it excludes is cast steel, sintered powdered steel, and drawn steel wire, as all other kinds are rolled in one way or another.

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                          • #14
                            The rolling process (as does drawing it for wire) creates what is essentially a grain structure to steel. I wonder if that affects preferred magnetic polarity.

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