Stainless Steel Hooks & Rings

A while back I posted some pictures of a balance beam I made in the shop out of 6061 bar stock aluminum. I was thinking I might like to give some away to my fishing club if I could make them cheap enough. The aluminum is certainly cheap enough if I buy it from a metal distributor, but there are a few things that add up.

To attach the handle to the beam requires some form of ring so that the beam can swing freely. I used key rings on my first three, but they are all of unknown quality and materials. Some are chrome over brass which is not strong, but will never corrode out. Others are cheap chrome over some ferrous alloy which are strong, but will most certainly rust. I need to find a cheap decent quality ring for this. I even considered making my own out of stainless wire, and mage a small jig to stamp it into shape. This brings me to my second item.

Hooks. I need a moderately large snap hook to actually hang off each end of the beam. In my first practice runs I used some stainless steel hooks removed from a high quality fish stringer. They work very well, but that quality of stringer is hard to find, and relatively speaking they are expensive. Yes, with these I can make a a balance beam cheaper than I can buy one, but not much. I was thinking if I could find the right stainless steel wire I could make my own snap hooks on a duo-lock type design except just keep the bottom part (large end) straight.

http://www.uk-hooks.com/prodimage/ThumbPic/1197563185-duolock.jpg

I was thinking I could set some pins in a board or weld pins to a plate to make a quick and easy bending jig. TIG wire does come in sizes that would be suitable, but I would need to know what alloy will be bendable with some manageable force, and yet have good strength and decent springyness after being bent to shape. Each hook would need to be able to hold 10+ pounds without distorting. I am thinking a 1/16" or 3/32" wire would be pretty close to what I am looking for. I figured when I got a little closer I'ld throw a caliper on the hooks I have for size.

So what alloy wire should I try for this, or can you suggest a source that is different entirely?

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com


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