Recently I wanted to accurately layer pieces of 3mm stock together. I’ve often used 3mm dowels that go through both pieces for this purpose, but this time I decided to use short lengths of brass rod since I happened to have some lying around. The idea was to give the piece a nice contrast between the brass and the wood. The effect was very nice, but I quickly got tired of cutting brass rod making the ends look nice.
Suddenly it occurred to me where I could get accurately made brass pins pretty cheaply: the “driver pins” from pin tumbler locks. A quick search turned up multiple sources that sell just what I was looking for. I settled on one I’d dealt with before that would send me 450 brass pins that are 2.91mm in diameter and 5.81mm long for just over $10. Being lock parts, they’re very uniform and even have chamfered ends.
Those would be great for hinges too! 3 pieces of 3mm material with one cut through and the others engraved half through. I have been using bamboo skewers cut to length but accurate precut to fit the need is better. I am wondering if they could be made in steel to match to magnets.
I got mine from Southord, but they’re available from many locksmith/lock-picking sites. They come in different lengths. The ones I chose are 0.230 inches long, just shy of 6mm because I’m using them to pin two pieces of 3mm BB together.
