: Try another design for your home-made snap pins or buy the minimum
: order on the ready-made ones and peddle the excess to another
: builder.

: Can you post a picture of the ones you made and explain the
: problems you are having with them?

: I'd try making mine from 1/8 inch aluminum or brass bolts or
: machine screws. Or, use the aluminum rivets. I'd drill a hole in
: a piece of wood about 3 inches long, and narrow enough to fit
: inside the tubing. The bolt gets glued to the stick and becomes
: the pin. I'd glue a piece of spongy foam rubber to the back of
: the stick and shove the assembly into the tube. With a tight fit
: on the foam rubber you might not need any glue.
: The compressible foam provides the spring action. The wood keeps
: the pin aligned. No steel to rust. Use a file to get the rivet
: or bolt length to size.

: Hope this helps.

: PGJ

Thanks PGJ - I'll try and get a photo. I tried using the spring steel, with the design indicated. I ran into several issues. First, I can't get the head small enough to fit the diameter of the hole specified. I moved to a larger hole, but to get it to work in and out smoothly, I have a loose fit. I will hold the stingers together, but not very firmly. The second issue that I had was adjusting the tension. In order to really get a solid return, I had to have a fairly open spring, which makes a lot of tension. This makes it very hard to push down. By the time I get to the point of a comfortable amount of pressure, it becomes so loose that it barely seats in the hole.

The third issue I had is one the downward curve on the nob. The get it long enough that it will rise through the top tube, while still having enough drop to hold the full nob in the hole, you can't get the clearance to put it in the tube. I'll have to post a few photos to get good feedback.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll start playing with them this weekend!

Eric