Making pull rods

Cody Coombs · From: Washington, USA

I know thereâ€™s been topics before on this, but I need to either get or make longer pull rods to slide my pedals over to the left. I just bought a 90s BMI s10 3x3 and the original owner had the pedals way too far to the right for my comfort. I know I can order them online, but Iâ€™m interested in just making them if possible.

I imagine I can get 1/8â€ steel round bar from a hardware store, use a threaded die and then pop it in? Is there anything more specific I should use?

Thanks,
Cody

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

My '83 BMI rods have holes for cotter pins at the bell crank so that's one more process you have to consider (unless later models changed away from this). I will take your word for it that they are 1/8" rod. It is not an automatic assumption but many steels do use it.

Cody Coombs · From: Washington, USA

Yes there is a cotter pin on the 90 degree side. I checked with a ruler and it was 1/8â€, I imagine just regular steel rod from say Home Depot would work? Iâ€™ve read people use stainless tig rod also, but would that make the threading process harder? I donâ€™t have a lathe setup, it would just be a tap and die with a vice.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

I believe that stainless is the most thermally/dimensionally stable of the metal options. OTOH, in a pinch I used a length of coat hanger, years ago, so I'm not going to go all purist on you. I suck bad with a tap & die so I can't really comment on degree of difficulty of SS.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

https://www.harborfreight.com/18-in-aws-er70s-2-tig-welding-rod-100-lb-63489.html?_br_psugg_q=welding+rod

I used this to make some rods for a Carter. Works pretty easy. Easy enough to thread with a die and vise. Bends easy enough too. Just take your time.

Only drawback is this tig rod is a sort of copper/bronze color if that's a concern.

As to SS, yeah it's a b=-&*( to thread with ordinary hand tools. Hard stuff. I still have a die with the broken portion of rod intact to prove it. Patience, oil and much time backing off the die to remove chips as you go necessary here.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Use stainless. Not only for the reasons mentioned, but to stop the outside chance that the plain steel rod could rust.

Threading stainless rod is not difficult. Just use cutting oil. I have done several for my Carter.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Cody Coombs · From: Washington, USA

The copper color for the Tig rod wonâ€™t bother me, as long as I can drill a hole for the cotter pin and itâ€™s long enough, easy enough to thread I think thatâ€™s the easiest solution for now.

if I ended up going with the stainless rod, is that something that can be easily bought at a hardware store?

Iâ€™m hoping to get working on this tonight after work if I can gather the materials needed.

Thank you fellas this is all very helpful.

Mike Ritchie · From: Florida, USA

I have ordered 1/8" stainless rod (36" in length) from both Ebay and Amazon.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I bought 3/32" (the size for a Carter) welding rod for not much $$$ from Amazon. I'm sure they would have 1/8". Drilling that hole for the cotter pin will be a pain.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

My observation (which does not make it a fact) is that the big box stores all have what seems to be the same inventory. H Dep, Lowes, Tractor Supply. And my Ace hardware looks pretty much the same. And that means steel and (I think) zinc coated steel. No stainless.

Also -- unless you know what you are doing and are confident in the hole drilling, if I were you I'd pick up some push nuts. That would make a decent plan B if the holes don't work out, I think.

Ian Worley · From: Sacramento, CA

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

FWIW, I just tried to drill a hole in one of the tig rods. It did not go well. I used a drill press and vice, filed a flat on it and took my time....made a dimple and broke the bit. Maybe heating the material would make it more workable but I didn't do that.

I have made several rods for Mullen guitars and drilled the cotter pin holes. That was some time ago though and I used different rod material I'm sure. I think it was just your basic steel rod, not stainless.

You ain't gonna drill a hole that small in stainless steel rod without special tools.

Another option might be the coiled spring retainers that Williams uses...maybe others. I looked at psg parts but he's out of stock.

Danny Letz · From: Old Glory,Texas, USA 79540

Maybe you could do it like late Zums. Just cut a straight groove on one side of the rod with a very small saw or I use a Dremel cutting wheel. The straight side of the hairpin goes in that slot and the round part of the hairpin snaps around the rod. Possible it might not work because of the thin nature of the BMI pullers. Worth considering.

Ian Worley · From: Sacramento, CA

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I have some of those Ian, but they're 1/8". Might pick up some of the smaller ones. Thanks for the tip.

Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

Iâ€™m wondering if you could use an adjustable pipe cutter to cut a circumferential groove close to the rod end and use an e-clip to secure it on the bell crank (think Emmons LeGrande II pull rods)

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

And in another discussion Willie Sims suggested using top hat style push on nuts. I've yet to try it but it may work. Johnny King threaded his and used self locking nuts.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

One of my guitars used set collars on the 90Â° end. Only problem is they take up a lot of space so if you have a loaded up axe, it can be a hindrance for rod locations for adjacent bell cranks because it gets pretty crowded.

Cody Coombs · From: Washington, USA

Threading the 90 end and putting a nut on for a single neck could work without all the extra stuff going on down thwre. I see BMI Has rods, and I may go that route. For this time I think working on this steel only because the low price I was able to get it for could be a good learning project so that when and if any problems occur on my Mullen Iâ€™ll have some sort of know how on fixing it.

And yes I agree on the drilling part now that Iâ€™m looking at it. without a drill press putting a hole through that 1/8 round bar would be very difficult. Could you put a U shape in the pull rod on the 90 side to hold it in place? Maybe that wouldnâ€™t work out so well routing the other end without putting any significant bend in the rod.

I didnâ€™t get to work on it tonight but it will be my project this week. And I have lots of good stuff to read from you all, this information is great Very Happy

Bill Moore · From: Manchester, Michigan

You don't need to thread or drill holes in the bent end. You can get these retaining springs from PSGparts.com:

https://www.psgparts.com/Spring-Retaining-Pull-Rod-HDW-SPRG-ROD.htm

Or you can make them yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGh5R9EjqVU

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

FASTENAL will order stainless steel rod in about any size. Have them cut it in 36" lengths to cut shipping cost. They even got me 7/64" to make Emmons Rods.
Seen a guy try to cut grooves in Emmons rods for E-Clips with pipe cutter, Broke most when bending the L on them. Not worth trying.

If you are going to drill a 1/16" hole in a 1/8" rod build a simple jig. On a drill press drill 2 1/8" holes about 1/2" from the edge of a 3/4" block of steel about 1" apart. Use one of the 1/8" holes as a Bending jig. Drill hole the depth you want the L on the rod. Shove the end of the rod into the hole, Put side pressure on the rod and use a hammer close to the hole to bend the rod to a perfect tight 90 degree L.

Measure down on the side of the 2nd hole and center punch a mark centered on hole No. 2, Drill a 1/16" hole at 90 degrees through the center of the 1/8" 2nd hole.

Bend the L in the first hole, Place the L in the 2nd hole and use a clamp to hold the rod tight and firm in the 2nd hole. Just insert drill in the 90 Degree 1/16 hole and drill the hole perfect in center of rod.

Good Luck on this project.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

I think, in the absence of a jig to put holes in the rods, I'd make my own with the following:
Make the bend slightly greater than 90Â°, so the slight hook reduces the likelihood of falling out, and;
Put a little booger of Gorilla Glue or similar to the tip of the hook.
Making the end slightly hooked will also keep the stress of the pull off the knob of glue.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

As with many/most steels with right angle rod bends at the bellcrank, the BMI benefits from tight radius bends. And the BMI definitely wants a right angle bend. You will not get the rod into the crank hole without lots of difficulty if the bend is not right.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

One small workaround can be to loosen the crank and rotate it to line up the hole angle.

Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

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