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I lost an arrow-head type of needle. Anyone know what it's called?


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The other week while looking for a pin to make a pilot hole I came across a weird looking needle in my toolbox.  It looked like a normal sewing needle except that it had a narrow arrowhead-shaped tip.  When I used it I was surprised that I didn't need to switch to the drill bit -- this one made a pilot hole and drilled it out in one go.  It made a better tool than my tiny drill bit which often crept off-center.   An ordinary pin would create a raised ridge but this made nice flat holes.   You could see material being eaten away as you turn.   It became my favorite tool working on my MER and bombs for the past week.  I would make nice deep pilot holes with it and switch to the drill if I needed something deeper.  Then this morning while putting it on the pin vise it slipped and I heard it drop onto the wooden floor.    When I looked down it was gone.    I've turned the entire place upside down and nothing.   I even ran a postcard magnet across the floor in the hope of picking it up.    It had vanished just as mysteriously as it had appeared.  I want to get a new one but I've found nothing online.   I don't know where it came from and all my other pins are the ordinary kind.   Has anyone come across one before or know what it's called?   I truly enjoyed our week together -- she must have returned back to her world and I miss her already -- help please?  Thanks in advance.

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15 hours ago, crackerjazz said:

Then this morning while putting it on the pin vise it slipped and I heard it drop onto the wooden floor.    When I looked down it was gone.    I've turned the entire place upside down and nothing.   I even ran a postcard magnet across the floor in the hope of picking it up.    It had vanished just as mysteriously as it had appeared. 

 

 

Oh, no... Have you checked the gaps between each of the strips in your wooden floor? That bit is right there waiting to be found. 

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On 1/11/2019 at 1:37 PM, crackerjazz said:

It had vanished just as mysteriously as it had appeared. [..] I truly enjoyed our week together -- she must have returned back to her world and I miss her already

 

I don't have anything to add. I just wanted to say I liked the story. Someone should make a movie.

 

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Hey, guys, thanks for the suggestions.   Sorry, I shouldn't have said "weird-looking" needle but an ordinary-looking one with a weird-looking tip.   Because it pretty much looks like below, except that it has an arrowhead.   

 

39805677123_d98e25c8c6_b.jpg

 

I went to Fabricland the other day -- saw the  Hemstitch -- yeah that's a strange-looking needle --- but it seems like the body arrow-shaped but the very tip is the same as an ordinary needle.   

Edited by crackerjazz
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The shoe cobbler says there's no such thing -- only needles for his machines and that you can't hand-sew leather.  Huh?? 

 

Anyway, I found it!   All of a sudden she was in the middle of the floor.  That's extremely strange because I've swept and vacuumed the floor clean last week and went through every inch of it with a postcard fridge magnet and a high-power flashlight.    I've been through twilight zone situations before but this one perplexes me.  Anyway, she's back.  I'll take good care of her this time and treat her like like gold.   Thanks again for the help, fellas!

 

39849458653_d809ed8489_b.jpg

Edited by crackerjazz
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Hey, yeah, it does look very close to the one on the right, except that the edge on this one goes way to the tip, so that when you take it to the surface and start turning it eats up material right away without creeping out of position -- very useful for making rivets.   I really like it because ordinary pins don't eat away material because of the rounded head but just push material to the side and make a ridge.  And drill bits can`t start at zero point, but have particular diameters.   The rivet heads one can do with this are smaller than the smallest drill bit, the angle is much more forgiving, and it doesn`t break.   You can control the rivet size by the number of turns as it digs into the surface.

 

46796591622_008ceaae82_b.jpg

Edited by crackerjazz
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Looking more closely at the ones on Amazon, they appear to have triangular points. I looked and looked but couldn't find one like yours. Yours is probably some sort of leather or upholstery needle. If push came to shove one could get one of the triangular head ones and grind the head into a flat triangle arrow shape that is sharp down to the point like yours.

Someone should come out with the modeling tool based on your pin. It looks like it would be a welcome addition to many a modeler's bench.

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Yeah, Mstor, it's one of my most-used tools now.   Not afraid of drill bits walking off-center anymore.    : )    Hi dnl42, here are some clearer shots.  Turning the needle around so you can see the shape better.

 

46821142842_dace4dcdbc_b.jpg

 

46821142922_2064335d03_b.jpg

 

32997758518_2d56195ed9_b.jpg

 

32997758398_a3bea9f00f_b.jpg

 

I just have to know where I got this from.   I don't remember buying one needle alone -- I've always gotten them in sets.   So this must have siblings somewhere.    

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2 hours ago, crackerjazz said:

Yeah, Mstor, it's one of my most-used tools now.   Not afraid of drill bits walking off-center anymore.    : )    Hi dnl42, here are some clearer shots.  Turning the needle around so you can see the shape better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32997758398_a3bea9f00f_b.jpg

 

I just have to know where I got this from.   I don't remember buying one needle alone -- I've always gotten them in sets.   So this must have siblings somewhere.    

 

That needle definitely has a triangular head too, but like you said its sharp down to the point. I think getting one of the triangular head needles we saw on Amazon and grinding each side down to a sharp point sharp might work nicely. In fact, that almost looks like what someone did to make yours.

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