"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...

"K" wrote in message
...
Charlie Pridham writes

Do what I did.
Look in Yellow Pages for a local Steel Stockist or Metal Stockist.
They
should be able to supply any diameter cut to your length
requirements.
Last year I bought a bundle of 5mm dia X 5ft long mild steel rods to
use
as general purpose stakes at a very reasonable price.....and they
will
outlast me !! The only downside is rust, but its no problem for me
cos I
just wipe them with an oily rag prior to use.
This year I've bought some 9mm dia X 10ft long stainless steel rods
for
my runner beans. Pricey but they will last for ever. A friend bought
some cheap redundant stock aluminium rectangular tubing (I'm guessing
about 30mm X 8mm) for his beans.
p.pleater.


Yes, I can get hold of metal but I should have said in the first place
that
weight is an issue and they must be light weight.
I have since posting discovered model makers use glass fibre rods of
exactly
the right diameter and colour (cheap too!) but unfortunately the
standard
size is 1M and I need 1.2M (4') so I will have to keep looking. I may
end up
having to join some.

What about .....Kite maker suppliers, Aerial makers, Fishing Rod
manufacturers.....I have a cheep sea-angling rod which is made of
lengths of solid fibreglass.
p. pleater.

That's what I have found, now negotiating for 4' lengths instead of the 1M
they all seem to sell, I need 240 of them so am trying to look for a good
price per rod (wholesale seems to be around .35 euros, but a lot of the
retailers are charging over £1)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea