mistermikev Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 have been wanting to try some lmii truss rods just to see how they fair... thought I'd share what I found for my own future reference and in case anyone else is interested. slightly less expensive than allied luthier... free shipping making them moreso, and delivered w/i about 3 days for me. have to say... the welds on these look pretty good. the feel of the threads is very smooth. seems like an awfully small threaded block but I s'pose that accounts for more potential movement. These appear to be stainless steel but could not confirm via their website. all made in the usa. comparing to a few others... 5.2 oz for a 23.75" rod. 5.4oz for an allied luthier 18.375" w spoke wheel, 5.6oz for an allied luthier 19.75" rod w/o spoke wheel, 5.2oz for a bitter root 15.25" dual way truss rod, 5.3oz for an 18.`25 bitter root rod with a spoke wheel. 2.1oz for allied luthier 18" one way rod. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted July 1, 2022 Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 To see if they're stainless you could try testing them with a magnet? All of the A-coded (austenitic) grades of stainless steel aren't magnetic, and they tend to be the ones used for applications that don't require heat treatment (i.e. edged tools). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted July 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Professor Woozle said: To see if they're stainless you could try testing them with a magnet? All of the A-coded (austenitic) grades of stainless steel aren't magnetic, and they tend to be the ones used for applications that don't require heat treatment (i.e. edged tools). well that's a good idea... i guess alum would be noticeably lighter... did not know stainless was not magnetic. I will def try that - thank you for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 Not all stainless is non-magnetic, but generally the stuff used for applications where it doesn't need to be hardened will be non-magnetic. Incidentally, regular iron and steel is also non-magnetic at high temperatures, there's a point generally around 800 degrees C where the crystal structure of the metal changes (to what's known as austenite), but that same non-magnetic crystal structure can exist at room temperature in heavily alloyed steels like stainless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted July 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Professor Woozle said: Not all stainless is non-magnetic, but generally the stuff used for applications where it doesn't need to be hardened will be non-magnetic. Incidentally, regular iron and steel is also non-magnetic at high temperatures, there's a point generally around 800 degrees C where the crystal structure of the metal changes (to what's known as austenite), but that same non-magnetic crystal structure can exist at room temperature in heavily alloyed steels like stainless. well as it were... this rod is magnetic... but the rod I got from allied luthier (known to be stainless) is not. therefore I think I can conclude the lmii rods are not stainless. good to know. I appreciate your insight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Woozle Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 7 hours ago, mistermikev said: well as it were... this rod is magnetic... but the rod I got from allied luthier (known to be stainless) is not. therefore I think I can conclude the lmii rods are not stainless. good to know. I appreciate your insight. That may explain the price difference, stainless steel is significantly pricier due to its nickel and chromium content. I wouldn't rule out them being the magnetic form of stainless (martensitic) but it's most likely these rods are a standard tool steel of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 Just a side note: Rust is usually related to moisture. I know there's areas where corrosion really is a problem as there's so much salty mist all over the place - even the life span of a PC is only a couple of years there! But for the rest of us I guess stainless steel isn't worth the extra price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted July 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Professor Woozle said: That may explain the price difference, stainless steel is significantly pricier due to its nickel and chromium content. I wouldn't rule out them being the magnetic form of stainless (martensitic) but it's most likely these rods are a standard tool steel of some sort. right on, i suppose the most important part of this rod is probably the welds. they look pretty good. as long as it holds under pressure... totally worth it. I've tested them and they seem to turn fine while clamped so... it's a good mid road option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted July 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Bizman62 said: Just a side note: Rust is usually related to moisture. I know there's areas where corrosion really is a problem as there's so much salty mist all over the place - even the life span of a PC is only a couple of years there! But for the rest of us I guess stainless steel isn't worth the extra price. right on, in this application that probably doesn't matter but my understanding stainless is a bit stronger. I usually do as much as possible to seal the part of the rod that isn't exposed anyway... so rust shouldn't be an issue. I suppose at the threads it could be a problem... just something to consider anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 9 hours ago, mistermikev said: my understanding stainless is a bit stronger. Not necessarily so. There's hundreds of variants both for stainless and "regular" steel and there's some plain steel variants that are stronger than most any stainless steel. Back in the day we visited Paris (France, not Texas) and saw the Eiffel Tower. The bars used to build it had the quality markings embossed. My dad who worked in the steel importing business looked at them and said that he had never sold steel of that poor quality. Yet it has been standing there for 133 years despite two fires so the structure is strong enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted July 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 5 hours ago, Bizman62 said: Not necessarily so. There's hundreds of variants both for stainless and "regular" steel and there's some plain steel variants that are stronger than most any stainless steel. Back in the day we visited Paris (France, not Texas) and saw the Eiffel Tower. The bars used to build it had the quality markings embossed. My dad who worked in the steel importing business looked at them and said that he had never sold steel of that poor quality. Yet it has been standing there for 133 years despite two fires so the structure is strong enough. well I'm guessing in this context... the likely candidates to be used are going to be avg stainless vs avg steel. that said... this truss rod will def not be holding up the eiffel tower! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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