Topic: Cotter Pins

[Good Gourd2]

I tried to buy some spare cotter pins for my Honda rotervator today after nearly losing one last week. I went to the garden machine shop where I purchased it from. For 4 small cotter pins it was going to cast me over £10.00 plus p&p. I did not get them. does anyone know of a source to buy spare cotter pins at a reasonable cost. Perhaps I`m mean but it did sound like a lot, for what they are.(I did`nt want the gold plated ones.

[quizzical1]

Are they similar to the cotter pins which hold the pedals on a bicycle?  (Bike shop?) Or are they more of a square type of thing that fits into a groove between the shaft and the pulley?
If the latter is the case, then that material can be bought from engineering supply companies in lengths that you cut to suit. It's made of hardened steel. You of course need to get the right size IE 1/8" or 1/4"square  etc. We actually use loads of the stuff at work (or should I say the engineers do). I forget what the material is called for now, but I'll give it some thought.
Ahhhh!!!, just remembered......It's called keyway steel.

[jennym]

There's different grades of steel used for cotter pins, some stronger than others - you'd be best to find out the specification before buying any old cotter pins.