Profil 4,8 x 4,8 mm

The solid square rod 4.8 x 4.8 mm

A massive square rod is one of the heaviest solid cross sections in this group. It suits places where the material is meant to be genuinely load-bearing or where it is meant to create volume: the supports of shelters, squared columns, the ties under large machines, blocks and logs at a timber yard, the bases under display models or the filling cores onto which a thin skin is only then glued. A solid cross section is also easy to drill and to tap.

The basic parameters

Both sides measure 4.8 millimeters, the rod is 35 centimeters long and the unit of sale is one piece. Because there is no cavity inside, the profile will carry a load without support and will not be crushed under a clamp.

Working the material

Heavy material will not just snap off any more, so reach straight for a saw with fine teeth. The cut surface tends to be rough; you will even it out with a few strokes of a file. Chamfered edges look good on columns: it is enough to run a sanding sponge along each edge at a forty-five degree angle. A hole for a metal pin can be drilled into a solid profile, joining several parts together far more firmly than cement alone.

Where it pays off

In dioramas, where the plastic part disappears under a layer of material, a solid rod saves the lengthy layering of thin sheets. The time saved shows above all with repeated parts, such as the posts of a fence or the base under rails.

Pins and demountable joints

A brass tube can be glued into a drilled hole and so give an exact seat for a pin on which the part turns. With display bases, screwing or joining with a metal dowel proves itself; the assembly then survives repeated carrying without the risk of a glued joint working loose over time.