Yeah If you don't use spring steel, you'll spend more time straightening the probe than using it.Yep, saw that. I think I can get my hands on some through work.
Older car trunks had spring steel rods in them. If you can find the older 70's and 80's they are longer. Hit up a salvage yard you can usually get them very cheap.Boy, was I wrong about that. Turns out, SS is not as common as I thought. Couldn't order any unless I wanted to buy a truckload. Obviously, I don't need that much! Junk yards it is, I suppose!
It's a specialty metal. I work for a specialty metal distributor and even they don't carry it. I did find a couple distributors, one in Chicago area, one in Detroit area, as well as Alro, and they all laughed when I told them how much I needed. It can be obtained, but it's pretty much made to order. So, unless you are buying a flatbeds worth of steel...I've been buying sheet metal from a local steel shop here in Detroit area for past 20 years. A couple of years ago I went in to see if I could buy some Spring Steel rods from him & surprisingly he had no clue or idea what I was talking about & never heard of it? And this is a huge wharehouse full of different shapes & sizes of steel? LEON.