Does this quote seem reasonable?

[HankMcSpank]

Well, at 39p per pack, the litmus test is to order some up & test - they have a minimum £10 order but therere site is a veritable cavern of all things shiny to me so that won';t be a problem!

The carbon content is of concern - best way is rather than debate it (I reckon at 39p they'll not be that hardened) ...just to order some up.

re cutting them - not intimidated at all - I've cut Alnico before (the hardest substance in the universe - just kidding ok!) & survived - I made up a little dremel holder for my tool post & used that to slice into it with the dremel cutting discs....it worked well. But hey, if they are hardened, yeah...then I may just stick with 5mm bog standard mild steel & a nickel plating kit.

robin, you asked how I'd holding the pieces while plating - I was thinking about lobbing the small pole pieces in a copper mesh bag - plausible?

A corrosion resistant finish is important - but maybe I'm getting a little over worked up about it - for example I parted off some basic 5mm bright steel pole pieces about 6 months ago - some of these have laid in my cold, damp loft for 6 months - no rust.

[Robin Hewitt]

robin, you asked how I'd holding the pieces while plating - I was thinking about lobbing the small pole pieces in a copper mesh bag - plausible?

You would plate the copper as well and where metal touches metal they will try and glue together probably resulting in a naff finish. Also the outside of the heap will plate better than the inside because the bubbles will get trapped.

Rustability depends on the surface finish. Polished steel doesn't rust, grit blasted steel rusts before your very eyes. Everything else falls somewhere in between.

[HankMcSpank]

tks Robin - well how about laying each pole piece piece on it's edge at the bottom of the mesh bag (a poor finish at the point of contact would be hidden inside the bobbin when installed) - I only really care about the visible top surface