LOL. Don't worry about it funford. I'm guilty of the same thing on a regular basis.

They are, indeed, pricey, but not as bad as you might think. We have gotten used to $4 items from China. Well... everything is made in China now, but I guess I'm talking about the $4 items that were probably rejected from the manufacturer charging $30. The point is, it isn't hard to find retention knobs in the $30 range. Just look at MariTool or any of the other quality manufacturers of knobs (although, those *are* made in the US). I am sure that the ones that I was talking about bulk buying were probably made in Taiwan, likely in the same factory that produced them for Dyna when they were in business.

Long term, I think that making our own is likely going to be the solution. I actually have that on my todo list as an experiment. And, yes, hardening them isn't going to make them less prone to break. Even the US manufacturer that told me I should make my own said that. It is about wear and that is all. But I'm a hobbyist. I don't use my machine that much. If I make 30 studs, they will last me a lifetime, even if I put a time limit on them of 100 hours (or whatever... literally just pulled that out of, well, you get the idea). The material just isn't that expensive either... So just replace them. And, let's face it, for those of us doing this as a hobby... It is just another thing to make!

The ONLY thing that keeps me away from this is a concern that what I make might be somehow inferior to a commercial product. I do *not* want a stud to break on me.