Easy way to bend an insect pin to turn it into a hook

Nature Talk
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If anyone has needed a hook for any reason, and doesn’t have one, try this.

Instead of trying to bend an insect pin into the shape of a hook while it is still a completely solid metal, you can heat it up so that it is pliable enough to shape it with ease.

-Get something that will sustain a consistent, small, but hot flame. I use candles usually.
-After the flame has been burning for a bit, hold the section of your pin that you want to bend first in the orange/yellow part of the flame and hold it there for approx. a minute, and make sure the metal is glowing bright red/orange before you take it out from the flame.
-Using pliers or strong forceps, immediately bend the pin how you want it after you take it from the flame, and then if it needs to be bent again, or in a new area, repeat this in a new section of the pin.

-This may not work on certain types of pins, but works very well on steel or iron. I usually do this with my old stainless steel insect pins which I no longer use for pinning due to their very low quality.

Please comment if you do this successfully, and even if you don’t.

Cheers,

Connor

3 Likes
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Could a paper clip be used as a hook?

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In general, I think yes, since a paper clip is malleable enough (and its already bent in a hook shape in general too, but keep in mind one can actually break a paper clip using bare hands if you find the right stress points). But the OP is specifically referring to converting insect pins into hooks.

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True, and I don’t think that a bent paper clip could easily be used to hook or pull very fine things, where the bent pin can be used during insect dissections.
But the paperclip could be used for things that aren’t as small if you wanted to, though I don’t know how easy it is to bend them, I haven’t tried in several years.

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