Another place to get carbide rods is:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com
They have individual carbide drill and router bits at $0.99 apiece. They 
also pretty much always have a grab bag of bits.  I just checked and 
item no. G13259 is a bag of 8 or so bits for $2 -- a great deal. I've 
bought these over the years from Goldmine to use in my Dremel tool. 
They're a great bargain.  When the Dremel HS steel burrs and router are 
used on steel, they dull instantly, whereas the carbide bits keep on 
taking away metal.  They're the only bits I use.  I tend to break them 
faster than I wear them out.  With regards to seismo pivots, the shanks 
are a consistent 1/8" size for everything and the router bit were mirror 
polished in the last batch I bought maybe six months ago  so you might 
not even have to polish them.  So far as I can figure they're very good, 
micro-grain carbide bits that come out of the circuit board industry.

Anyway, just another thought.
Regards,
Charles Patton
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