Thanks, Jason & Mike!
I went to the McMaster site, and saw their breakers. Pretty nice! See:
http://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/107/html/0864.html
Jason: Which one of theirs did you get? Can you reinsert pins with it, or is it "one way"? Based on your experience, if we decide to buy a breaker from McMaster, which one would you recommend?
I think I have a lead on some chain, but I'm still looking locally for a breaker.
Now I found a BICYCLE chain breaker tool for $5 and tried it. It looks like a cheap C-clamp, and the metal wasn't very hard. I had to tweak the form with a Dremel for the size difference (#35 is a touch shorter center-to-center per link). Unfortunately the "hardened" push pin was TOO soft. It just bent over when I tried to use it for the first time. (Hmmm... I guess that's what I get for a $5 "commercial grade import"... ;-)
For now, I MAY be able to get away with just using a Dremel tool. I found I can grind off a pair of pins on an outer link and pop the link end cap off. It ruins that one link, but luckily we DO have a few master links to work with in the kit. I'd PREFER having a breaker that can open and close links without wrecking them, but if I find a bit more chain I think we can live with this method if absolutely necessary.
Now that we know what one LOOKS like, if we had more time we probably *could* make a breaker in the school's machine shop. (Maybe later we'll have the shop teacher give it to a student as a suggested "project"... ;-)
If anyone else has a better/cheaper breaker source (or simple breaking method that won't damage links) to recommend, please post it here.
Thanks!
- Keith McClary, Huron High Team 830