The problem you run into is $2.60 is the minimum shipping for a package. You can't ship a bail in an envelope. It will get caught in the sorting machine. Try a local flea market. You can pick one up cheap. You also might post a picture so it will be certain which one you need.
“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.” (Paulo Coelho)
Men make plans and God laughs
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
just bob wrote:You can't ship a bail in an envelope. It will get caught in the sorting machine.
Sure you can. Sandwich it between a couple of index cards, tape it to one of them and seal the edges together with tape. I've sent small items in a standard envelope that way several times with no problem. Piece of cheese.
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
Sure you can. Sandwich it between a couple of index cards, tape it to one of them and seal the edges together with tape. I've sent small items in a standard envelope that way several times with no problem. Piece of cheese.
NO! I sent bail to Dimitri inside a Christmas card and it got caught in a sorting machine and shredded to pcs. He got the shreds.
Maybe sometimes one might slide through but it isn't a good practice and shouldn't be recommended at all. Contact your local post office for additional information on the subject. If someone is paying for something it should include tracking anyway.
“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.” (Paulo Coelho)
Men make plans and God laughs
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
Years ago when I was buying tokens on ebay it wasn't unusual for the seller to try and save a buck and ship them in an envelope. More than once the envelope with the tokens got caught in the sorting machine and was damaged. That is very common. Shipping rigid items in an envelope is not a good practice. Here is the postal policy and while it doesn't mention knife bail's specifically it does mention keys and coins. There are also links on Google showing envelopes are being returned to the sender for being too rigid.
Letters that can be sorted on automated equipment get better postage prices than those which can't. Such pieces are called "machinable" letters. A piece that meets the size requirements above is considered a machinable letter if it also:
Weighs no more than 3.3 ounces; AND,
Is rectangular (except that letter-sized cards may have rounded corners with a radius of no more than 1/8 inch); AND,
Does NOT have any of the following characteristics:
Its length divided by its height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5 (a square piece would have a length divided by height of 1, meaning that square pieces are not machinable); OR,
It is polybagged, polywrapped, or enclosed in any plastic material; OR,
It has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices; OR,
It contains items such as pens, pencils, or loose keys or coins that cause the thickness of the mail piece to be uneven; OR,
It is too rigid to bend around an 11" diameter turn in the sorting machines; OR,
It has a thickness under 0.009 inch, (only applies for pieces at least 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long); OR,
It has the address running in the same direction as the shorter sides instead of the longer sides; OR,
It is a folded self-mailer and has a fold that is perpendicular to the address, unless it meets special USPS folding and sealing requirement for pieces with perpendicular folds; OR
It is a booklet and does not meet USPS binding and sealing requirements for booklets.
A letter that is not "machinable" is called "nonmachinable".
“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.” (Paulo Coelho)
Men make plans and God laughs
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
As I said, my opinion and recommendation is based on my experience. I've done it a number of times over the years and never had a problem so we will just have to agree to disagree.
Forged on the anvil of discipline.
The Few. The Proud.
Jerry D.
This country has become more about sub-groups than about it's unity as a nation.
"The #72 pattern has got to be pretty close to the perfect knife."
--T.J. Murphy 2012
You can buy nickel-silver rods at a hobby store, like Hobby Lobby and make your own. I'm assuming the bail just fits into holes on the bolsters and are not pinned through the bolsters.
Charlie Noyes
DE OPPRESSO LIBER
"...Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons ___but they are helpless against our prayers. "