Mike,
You also don't want to use stainless steel threaded rod or screws -stainless istoo brittle and it will eventually break. You can buy standard zinc plated 6-32 screws at the hardware store and cut the heads off for a ruddder setup. They seem to be about right except sometimes it's hard to findreally long ones.

John Pavlick
Team Black Magic, Tech-Aero Designs