Below is a list of Nickel Rod manufacturers from Chicago, Illinois. Nickel rod refers to a solid, straight bar that can be either round or square, although round is much more common, and is composed of either high purity nickel or nickel-based alloys. Nickel rod is generally carried by nickel suppliers rather than nickel fabricators, because although nickel must be fabricated into rods, nickel rod is typically used as a billet, or a solid piece of metal used as the blank slate for forming processes.