Need help with old pump

[rattler]

Hey there,
Last year I broke the ceramic shaft on my quiet one pump and had no luck in finding a replacement. This was my back up pump so I put it on my to do list and on the shelf it went. A few months ago I got to thinking that all the shaft does is align the impeller in the housing so why could you not use a stainless steel rod the same width and length? I found two lengths of stainless welding rod the proper width but have not tried to see if this works. May be others can chime in?

Cheers!

Geoff