Author Topic: Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?  (Read 2065 times)

Offline Gun_Nut_73

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Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?
« on: October 23, 2017, 08:35:35 AM »
I couldn't find anything using the search function.  I read Kit Ravenshear's booklet: "Simplified V Springs", but I am still not quite sure how to go about it.
 
A Bernz-O-Matic, pliers, hammer, file, and a vice anvil is the level of technology available.  I have read many apocryphal stories of using old hacksaw blades, etc, but almost no real information on what to do, or what to use as raw material.

Offline James Wilson Everett

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Re: Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2017, 01:40:10 PM »
Guys,

Look at the tutorial in metal shaping about making a frizzen spring.  It does touch a bit on making a sear spring which is done in a very similar manner.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=25950.msg247984#msg247984

A lot more detail is provided in the Gun Building topic, Making a Gunlock.  The process for making a sear spring is found on page 4 of 5.  This topic has been dormant for a while so you can find it by searching for the title.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=26825.msg344086#msg344086

Jim

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Re: Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2017, 02:04:17 PM »
Hi,
I don't believe there is a tutorial specific to sear springs but it may be covered in lock building threads.  Sear springs are not hard to make but it is best to use good spring steel like SAE 1075.  I don't what size spring you need so you have to gauge the length.  The spring should touch the top of the sear just behind the bolster on the sear for the screw.  Spring steel about 1/16" thick should work.  Cut it a little wider than you need so you are able to make the tab that fits into the slot on the lock plate.  Make the ring first.  For a #6 screw the hole diameter must be at least 0.13" so if the steel is 0.0625" thick (1/16") the outside diameter of the ring is 0.13+0.0625+0.0625= 0.255".  Multiply that by 3.14 (pi) = 0.8".  That is how much spring steel you need to allocate for the ring. Mark that length off. Heat that tab red hot with your torch and bend it up about 45 degrees.  I use unthreaded screw blanks of the diameter I need mandrils but you can also use a long screw of the size you need.  It just has to be long enough to be held firmly in a vise and used as a mandril for bending the spring steel. Put the mandril in the vise, heat the spring red hot and use needle nosed pliers to bend the steel around the mandril.  Once the ring is made, file the spring and ring thinner except at the tab.  At this point I polish up both sides of the spring while it is still flat.  Then determine where the bend goes. Anchor the ring in a vise and heat to red hot at the bend, use your pliers to bend it into a narrow "V".  If I want the bend to be very tight, I hold the spring in pliers, heat the bend to red, place the bend on an anvil and tap it closed with a hammer.  Try fitting the spring to the plate with the sear in place to adjust the length of the lower leaf and file it until it almost touches the sear bolster. Open the bend or bend the lower leaf down so it applies enough pressure on the sear.  Once fitted, heat the spring red hot, quench in oil and then polish off a flat surface so you can see clean steel clearly.  Then heat the spring very slowly with your torch and watch the color changes in the steel. It will progress from yellow to bronze to purple to deep blue and then the blue will lighten to a sky blue.  At that point stop heating and let it cool.  You can also temper it by dipping it in oil and flaming the oil with your torch.  If you do that 2 or 3 times it should be tempered. I prefer to watch the colors.

dave       
"The main accomplishment of modern economics is to make astrology look good."

Offline Bob Roller

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Re: Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2017, 03:11:03 PM »
I have never used the thin spring stock to make sear springs but most
new locks have them. The good looks and function of the English style
springs attracted my attention over 50 years ago and I have tried to make
them like that.
Altering an existing spring seems to be the easiest way to me.

Bob Roller

Offline L. Akers

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Re: Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2017, 05:14:00 PM »
IMO 1/16" stock is much too thick for a sear spring.   I'd use .020-.032 stock and follow Dave's forming advice, except before making the V bend I would file the inside of the lower limb to a taper from the bend location to the tip.  A sear spring does not need to have a lot of force.  It only has to be strong enough to positively push the sear nose into the notch.  It doesn't have to hold it there--the lock geometry does that (or it is supposed to).  I temper springs in a lead pot for 30 minutes at about 750 - 775F. 

Offline P.W.Berkuta

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Re: Is there a tutorial for making sear springs?
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2017, 07:32:23 PM »
I agree that 1/16" spring material is too thick for 95 % of the sear springs. I like 1/32" thick and will file or sand a taper into it from the screw eye to the tip of the end of the spring. 1075 is a good spring material to use so is 1080 or 1085 I do not use 1095 as it is a bit "finicky" to heat treat. Forming the spring to the correct length does take some skill to get it right and I make the spring longer than necessary so I can trim it back for a good fit. One word of caution is that since the spring is thin you have to be careful with the heating of the spring - it is very easy to bring up the heat too fast and burn the spring you will then need to make a new spring. As for tempering I have used the "burn off oil method" and the "lead bath method" with success. A half hour in the lead bath is excessive in my opinion - 5 to 10 minutes is enough when the lead is up to temp since the spring mass is so small it does not take long for the tempering heat to work it's magic.
"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it." - Chinese proverb