Hand made springs

[Clark Badgett]

Got a big question here about spring making. I under stand the basic idea behind making mainsprings and the such, but how many here actually do it? I think I want to try my hand at this when I get home here a few more days  . I think this would be interesting to learn. I have some 1095 spring steel, in various thicknesses waiting on me at home that I ordered from Brownells. Will this steel work good or should I find some slightly lower carbon steel from one of the many supply houses around?

[Scott Bumpus]

I have made many springs from the brownell's stock and had good results.  I followed the oil burn of method shown in gunsmith kinks.  Out of every 10 made 2 or 3 would fail on first heat treat, some break meaning not enough draw, others would take too much set and those I would re-heat treat and usually would work. These springs were mosty for old shotguns  and such.  Made a few hand springs for single action revolvers.  Gunsmith kinks has a lot of good info on spring making.

[volatpluvia]

Clark,
I have tried making mainsprings twice.  Neither have actually done the job.  Both too weak.  Di not break however.  In boht cases I needed to use thicker material.  Just never did get around to doing it again.
volatpluvia

[Dphariss]

Get the little booklet on making springs by Kit Ravenshear.
I have made them from various steels, 0-1, 1095 and lower carbon like 1070-1060.
I think the lower carbon is probably easier. I tried this after reading Kit Ravenshear's booklet.
Don't over heat in quenching and draw to a really nice blue after polishing. Then bend slowly and gently the first few time and not to full bend right away.
Don't make them too thick. Cast springs are invariably too thick, forged spring can be thinner and still be plenty strong.
Dan

[westbj2]

Some members making springs use other material successfully but I prefer annealed soft 1095
Pretty simple:
1)Shape the material as close as you can to the desired shape by using a bright red heat.  If the spring is a good one you can file it further later to a precise fit.
2)Normalize the work.  Bring the spring to bright red again and hold the color for about 30-45 seconds.  You may need to use a flat piece of steel or whatever to lay the piece on while heating.  Heat indirectly from the bottom.  Allow to cool until you can pick it up with your hand.
3)Quench. Heat the piece again to bright red and quench in clean motor oil.  Dont allow any time for the piece to cool from red heat to immersion in the oil.
4)Draw.  I use a lead melting pot with a thermometer.  You need 675 degrees.
As the pot is heating up put a 1/16" or so sheet of copper on top of the pot and set the spring on top of that.  This will allow the part to come up to temperature gradually.  When 675 is indicated remove the copper sheet and knock the part carefully into the molten material.  Allow it to stay in the heat for 30-35 minutes.
Do's and dont's.....
Always apply heat in a gradual fashion.  Dont come with a big hot oxy-acetelene flame and shock the part.
When heating, if you heat excessively into orange/yellow and the piece begins to emit sparks you have just ruined it.  Start over.  There is no recovery from exceeding critical temperature.
Always bend the material while it is the bright red color.  Bending while dull red or colder will produce a defective spring.
Remember that a spring wants to be tapered uniformly in its length and cross-section.  This allows it to work over its entire length.
Dont forget the 'Normalizing' step.
Go for it!!!
Jim Westberg

[smart dog]

Clark,
I have made many springs including feather or frizzen springs that required adding welded metal for the finial.  Dan is right.  Buy Ravenshear's little book on springs.  It is available at Track of the Wolf.  A word of caution however, about his tempering method.  I like strong springs (my bias) and I found his tempering method (which you have to do outside because of the smoke) to produce somewhat soft springs unless I beefed up the metal thickness.  I am fortunate now to own an electric furnace that really allows me to experiment with temperatures for normalizing, hardening, and tempering to adjust the feel of the spring. 

dave 

[doug]

    I make 5 or more per year and forge them out of 3/8 drill rod which I think is up around 1090.  I heat them red hot with an oxypropane cutting torch and quench in water then draw in a bath of burning oil.  I used to draw the temper in molten lead at 680 F but find the oil easier and very dependable.  I have not had any break and am happy with their stiffness.

cheers Doug

[jerrywh]

I have probably made at least 100 springs by hand. I never used anything less than 1075.  01 or 1095 is better.  When annealed the high carbon steel actually files easier for me. It doesn't seem to gall or clog files as bad as low carbon.  Scratches and other things don't matter very much as long as you harden and temper correctly. The most important thing is to hold the tempering temp at least 15 minutes when tempering. I temper at 725 to 750 f.  .   If you don't have a furnace I recomend a lead bath and a lead themometer.  Others will argue of course.  After you break a few dozen you will find the truth.   Maybe

[Clark Badgett]

Thank you gentlemen. Luckily I already have all the references mentioned. The lead bath sounds very do-able. I'm sure this will be frustrating and fun all at the same time. I can't wait, my hands have been far too idle for far too long and I'm geetting antsy.

[rich pierce]

It's not going to break if you use the lead bath method.