Spring steel question

[Randall Steffy]

My search of McMaster Carr shows spring steel 1074/1075 available.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-steel-sheets/=jqfvdc

[James]

Thank you for the sources, I had some metal suppliers bookmarked, but 1070/1075 were not in the offerings they had.Thanks again for your help, Jim

[Chuck Burrows]

Admiral Steel does sell 1075/1080 in smaller amounts with a $25.00 minimum - just look under their blade steels.

But IMO the currently available best spring steel is the 1084 from Aldo - the New Jersey Steel Baron - this steel is custom ordered and has VERY high quality control unlike most others that mostly come from China - the latter as far as I know includes Admiral and MSC - my Dad a master machinist made thousands of springs from 1084 and I've made hundreds of springs for various uses along with hundreds of knife blades from 1084/1085 - FWIW 1084 was the steel most often used for car springs prior to the the 1960's when alloys like 5160 became more widely used. Aldo also sell 1075 but it's twice the price of 1084 and for springs there's not a spits worth of difference at least in my experience..

One other thing ALWAYS check the steel breakdown list for the piece you bought - those numbers such as 1075 are only nominal - the chemical makeup including the carbon content can vary - sometimes considerably and that MUST be taken into consideration when heat treating the steel - note how Admiral sells 1075/1080 - I've known guys who bought it over several years and the batches varied considerably - some being 1065 and other being 1085  - the last two number being the percentage of carbon - 1065 = .65% and 1085 = .85% - while nominally close they will heat treat differently for optimum performance

[Bob Roller]

I am glad to hear Admiral Steel finally woke up to the fact that a fast $5 is better than a slow$20. The last time
I called them,their tone was hostile and my call apparently was viewed as a PITA. I no longer need them and the
1075 I now have will probably finish out my life as a metal working craftsman at my current slow/low rate of shop
time.

Bob Roller

[mattdog]

I recently contacted Admiral about some 1095.  Only available in full sheets.  I asked about 1/2 sheet.  He said "sure, but we'll still charge you for the full sheet - plus a cutting fee"  So I said "I guess I'll take the whole sheet" - but - it's so heavy that it ships on a truck and the shipping is as much as the steel.  !!  I didn't want to invest over $700 and certainly didn't need that much material and don't want to store the leftover so I blew it off.  They aren't very customer friendly.

[4ster]

I think DGW sells 1070-1075 1" wide by 12" long.
At least is was 1070 a few years back.
Dan

I ordered some of this a while back because it was the source recommended in Ravenshear's book on springs. The price is certainly fair.   It is disconcerting that they don't list the type of steel, other than "spring steel". 

[Rifle]

The 1070 or 1075 must mean the steel has .70% or .75% carbon.Note the decimal point in the numbers. 
A comparison would be the 1095 used so much for knife blades. They tout it as high carbon steel blades but to me the .95% carbon is low carbon steel. Not brittle.
Anywhooooo.....you can call Dixie, if that's where you got the spring steel, and ask for "The Gunsmith" in house. I think his name is Jamie like it must be actually James. He could tell you what kind of steel it is.
If you quench then anneal your steel and the anneal is tempered to ,say 600 degrees and is brittle then some steel is annealed at 900 degrees....fromwhat I understand. Anywhoooo...if you temper after quenching and the steel is too soft and not springy the temper was too hot and if the steel is brittle the temper was too cold.
That's what I understand it to be.....my two cents on the subject.

[RAT]

For small quantities try Jantz Supply. They have carbon steel for knife making. Some is listed as 1095 and some as 1075.

[Chuck Burrows]

The 1070 or 1075 must mean the steel has .70% or .75% carbon.Note the decimal point in the numbers. 
A comparison would be the 1095 used so much for knife blades. They tout it as high carbon steel blades but to me the .95% carbon is low carbon steel. Not brittle.

That may be to you for whatever reason, but high carbon steel for knife blades and other uses such as springs is considered from .60% up to around 1.5% (there are some specialty knife steels above that but they take special equipment to properly heat treat, but most blades are made from steels in the .75% (1075, etc.) to 1.00% (01, etc) . Above .85% you have hypereutectoid steel which generally needs soak times and good controllable heat for getting the BEST out of them. At the .85% eutectoid all of the carbon will go into solution, above that the extra carbon forms carbides which don;t necessarily increase hardness, but do increase edge retention and wear. Unheat treated steels such as 1095 aren't brittle but heat treated and leave it untempered or wrongly tempered and it's brittle. Knife blades are generally tempered at around 350°-450°F dependent on type putting them in the 56-62 RC hardness range when finished (files, most good ones anyway, are made from 1095 or W2 are left hard in order to cut steel with and are thus brittle). Springs on the other hand need to be tempered at higher temps and lower hardness for flexibility.
Cast iron, dependent on the type, is in the 2-5% carbon range and is usually brittle.

mattdog - give Aldo a call for 1095 and most other steels. As for Admiral you apparently got the wrong department - their knife dept sells 1095 and others in 6' long bars in various thicknesses and widths - you can even order them on line here http://www.admiralsteel.com/shop/
For some at Admiral reason the two depts don't seem to communicate

[James]

Is there any reason I can't buy one thickness of stock, say whatever the thickest spring I may need is, and then forge a thinner spring from it if need be? Dixie and Brownells have various thicknesses. The thinnest I find on the Admiral site is 1/8", which is fine for some of my needs, but too thick for others. They are selling 5' for what 2' costs at Dixie.

[heinz]

You can swage it out.  Just be careful to not overheat the material, you can burn some of the carbon out when things get bright yellow and sparkly.  I try to work it at cherry down to dull red.  You also do not want to work it too cold as it is prone to stress faults and cracks.  So, if you control your temperature you will get good results.