spring steel

[Luke]

watching wallace gusler coloinal gunsmith dvd when he is building the lock spring steel is brought up ,were can i purchase this or can i get it out of the old wagons ive taken apart,thanks guys .luke

[David Rase]

I use 1084 high carbon steel.  I think it is a little easier (forgiving) to work than 1095.  I buy my steel fro the New Jersey Steel Baron.  One 4 foot piece of 1/8" x 1" is less than $10.00.   A life time supply of spring steel.
David

[P.W.Berkuta]

I use 1084 high carbon steel.  I think it is a little easier (forgiving) to work than 1095.  I buy my steel fro the New Jersey Steel Baron.  One 4 foot piece of 1/8" x 1" is less than $10.00.   A life time supply of spring steel.
David

I have to agree with using 1084. I used to use 1075 and it worked well but it was hit or miss on the hardening and tempering and 1095 was worse for me. I purchased some 1084 from Admiral Steel (1/4" X 1" X 8 feet - Qty 3 pieces) a while back and I make knives, springs, and other STUFF out of it and it is a nice steel to work, harden, & temper.

[P.W.Berkuta]

watching wallace gusler coloinal gunsmith dvd when he is building the lock spring steel is brought up ,were can i purchase this or can i get it out of the old wagons ive taken apart,thanks guys .luke

Luke - if you want to try some send me your address and I'll send you a (+/-) 1/4" X 1" X 6" piece. it will be hot rolled and normalize you might have to anneal it.

[LRB]

I use 1084 high carbon steel.  I think it is a little easier (forgiving) to work than 1095.  I buy my steel fro the New Jersey Steel Baron.  One 4 foot piece of 1/8" x 1" is less than $10.00.   A life time supply of spring steel.
David

I have to agree with using 1084. I used to use 1075 and it worked well but it was hit or miss on the hardening and tempering and 1095 was worse for me. I purchased some 1084 from Admiral Steel (1/4" X 1" X 8 feet - Qty 3 pieces) a while back and I make knives, springs, and other STUFF out of it and it is a nice steel to work, harden, & temper.

1084 is an excellent choice of steel for springs or knives. The 1084 from the steel baron has a little vanadium added giving it a fine grain and deeper hardening, but even the common variety is very good.

[Michael]

If you can find one get a tine from a old hay rake. I think there 1075, nice to forge, file and hardens and tempers with out a lot of fuss.

[Gaeckle]

Do these steel suppliers have a website?

[Chris Treichel]

http://www.admiralsteel.com/

[gunmaker]

DWG has spring stock in 3-4 thicknesses $3.75 for 1" X 12"  not sure what kind, but it makes good knives & springs.     Tom

[Bob Roller]

I've used 1075 for about 50 years and have no reported problems
with springs.Last time I bought any was last year,a 50 pound bundle
from Lapham-Hickey.The last time I talked to Admiral Steel they were not
friendly to small orders and I haven't talked to them since.I predict that
this last 50 pound shipment will last me for as long as I need it to.

Bob Roller

[JCKelly]

www.mcmaster.com (McMaster-Carr) has 1074/1075 maximum thickness 3/16" (0.187")
1084 from www.admiralsteel.com  sounds good to me. More sizes available
Sorry, Bob, used to work for a Specialty Alloy warehouse. So, Admiral has my sympathy dealing with little guys. Sometimes depends on what human you talk to on the order desk, some of my employers' order desk types had no idea how to deal with anyone other than the PA of a substantial company. Try again, hope for a different person on the phone.

Agree with you all, 1075 or 1084 a little more forgiving of home heat treat than is 1095 or O1.

[wmaser]

I'm a scavenger. I make my springs out of automobile coil and leaf spring steel, old shovel blades, old saw blades and some high strength bolts.

[mattdog]

"The last time I talked to Admiral Steel they were not
friendly to small orders..."

It seems that if you're not willing to spend in the $500 range then they don't want to fool with you.  I once tried to order a half sheet of 1/8" 1095.  They told me I had to pay for the whole sheet or nothing.  Well I don't need a whole sheet and of course the shipping doubles with a whole sheet. (add three hundred for trucking...)  It wasn't the individual on the phone, it is their policy.

Does anybody out there have a 4 ft. x 4 ft. piece of 1095 they want to sell?

[JBlk]

There are many sources of free spring steel.Pitchfork tines, starting springs from old briggs engines, many automobile springs to name a few.Look at what the metal was used for in its original application and it is a good indicator of its properties.You will need to play around with some scraps to get the proper tempering colors but you will get alot of satisfaction when your spring works.

[David R. Pennington]

I made a very serviceable spring from hay rake tine. After the spring is completed I bring it slowly up to red heat and test with a magnet. When it no longer will draw the magnet I quench in oil and let it cool. Test with a file, if the file skates off it is good steel well hardened. Now you have to draw the temper. I put the spring in a little cut off tin soup can. I make a little scroll of the same tin to keep the spring up just off the bottom of the tin. I put enough oil in the tin to cover the spring. Set it on the forge and bring up the heat to boil the oil. When the oil flashes I set it off the fire and let it burn till all the oil is gone. I did a patchbox spring yesterday and since it was so small I just heated the tin resting on the open vise jaws with the propane torch underneath. When it flashed I set it down in the empty woodstove in the shop and left it. It made a good spring. It was made from regular spring stock that Brownells sells. My neighbor gave me some and it is a handy size, but a lot of the time I "recycle" used steel. Old tools are sometimes good sources.
 I've used this method to temper springs and so far has worked well.

[Bob Roller]

Try Lapham-Hickey in Chicago. I got my last spring steel from them.
The man I talked to was Jim Temple.

Bob Roller

[satwel]

David R,
What type of oil did you use for your quench and tempering? Motor oil?

Thank you

[pushboater]

I ordered the late Kit Ravenshears booklet on making V springs from TOTW and he recommended using the spring steel from DGW as it was the most forgiving in regards to heating and tempering.  I think it's 1074 or 1075.  it comes 12" long  X  1" wide and they carry 5 different thicknesses, 1/32", 3/64", 1/16", 3/32", and 1/8".  $3.75 ea. plus shipping.  You can order just one piece if you want and they won't have a problem sending it to you.  large order or small order, it doesn't matter to them.  I ordered some a few months back and I'm getting ready to make a mainspring for my Swivel Breech project with it. 

Capt. David

[RAT]

I tried making a mainspring from a truck coil spring. It didn't work. I ordered some  1/4" thick 1095 from Jantz supply that worked great. They sell supplies for making knives. They sell in small quantities and have spring steel up to 1/4" thick. Their prices are similar to Brownells and carry some of the same products.

[David R. Pennington]

I used 10W non detergent oil to quench. Just used motor oil to burn off.