A couple of threads in the gunsmithing section show springs that the OP has made themselves.
Having never seen them made myself, I am somewhat sceptical to attempt to make my own. It may have to do with almost getting pulled overboard on a fishing trip and the bed of my lathe looks a lot harder than the water we were on!
Would anyone here with experience and patience be prepared to outline the process, with pictures (or even better - video)?
this is probably one of the best write up on spring making there is for a novice/beginning spring maker.
http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/intro.html
A Couple words of caution!!!!!! Don't let the free end of the wire get loose while winding the spring specially with the larger wires, be careful when taking the spring out of the lathe or other winder. Remember that you are creating a device that will store up energy.
some pictures of springs that I have made on my lathe, easier to link the album then to post all the photos
http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd48...g/springs/
the video link below shows some people winding a spring out of what looks like two inch material
http://youtu.be/GRJLLT7VM14
(07-26-2012, 08:26 AM)Highpower Wrote: [ -> ] (07-26-2012, 08:07 AM)dallen Wrote: [ -> ]some pictures of springs that I have made on my lathe, easier to link the album then to post all the photos
http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd48...g/springs/
David, your album is password protected....
will have to correct that thanks for letting me know
you should be able to view the photos now I removed the private option don't know how that got turned on
There are a couple of pics in my Steven's Build thread of my spring winding set-up on the lathe. I just use a wooden pinch block in my tool holder to put drag on the wire and wind it around a mandrel. The pitch is controlled by the quick change gearbox. A word of caution if you try it: cut your wire to length before winding so you don't have a lot of extra wire flailing around if something goes wrong. Also, hold the end of the wire with a pair of pliers while standing well off to the side and run the spindle very slowly. Of course safety glasses are mandatory when working with wire.
Tom
There is one of the Workshop series of books that deal with springs its a pretty good read and gives all the math for figuring out the mandrel size with out the trial and error method that I use.
the fun part is when someone takes a coil of spring wire out of the box and cuts all the ties off of it. I use a lot of piano wire in three foot lengths from the hobby store to make springs with.
(07-26-2012, 09:25 AM)dallen Wrote: [ -> ]the fun part is when someone takes a coil of spring wire out of the box and cuts all the ties off of it.
Why do coiled bandsaw blades suddenly come to mind?
