Terminating springs

[Clarence3815]

Morning all.

I have a long tension spring from which I wish to cut 16 10 coil long pieces plus termination allowance.

Any one have any ideas as to how to form a tidy loop on each end of the springs please?

Bernard

 

[simond]

Bernard,

you’ll have to heat it to destroy the temper. You’ll be able to cut it more easily and also reform the end as desired. You may need to reheat and chill to harden it up again, depending on the load you’ll apply

cheers
Simon

 

[Chas Levin]

Bernard,

you’ll have to heat it to destroy the temper. You’ll be able to cut it more easily and also reform the end as desired. You may need to reheat and chill to harden it up again, depending on the load you’ll apply

cheers
Simon

Hello Simon, may I please ask, can that be done multiple times or does it start to affect the springiness? And can it be done with springs made of different materials or alloys, or are all springs made of steel?

 

[Clarence3815]

Just to finish off.

I`ve made all the springs. I worked the coils in my fingers and passed each straightened end through a hole in the mechanism and held it in place with a securing nut, bolt and washers.

 

[simond]

Hello Simon, may I please ask, can that be done multiple times or does it start to affect the springiness? And can it be done with springs made of different materials or alloys, or are all springs made of steel?

Chas,

I'm not a metallurgist, or a materials scientist, but will go so far as to say, pretty much everything solid is a spring, and you could stretch the point to say that if sound travels through it, it’s a spring of some sort, so gases and liquids too. Some things are far worse than others, because they are really soft (eg solder wire, or jelly) or reach a failure point before they can do anything useful (brittle things like glass) but pretty much everything deforms when you push it, and springs back to where it was when you stop. Even glass, it “Pings” when you tap it, the vibration is a result of its springiness. Basically, if it deforms a bit under load, and returns to its previous shape when the force is removed…

“Springs” as in bits of coiled wire, or leaf springs, can be made from various varieties of steels, alloyed normally, stainless sometimes, or bronzes, and other materials, including plastics & rubbers. it’s generally true to say that useful springs are made of hard materials that are not too brittle, nor too ductile. Cheese is particularly useless.

If we’re talking steel, you can soften and re-harden it with temperature, quenching, slow cooling, etc, but it’s likely that, unless you have very precise control over your processes, you’re going to degrade it so you’d probably choose not to do it more than necessary. Lots of stories about making things that need to be ultra hard (cutting edges) and yet not brittle, samurai swords being a famous example.

Bronzes are generally not treated in the same way as steels, and I don‘t believe that tempering is possible, but please refer to my opening statement!

obviously none of this applies to plastic or composite springs (think fibreglass bow for archery, or some vehicles which have composite suspension springs) where heat treatment is not part if the process of manufacture.

I’m not at all sure this is a useful answer to your question…

 

[Chas Levin]

Chas,

I'm not a metallurgist, or a materials scientist, but will go so far as to say, pretty much everything solid is a spring, and you could stretch the point to say that if sound travels through it, it’s a spring of some sort, so gases and liquids too. Some things are far worse than others, because they are really soft (eg solder wire, or jelly) or reach a failure point before they can do anything useful (brittle things like glass) but pretty much everything deforms when you push it, and springs back to where it was when you stop. Even glass, it “Pings” when you tap it, the vibration is a result of its springiness. Basically, if it deforms a bit under load, and returns to its previous shape when the force is removed…

“Springs” as in bits of coiled wire, or leaf springs, can be made from various varieties of steels, alloyed normally, stainless sometimes, or bronzes, and other materials, including plastics & rubbers. it’s generally true to say that useful springs are made of hard materials that are not too brittle, nor too ductile. Cheese is particularly useless.

If we’re talking steel, you can soften and re-harden it with temperature, quenching, slow cooling, etc, but it’s likely that, unless you have very precise control over your processes, you’re going to degrade it so you’d probably choose not to do it more than necessary. Lots of stories about making things that need to be ultra hard (cutting edges) and yet not brittle, samurai swords being a famous example.

Bronzes are generally not treated in the same way as steels, and I don‘t believe that tempering is possible, but please refer to my opening statement!

obviously none of this applies to plastic or composite springs (think fibreglass bow for archery, or some vehicles which have composite suspension springs) where heat treatment is not part if the process of manufacture.

I’m not at all sure this is a useful answer to your question…

Morning Simon, thank you for such an informative answer! I instinctively feel you must be right about degrading through too much repetition of heating and cooling cycles, but I'll have a read around as that must have been tested in various industrial or mechanical applications, musn't it?

Otherwise, you make some very interesting wider points: I hadn't thought about the fact that such a very wide range of things are springs in a sense, though not used as such. I'm thinking now about how the property of springiness is used in many different ways without employing the metal coils of leaves we usually think of.

Though not, as you point out, cheese. Mind you, what about a cheese such as Emmental, which is bendy and which does have a slight springiness to it? Or that Bavarian smoked stuff?

Back to sensible things: the springiness of steel is what allows loco frames (full size, I mean) and rails to flex under load, isn't it?

Apologies to Clarence3815, as this is rather off-topic.

 

[OzzyO]

Chas,

I'm not a metallurgist, or a materials scientist, but will go so far as to say, pretty much everything solid is a spring, and you could stretch the point to say that if sound travels through it, it’s a spring of some sort, so gases and liquids too. Some things are far worse than others, because they are really soft (eg solder wire, or jelly) or reach a failure point before they can do anything useful (brittle things like glass) but pretty much everything deforms when you push it, and springs back to where it was when you stop. Even glass, it “Pings” when you tap it, the vibration is a result of its springiness. Basically, if it deforms a bit under load, and returns to its previous shape when the force is removed…

“Springs” as in bits of coiled wire, or leaf springs, can be made from various varieties of steels, alloyed normally, stainless sometimes, or bronzes, and other materials, including plastics & rubbers. it’s generally true to say that useful springs are made of hard materials that are not too brittle, nor too ductile. Cheese is particularly useless.

If we’re talking steel, you can soften and re-harden it with temperature, quenching, slow cooling, etc, but it’s likely that, unless you have very precise control over your processes, you’re going to degrade it so you’d probably choose not to do it more than necessary. Lots of stories about making things that need to be ultra hard (cutting edges) and yet not brittle, samurai swords being a famous example.

Bronzes are generally not treated in the same way as steels, and I don‘t believe that tempering is possible, but please refer to my opening statement!

obviously none of this applies to plastic or composite springs (think fibreglass bow for archery, or some vehicles which have composite suspension springs) where heat treatment is not part if the process of manufacture.

I’m not at all sure this is a useful answer to your question…

Deep.

ATB

OzzyO.

PS. plywood is also a good spring.

 

[michael mott]

Morning all.

I have a long tension spring from which I wish to cut 16 10 coil long pieces plus termination allowance.

Any one have any ideas as to how to form a tidy loop on each end of the springs please?

Bernard

What is the diameter of said spring? And also the diameter of the wire of which the spring is formed from. In my experience softening and rehardening of small springs is tricky because the spring will need to be tempered after hardening or it can become brittle just like glass and shatter! I’m not saying that it is impossible to do but it is not easy. I have made a lot of small springs in my time and have found that it is best to work with the springs without mucking around with heat. Are the springs going to be used for compression or extension? I think from your original post you are going to be using them for extension. To cut the spring you will need some hard cutters or a grinding type cutting wheel for a dremel type tool, cut the spring a couple of coils longer to allow for the loops at the ends. Next you will need a couple of pairs of thin blades pliers so that you can hold and fold up the end loops. I have used this method for modifying existing springs and for winding my own from the appropriate diameter of music wire. Good luck.
And both cheeses are delicious by the way.

Michael

 

[Phil O]

Having made a few tension springs in my time, there are a lot of variables to be considered, usually the work is done by the design division. The things to be considered are:-

The purpose of the spring.
The amount of tension required,
The overall length of the spring at rest and under tension.
The above dictates the wire diameter and the diameter to which it's wound. Thicker wire/rod may need to be annealed to allow the spring to be formed and then hardened and tempered, sometimes to very tight tolerances. Depending on the use.