I need to make some small compression springs for a Studer cylindrical grinder I am refurbishing.
The original springs or made from 0.6mm wire and are approximately 20mm long by 3mm OD.
I was thinking of making these from some guitar strings I have 0.024" and winding them on the lathe.
I've looked at the Hemingway spring winder which looks ideal to get a consistent wind but is quite expensive considering I only need to make 1o of these springs.
Does anyone have any drawings of a spring winding tool or any suggestions on making these springs.
I know I could probably buy them ready made but I prefer the challenge of making them.
When I've wound springs using the lathe I've just made a toolpost clamp from a couple of bits of plastic to add some 'drag' to the wire, and used the leadscrew with an appropriate TPI selected to wind the spring. Of course the 'thread' is run backwards, so the saddle moves away from the chuck.
The only tool you need, other than Andrew's toolpost guide is a rod with a hole to take the end of the wire. You will have to experiment a bit to get the diameter right.
It's a good idea to wind the chuck by hand rather than under power until you get the hang of things and wear safety glasses just in case!
There's an interesting method using a hand drill in Vic Smeed's 'Hint's and Tips for Model Engineers' in the workshop practice series.
Basically you thread the wire through som holes ina sheet of paxolin, and run a mandrel fitted to the drill in a hole. For compression springs the wire has to feed onto the mandrel through a slot in the side of its hole, apparently the way the roces work you end up with a compression spring that 'unwinds' itself to size.
I have a toolpost clamp with two heavy brass washers to give tension on the wire, and clamp the wire end under one of the chuck jaws. experiment with the mandrel dia. first. Wind extra length and cut to length. Do not cut the loose end until tension is taken off the wire.
I have made various springs mainly hairpin tuypes for my flash steamer and found this site very good.
Piano wire was used from a model shop but the quality and finish varies depending on the manufacturer.
Unfortunately the link above at http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/intro.html no longer works.
I found the site very useful. Anybody know if it has moved to somewhere else?
Agreed Robert, a most useful site, I was winding a spring this week for a knurling tool using its instructions. It has been archived by the "Wayback Machine" at **LINK** or maybe more usefully here .
When I was a jeweller coils of wire were made using a plain round rod in the jaws of an ordinary hand drill held in a vice. Make a right angle in the end of your wire, and thread it down a slot in the chuck, Put tension on the wire and turn the handle, and the coil is formed. I have made springs this way using spring stainless wire (hard drawn) - with a bit of manipulation to square off the ends. Be careful as you get to the end of the wire, as the last bit will stay straight (and gouge youyr hand, etc). And use pliers with rounded jaws for holding and bending - you don't want nicks in the wire.
You may need to do a few practice runs to get the diameter right (as the wire always springs back when the tension is released) - and perhaps try different wire diameters to get you rate correct.
The best way (the way industry does it) is to form the wire against a coiling point. You could possibly do this using a mig welder to feed the wire and making a small coiling head out of some little ball bearings or silver steel bushes screwed to a plate. The wire needs to pass over the first roller at tangency with a second "coiling roller" placed a little higher to form the wire against. You then need a third "guide" roller to control the helix of your spring. Industrial coiling heads are a little more complex but in this basic form you would be able to coil a number of serviceable springs at any diameter you want by moving the position of the coiling roll relative to the support roll.
have you thought of using springs out of shrader valves on car/bike tyres? ive plenty of spring wire for making your own if you want some. i think spring wire would be preferable to using guitar spring wire. ive a large tin of various gauges and am never going to use all of them so you are welcome to have whatever you want. PM me if i can be of help.