Spring Steel

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jeffsmith
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Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:33 pm
Location: Mead, Colorado
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Spring Steel

Post by jeffsmith »

I am making some leaf springs for tender trucks. I am using blued #1095 spring steel. What is the best way to bend a curve into the leaves so they will take a set. Any suggestions out there. Thanks
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Greg_Lewis
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Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 2:44 pm
Location: Fresno, CA

Re: Spring Steel

Post by Greg_Lewis »

I just bent mine with my fingers over a piece of pipe of some eyeballed diameter. Bend before drilling any holes.
Greg Lewis, Prop.
Eyeball Engineering — Home of the dull toolbit.
Our motto: "That looks about right."
Celebrating 35 years of turning perfectly good metal into bits of useless scrap.
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Fender
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Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 8:33 pm
Location: Chattanooga TN

Re: Spring Steel

Post by Fender »

Try hammering them against a steel pipe with a rubber hammer. This makes a smooth curve, and prevents a kink.
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
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Dick_Morris
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:09 pm
Location: Anchorage, AK

Re: Spring Steel

Post by Dick_Morris »

I made a die from a piece of pipe with a spigot welded on and some 2x4 with a radius cut into it, used on an arbor press. Some experimentation is needed to get the radius right. Some of what I got came off the roll at about the right radius.

Something I learned while acquiring spring material, some of what I bought is rolled to the correct width with nicely rounded edges, some other is sheared to width and has a somewhat rough edge.
hoppercar
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Re: Spring Steel

Post by hoppercar »

I rolled mine thru a sheet metal roller, made easy work of it
Marty_Knox
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Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2003 6:50 pm
Location: Michigan, USA

Re: Spring Steel

Post by Marty_Knox »

hoppercar wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:03 am I rolled mine thru a sheet metal roller, made easy work of it
Just make sure to run it through both ways so you don't end up with a flat spot at one end.
Steve Goodbody
Posts: 219
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 7:16 am

Re: Spring Steel

Post by Steve Goodbody »

Hi Jeff,

With my loco springs (1/16" x 1") I bent the steel when in unhardened / un-tempered condition using a simple curved hardwood press tool (a male and female former) squeezed together in the bench vice. I pressed long lengths of steel a short section at a time to create a continuous curve, then cut the springs to length afterwards avoiding any flat sections. Then I hardened the leaves - cherry red and oil quench - followed by tempering in molten lead.

I tweaked the bottom leaves to a slightly tighter radius in order to pre-load the pack and keep everything tightly together upon assembly.
20.jpg
Best regards
Steve
KarlKobel
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Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:53 pm

Re: Spring Steel

Post by KarlKobel »

I rolled mine thru a sheet metal roller, made easy work of it
Hoppercar didn't say whether he rolled them individually or the whole length before they were cut like I did mine.
That way I could get the 'correct' radius for all of the pieces.
I set up a stop in the shear to make each length in turn.

My tender has 12 sets of spring assemblies per truck.

Sorry, no pictures of the spring construction.
http://www.karlkobel.com/Tender/TenderTrucks/index.html

Karl
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