spring stock - ideas please

[rickster]

I've noticed there are some resourceful folks here. Its gonna be rainy for a while so I thought I would fix up an old tang sight. I need a small (1/4 x 1 in) piece of 0.030 flat spring stock and nothing comes to mind. I never throw anything away and I bought an old farmsted well stocked with "treasures," so I am sure there is something somewhere. Ideas?

[rtracy2001]

Binder clips? I have not measured thickness, but they may be somewhere close to that.

RT

[housedad]

Try steel strapping. Some of them, especially the blue ones are spring treated. Might bee too thick though.

[lead-1]

I had an older gunsmithing book around here that the guy used a hacksaw blade for a mag follower in a bolt gun. It showed the whole process an removing the teeth and how to heat it to make the desired bends but I am unsure of the thickness of the blades.

[housedad]

More:

Reeds from a old 2 cycle outboard.
Reeds from a air compressor
Old metal vacuum cleaner steel hoses. The spring inside the tube with a button on it. These are used in a LOT of different things

Hope it helps

[jbunny]

outboard motor rope rewind spring
jb

[Frozone]

outboard motor rope rewind spring
jb ANY lawn mower (small engine) rewind spring.

[Bret4207]

Chainsaw rewind spring.

[jbunny]

original question was for .030 thick. the old outboard rewindspring were
about .030. the smal engines rewinds are conciderbly thinner.

on second thought, why not use a .030 feeler gauge leaf. they are heat treated and redily availible
and not expensive. good industrial supply houses sell individul feeler gauge leafs.
jb

[peter nap]

original question was for .030 thick. the old outboard rewindspring were
about .030. the smal engines rewinds are conciderbly thinner.

on second thought, why not use a .030 feeler gauge leaf. they are heat treated and redily availible
and not expensive. good industrial supply houses sell individul feeler gauge leafs.
jb

Last night I bought a "MINI FEELER GAUGE ET" at Autozone. Needed shim for a an H&R barrel I was fitting. $2.95

They are about the right size to start.

[Cap'n Morgan]

You could try a hacksaw blade, but many of the modern blades will need re-hardening as only the teeth are hardened.

A good, but little known source for quality spring steel are the bundled torsion spring leaves from a car e.g. a VW Beetle.

[KCSO]

I'll throw in what the fellow who taught me would have done. I would have had to hammer and file a blank from a chunk of rake tooth and harden it to suit. Luckily I quit doing that and now I buy a pack of spring stock blanks asst sizes from Brownell's for $12.

[rickster]

Hey you guys are good.

Tried feeler gauge first. I use them to shim up tools on the lathe. But it was too hard and could not be worked. I was surprised since some are rather soft.

tried hacksaw blade next. It is a bit thin at .025, but could be worked. Broke it while installing the rivet. I have some rewind springs at the farm, on the other side of 2 miles of mud. I imagine they would work best.

Might try some little jig saw blades. They are the right size. Not sure how workable they are.

[peter nap]

I forgot two of my favorite spring sources. Plumbers snake (or wire pulling snake) and old windshield wiper blades.

[rickster]

Binder clips turned out to be the winner. The biggest clip was a bit thin, but was workable and made of excellent spring material. Not quite as strong as the original, but it works.

[scrockett]

If you have or a friend has a bandsaw the worn out or broken blades make great spring stock. Anneals,hardens and tempers very well. Also for thicker stock the "sawzall" blades are available in many lengths and thicknesses, very good material in the Millwakee brand.