Advice on making spring

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djones
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Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

Hello,
The spring broke in one of my Chinese clone stiletto's.
I thought I would try to make a replacement.
First try was to buy music wire in the approximate diameter, but it was so stiff and springy that I could not make the necessary bends.
My next try will be to try drill rod and harden and temper it after bending.
The original spring appeared to be a stamped piece.
Yeah, i know, too much effort for a junk knife, but I would rather learn on this than ruin a good knife.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Dan
XBMX
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by XBMX »

You're probably going to have to remove the back spring in order to determine if the spring is repaceable or welded in.
djones
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

I have the old spring out. Just had to remove one pin. If I could make a proper spring it would be easy to install. I just need to duplicate the bends in the old spring, which I am having a hard time with.
Thanks
Dan
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by Bill DeShivs »

If you have the proper diameter music wire, just anneal it by heating to red and letting it air cool.
Make the necessary bends while it's soft.
Heat the spring to cherry red and quench it in canola oil WHILE IT IS RED. Check to make sure the piece is hard by testing with a file. The file should skate off of the steel. If it doesn't, re-harden.
Clean the spring to bright steel and gently temper to just past blue color if using a torch.
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djones
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

Thanks,
That was exactly what I was looking for...a recipe.
Dan
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JimBrown257
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by JimBrown257 »

This isn't a good practice knife as these are the only ones that have these pinned in weird bend springs.
djones
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

I did not know that either. Well let me try. It will be good experience anyway. I am not at all sure I will be successful.
Thanks
Dan
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JimBrown257
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by JimBrown257 »

I would get a cheap two-piece auto that needs a new slip in spring. Replacing a spring is a great place to start if you want to learn to work on knives. Putting that three point bend in a spring for an Edge Co type is something you will most likely never have to do again.
djones
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

It looks like JimBrown257 may be right. Getting the bends right may be more than i am capable of. I followed Bill's advice on heating the wire and now it is much easier to bend. Well, I ain't giving up yet.
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JimBrown257
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by JimBrown257 »

You can also use a small file to expand the open area at the bent spots. Or get a piece of raw steel and cut/file it out to the exact shape then heat treat it.

Or if you just need a new spring for that knife, I might have a 9" pinned type spring in my spare parts.
sammy the blade
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by sammy the blade »

Bingo
2024 candidate for president
djones
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

Well, on the second try, I have an almost working knife. The first spring snapped, because I tried to test without annealing. Like JimBrown257 mentioned, the original spring had geometry that I could not duplicate, so I just made a simpler bend that seems to work. I replaced the brass pin that holds the spring in with a small nail. And it works, sort of. The spring is a little too weak. It will usually snap the blade out hard enough to lock in place, but not always. I am not sure if the round wire I used is too weak, (the original spring had a rectangular cross section.) Or my bend is wrong or I screwed up the hardening/tempering. But it works most of the time, so I am satisfied. If it was anything other than a cheap Chinese knife, I might not be so happy.
Thanks for all the advice.
Dan
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JimBrown257
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by JimBrown257 »

Are you saying your tried hardening/tempering the round music wire? That stuff doesn't harden like regular steel.
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Advice on making spring

Post by Bill DeShivs »

?? Music wire is 1095 steel.
Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler
http://www.billdeshivs.com
Factory authorized repairs for:
Latama, Mauro Mario, LePre, Colonial, Kabar, Flylock, Schrade Cut Co., Presto, Press Button, Hubertus, Grafrath, Kuno Ritter knives, Puma, Burrell Cutlery.
djones
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Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 12:31 pm

Re: Advice on making spring

Post by djones »

This is what I used:

Lubricated 1080 Spring Steel Wire
0.105" Diameter, 1 Foot Long
From McMaster Carr

It was very stiff as purchased, but I annealed like Bill said and It was fairly easy to work then. I think I screwed up by cutting it to length before hardening/tempering so that the part of the wire that I held with pliers did not harden properly. Any way, it works (most of the time). And again thanks for the assistance.
I learned stuff. Mostly to appreciate the skills of people like Bill, who have been doing this for a while. That my spring worked at all on the second try was good enough for me.

Thanks
Dan
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