Quinn - I have made some springs on my lathe, but you added so many steps of refinement I never realized were possible. Thanks for an enjoyable, and super-useful video!
I'm a fairly long time hobby spring maker since I need a lot of custom sizes for one of my other hobbies. I wind my springs differently than you but given your need to make multiple identical copies I would and will use your idea for when I need the same. Your method has more control over the initial shape than my own freehand method. One last step to suggest though. You want to "passivate" or post form relax the springs with a sub temper heat soak. Without this last step I found that my springs would easily collapse or stretch. After the relaxation heat soak the springs "remember" their new shape and return to it despite being stretched or compressed fully to the limit. The heat soak is a 450F at 20 minutes in my old toaster oven followed by a 50F reduction at 15 minute intervals until the oven is off. The wire comes out with a light to medium straw. So well below the usual "spring blue" temperature. And with that last step your shop springs will be as good or better than commercial springs. The idea for this came after watching a lot of videos to figure out why my springs were not as springy as commercial ones. A YT video in passing right at the end said "...and now off to a passivation heat treatment...." and left me hanging. That led to some searches and my trial of this 450F relaxation step which you'll find works amazingly well. If in doubt by all means fish a few of the discarded springs you showed at the end and test them both pre and post "relaxing" and see for yourself. I've even stretched commercial springs back to length and did this same relaxation treatment to them. And they hold the new length very well. For my arbors I bought a set of transfer punches. The punches are secured in one of three short 1" diameter blocks that have a center hole and an offset hole on the face. I secure the right angle bend of the wire in the offset hole with a screw from the side and the punch with another screw. The holes for the punches being different sizes to accept 1/3 the range of the punches. A little wobble but it's not a big deal. I'll make a few more at the inbetween sizes to go with your controlled feed method when needed. And for use with your tool post wire feeder I'd then use a cup center for the point of the punch to rest into. So far I've used a different tool that is self balancing so I don't need the tail stock support.. Springs are a key element of many of our projects. It's nice to see a different approach which is aimed at your specific need. Nicely done!
One quick thing - on that passivation treatment, you can use sand to help control the cooldown. If you preheat the sand and throw the springs in, give it a couple minutes and then kill the heat and it'll cool slowly like you want but without requiring constant monitoring. Let's you carry on with other tasks while the springs do their sauna time and get all relaxed. 😉 You just need some kind of small(?) metal container for enough sand to surround the springs by at least their diameter. The sand holds all the thermal energy and cools slowly from the outside in, so don't go shallow and wide here - think more cube shaped if you have the room (this obviously depends on the size of the springs being made). The nice thing is that almost any basic sheet metal box is sufficient for the task, and any method of getting it up to temperature is also perfectly acceptable. Another side benefit is that if you're measuring the temperature of the sand first, you have 0% chance of overheating the springs and ruining their temper. 😉 This is actually an excellent way to temper literally anything you want to - the mass of the sand helps to control the temperature and also helps to heat the item more rapidly and thoroughly. And in the case of springs, allows that slow cooldown that is so important to their functional temper.
@@Broadpaw_Fox That's true. But the trick is to hold the spring at the 425 to 450F temperature reasonably accurately for around 20 minutes or more before the slow cool down. I'd want to pre-heat the sand in a tray of some sort to temp first and then push the spring(s) into the sand, soak for around 30 to 40 minutes and then turn off the oven. While this would certainly work just fine I'm thinking that the same amount of energy used to pre-heat the sand is roughly what I use up during the graduated cool down. And if you're suggesting using a torch of some sort I simply don't have the temperature measuring or controls to manage that. So it's a toaster oven for me.
@@brucematthews6417- yeah, I wasn't so much worrying about energy savings - I realized a while ago that it's not beneficial for that, but the smoother temp control and the ability to just leave it be IS a definite benefit. Get it up to temp and ready, set your timer for the soak, and go do something else for a couple hours. Sort of automation, without having to buy an expensive kiln/temper oven. 😀 An old adage I tell myself often is "keep it simple, stupid", and a basic setup with something like a toaster oven (or regular one for larger parts) is an excellent example of simple, but effective. 😉
My toxic trait is me telling myself I can learn to do this in a weekend on the 75-year-old metal lathe I have in my garage that I have never turned on! All jokes aside, this is some amazing instruction, thank you for sharing it with us. New subscriber because of this video.
I love your gentle voice and humor, and your willingness to show how things can go wrong, and how to fix them. I'm always delighted to find you've made another upload regardless of the subject. I don't even have a lathe, but I love watching your work. You should make a springy, sproingy, toy thingy for Sprocket to annoy you with!
Every now and then Quinn reads the minds of her followers and posts another great how to video. Making springs has been on my list of things to learn and do for some time.
When I took the left front coil spring out of my 1955 Studebaker President Speedster for the first time, I was amazed at the length, quality, and squareness, despite having been bent and compressed for 45 years. As I was working on the car I kept hearing a strange noise until I finally got up to find it. The spring was literally dancing across the concrete in tiny vibrations. It did this for about 12 hours as it tried to grow back to its pre-loaded length. I have done a ton of suspension work in my career but never experienced this before. Respect big springs, they can kill you.
@@UnlikelyToRemember The roll-up doors aren't so bad, with the spring captive on the rod. It's the cantilever doors that'll get you. I re-sprung my garage door back in 2001. I ran a wire rope through them and secured it to the frame to keep them from flying if they got loose.
@@UnlikelyToRemember Not so much brave as desperate. I needed to build a wheelchair ramp for my wife, all my tools were trapped in the garage, and I was broke, having sunk all my cash into materials for the ramp. (They were stuck in the garage too.) The door had to get fixed and I couldn’t afford to hire someone.
I always appreciate that you include your vulnerability in presentation. Makes me feel like a pro rather than a failure when the work goes in the bin! Thanks again and God bless!
I’m 40years at various types of engineering and thought I knew how springs were made until I saw you make them. Your a super teacher and presenter really enjoyed looking at your work .😊
This video changed something inside me! I'll try once more! 😅You just proved that devil is in the details.. but you kicked him out and decided to reveal the secrets. Then you made this magic instructional vid!!! No waste of time with joking and THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR WORLD. It's highly needed :)
I bought myself some piano wire a few years ago, and it came in a reel. There was no warning on the packaging, but with hindsight I suppose I should have seen this coming, but wow do those reels contain a lot of energy! When I first unhooked the wire from the latch thingy which was holding it in, the reel unravelled, quite explosively, hurting myself a tiny bit. Thankfully I was wearing goggles, and a leather apron, otherwise I may have lost an eye and a nipple.
I've done similar with steel wire rope. The manufacturer had wound it tightly around the reel and i've just gone in with side cutter and sliced the banding. Like Dave my PPE saved me that day.
For the best possible life of those springs, you should 'set' them in an oven at 150 C for an hour or two. Otherwise they will quite quickly lose their springiness.
I really enjoy watching your videos. I not only learn from them but you make it so interesting and fun. You are one fantastic person and thank you for taking the time to share.
8 springs. I thought you were done making 8 of the same thing. Great video and easy to follow. Thank you, once again, for showing that things don't happen perfectly on the first try.
Oh honey.... I think Quinn would be fine if she only had to make 8 of these... there's like 3 or so on each truck, and there's several trucks on this locomotive. ;)
Your videos are just so good. The perfect amount of explanation, not overly concerned with being perfect like most on youtube, admission to mistakes, great cadence...wonderful content. Keep up the good work.
You are absolutely right! Coiled helix technology is an ever-growing body of knowledge. My undergraduate engineering degree had 5 spring semesters. When I went back to earn my master degree 10 years later they required another 2 spring semesters. 😜
Another awesome video. I'm with Kris at WhiteOeks Farm, you gentle voiceand humor is a great way to teach machine work and you do a great job. Thanks I have been a so called (Machinist) for a long time. I consider a beginner compared to people like Joe Pie and Abom. The only problem with your channel is you got me saying "YATSEE" when I cut a piece of metal. I guess there are bigger problems out there. Thanks again for years of very enjoyable videos. I'm still learning at 72.
Haha. Brings back memories. As a kid building models, I found I could do much the same thing with a drill press set for lowest revs. Not nearly as precise as your setup, but all we owned. Chuck up a bit of rod (nail, bold shank, or even coat hanger wire for the tiny ones) for the mandrel. Bend a 3/4" right angle on the end of a 3' length music wire. (The extra length helps with pitch angle.) Grip the other end hard with a vice grip. Insert the bent end between the Jacobs chuck jaws and the mandrel. Pull hard on the vice grip and make the first 1/2 turn of the chuck by hand. Eyeball the angle to get the right pitch. Goose the power to wind the spring. With practice, I could actually get fine results most of the time. Tension springs are particularly easy this way. You want a negative winding angle to pre-tension the turns. The 3/4 end becomes the hook. Up to .04" wire was fine. Yeah. I think this convinces me you could make the mandrel with no taper, but a slot parallel to the axis rather than the cross-hole. Removal would be much easier.
So good! It's surprising how often you need specific springs for diy projects and they're not actually that easy to find (conversely, I'm usually building the part around the dimensions etc of a spring I already have). So much practical knowledge in one video! That's a sub from me!
This is probably interesting to nobody but me, but just as Quinn says "Notice how the wire forms... A helix?" at 10:04, my kitten Helix ran across my keyboard (with kitten Swizzle-Stick in hot pursuit) and paused the video.
Another entertaining and instructional video - between Blondihacks and This Old Tony, I have learnt all of my machining! Worth pointing out that piano wire is no stiffer than other steel wire, just very strong.
Funny enough, I found this channel all because of springs. I needed a spring for small robot Im making, but it needed some specific dimensions. So I needed to make it. But the more I looked the more I needed a lathe. Then I slowly drifted to mills and ended up on this and a few other channels for mills and lathes : P
Hi! This is a very nice video for making strong springs. However, for my work, I need to make very light springs for chiming door bell hammers. I use the lathe, but also place two pieces of leather in the tool post and clamp the 0.001" stainless wire to cause resistance as the lathe turns and winds the wire on the mandrel. As the wire is pulled through the leather pads, the frictional resistance also helps to maintains the spring diameter. I do like your technique to flatten the ends of the spring. You always do such great, well calibrated work. Thanks so much for your videos!
Outstanding! I am a hobbyist of airsoft-replica's , which apply springs in a variety of shapes and sizes. These springs are readily available from China, but in some cases, there's just not the right one for a particular job. They're either too small, too large, too long, too short, too stiff, or too weak. I already have used shims to tweak the spring tension, but it comes with drawbacks in other departments. As a lathe beginner, I'm not even beginning to contemplate making my own customized springs, but this video is a real inspiration nevertheless!
Very nice to see this, I had similar setup a long time ago, as for the mandrel I had about 5 different size sleeves that slid over the mandrel at 0.5 mm diameter intervals instead of making loads of different mandrel sizes. and to stored them in a metal Tobacco tin, Very common use back in my days .. :) But your 3D print storage looks far better.
One thing I'll add to this - if you know you're going to be making a few copies of a certain size spring, you can get a rather close measure of the length of wire needed by using something soft as a mock up spring. Copper wire if you have it laying around, safety wire, hell - even string can be used. You're just looking to get a measure of the length you need to form the spring correctly while having enough tail length to keep it in the guide tool. Once you know the length you can save some material by not cutting quite so long for safety, and this can save a bit of money if you're making a fair amount of springs. Just throwing out ideas. Loving the videos. Quinn. Have fun!! 😃
This was great! I loved the fixturing tips. Thank you, Quinn. I have made springs with music wire and a drill bit, but never anything this nice. The "Spring Semester" in my mechanical engineering degree talked a lot about calculating spring rates and selecting wire and coil sizes. It would be a stretch to say they covered making them, though.
We had one class that was supposed to cover springs, but the professor was tired of teaching springs, so we learned bolts instead. Why only one class covering both? Because the university decided that everyone had to take 7 different humanities classes, a "science" class, and a math class to graduate. Got to say bolt calcs have been a lot more useful than designing springs.
Instead of your L shaped metal part I use a pair of wood strips that go in place of a tool bit. They are two layers with the wire run between them. By adjusting the tool hold down screws you control the wire tension. One set of strips covers any size wire. With good tension control you get better springs.
I do a lot of music wire for my RC airplanes and I have a cutter designed for music wire I have cut some pretty big stuff before and its pretty effortless. Love your channel that was just a little info for people that may need to cut a lot of music wire.
My first Machine shop job was back in the '70s in a custom shop that made manual spring coilers and spring grinders. I made all the parts and accessories over a 10 year period, even now almost 50 years later I can make them in my sleep, no blueprints needed! Hmmm, might be a good project!
I had to make some springs for old Singer treadle sewing machine drawers. I planned to make a jig, but since I only needed six springs so it was faster to do each one by hand.
Thank you for a really good video about, how easy it is to making springs. The tools you make is easy in a way to copy and your explanation is very easy to follow, so I will try to make my own small springs. Keep up your good work 🙂
Thank you once again for a very informative and entertaining video, Quinn. It's amazing how many incredibly useful "little things" of method and process one learns watching these videos you make... __AND__ I cant thank you enough for posting and mentioning the missed steps as well! While failure is often the best teacher, and thus I can't guarantee I won't repeat similar mistakes, it sure adds significant context and emphasis behind choices made in those processes and methods!! ♥
Xuron has a hard wire cutter, number 2193F, that makes it really easy to cut music wire or other hard wire up to 0.064" in diameter. That's what I've been using for hard wire, and they're great cutters. Fast and produces flat cuts, as it shears the material.
Nice video Quinn, springs are easy to make, getting them perfect is hard. Really nice fixture for grinding the ends square, you taught me a new trick, arf arf! Enjoyed, cheers!
Hi Quinn, there are easier methods for making one or two springs to replace ones that got away. Lots of bolts have convenient diameters, put into the chuck with the end of the wire tucked into the gap between teeth. Mig welding wire, stainless or steel can be hardened by drawing it over a sharp edge. Winding the wire close together with a large strong ball bearing pressed hard against the mandrel. Run the wire in highly tensioned and close wound. The spacing can be by stretching later. When grinding the ends with a rig like yours, press firmly and the end turn will heat up and glow, just quench in the water. A final light touch will give a tapered end turn like commercial springs. Cheers from NZ where springs are expensive.
I am impressed by the fancy tools. When I learned as an apprentice we has a special machine. ( not sure who made it) but over the years I have used the lathe with custom mandrels. Of course I Never used a mandrel more than once. So I skimp on some of the other parts and just use something quick.
This is a much nicer spring than what I made the last time one ZINGED across the shop. I used smaller music wire with a piece of 3mm (2mm) drill rod chucked in a cordless drill, and held the end with Vice Grips. The important thing was that it fit into a tiny hole to capture a teeny ball for a socket wrench ratchet switch. I don’t know if Machinery’s Handbook would have helped me eyeball everything, but I would have learned something if I picked it up!
I was literally going to comment "... because shut up, that's why" makes me laugh every time, but others beat me to it, so I won't say that. Wait, what? That's a neat operation. It does look kind of simple, but I'm sure it isn't. Nicely done. Thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.
Hi, Quinn!! 🥰🤩 I'm no Spring Chicken! Really. I'm not afraid to make springs, now that you showed me how!! At 60, it should be a fun retirement project! 🤣😂 😉
Wow you made some great springs! The fact you are on this equipment blows me away, you are super interesting so thank you for the content and Im now subbed and will join patreon
Really good filming and explanations! Makes all the steps and process really clear and nice to watch. I also liked how you included the failures, I certainly would love to see a few more examples a long the way of if you do this you get this. One thing I would have liked to see is some sort of overview/diagram of the result at the start of the video to know what you're working towards.
17:35 - to hold the small spring well, you could use a handle with a screw sticking out - a) matching the inner diameter of the spring - and b) a nut (with washer?) to adjust the depth. Then you don't have to hold the (small / short) spring with your fingers. The effort for the whole project is so "big" that this little extra effort does not matter. A handle for a hand-operated drill could also help if its clamping element is suitable for the diameter of the screw. (My hand drill can grip max 4.2 mm. Other handles probably offer other possibilities. Otherwise, an adapter will have to be made for the following project. - Or simply a wooden handle with a suitable hole into which the screw with the nut can be screwed. Anyway: More comfort and less cramps for the fingers). ii) The metal rod could still have an opening for a simple or complicated plug-in connection for a (plastic) pipette for the water, so that the spring does not have to be removed during sanding. Of course, a visual check of the work progress remains necessary. .... ;) iii) With a depth stop (better 2) on the handle, the length for the spring can be adjusted during sanding to produce a small series. The depth stop can then find its limit on the metal bolt for one of these work steps at a time. a very nice demonstration on a rare subject - thank you
"Because shut up, thats why" makes me laugh every single time.
Needs to be on a coffee mug...
Because
Shut up...
That's why!
@@mattmanyam I'd buy one of those for sure!!!
@@LRCXed, so would i!
steve
I also got that answer before teach said it! 😅
In this sort of work with springs, the correct statement is "Get Bent!".
The best springs are made of hope steel. It springs eternal...
_[polite golf clap]_
I can clap single handed for that one.
@@oldfarthacks I just snapped my fingers a couple of times.
Quinn - I have made some springs on my lathe, but you added so many steps of refinement I never realized were possible. Thanks for an enjoyable, and super-useful video!
Like he said!
might be time to make a sheet metal spring?
@@ellieprice363 a springey sheet metal thing intended to act as a spring for something.
and each of them shall be costing half a fortune.
Why does Ron Covell watch all the same videos that I do? It's one of those mysteries I guess.
I'm a fairly long time hobby spring maker since I need a lot of custom sizes for one of my other hobbies. I wind my springs differently than you but given your need to make multiple identical copies I would and will use your idea for when I need the same. Your method has more control over the initial shape than my own freehand method.
One last step to suggest though. You want to "passivate" or post form relax the springs with a sub temper heat soak. Without this last step I found that my springs would easily collapse or stretch. After the relaxation heat soak the springs "remember" their new shape and return to it despite being stretched or compressed fully to the limit. The heat soak is a 450F at 20 minutes in my old toaster oven followed by a 50F reduction at 15 minute intervals until the oven is off. The wire comes out with a light to medium straw. So well below the usual "spring blue" temperature. And with that last step your shop springs will be as good or better than commercial springs.
The idea for this came after watching a lot of videos to figure out why my springs were not as springy as commercial ones. A YT video in passing right at the end said "...and now off to a passivation heat treatment...." and left me hanging. That led to some searches and my trial of this 450F relaxation step which you'll find works amazingly well. If in doubt by all means fish a few of the discarded springs you showed at the end and test them both pre and post "relaxing" and see for yourself. I've even stretched commercial springs back to length and did this same relaxation treatment to them. And they hold the new length very well.
For my arbors I bought a set of transfer punches. The punches are secured in one of three short 1" diameter blocks that have a center hole and an offset hole on the face. I secure the right angle bend of the wire in the offset hole with a screw from the side and the punch with another screw. The holes for the punches being different sizes to accept 1/3 the range of the punches. A little wobble but it's not a big deal. I'll make a few more at the inbetween sizes to go with your controlled feed method when needed. And for use with your tool post wire feeder I'd then use a cup center for the point of the punch to rest into. So far I've used a different tool that is self balancing so I don't need the tail stock support..
Springs are a key element of many of our projects. It's nice to see a different approach which is aimed at your specific need. Nicely done!
Thanks for the tip @brucematthews6417 I’ll keep this in mind if/when I need to make a spring
A well tempered thing to remember.
One quick thing - on that passivation treatment, you can use sand to help control the cooldown. If you preheat the sand and throw the springs in, give it a couple minutes and then kill the heat and it'll cool slowly like you want but without requiring constant monitoring. Let's you carry on with other tasks while the springs do their sauna time and get all relaxed. 😉
You just need some kind of small(?) metal container for enough sand to surround the springs by at least their diameter. The sand holds all the thermal energy and cools slowly from the outside in, so don't go shallow and wide here - think more cube shaped if you have the room (this obviously depends on the size of the springs being made). The nice thing is that almost any basic sheet metal box is sufficient for the task, and any method of getting it up to temperature is also perfectly acceptable. Another side benefit is that if you're measuring the temperature of the sand first, you have 0% chance of overheating the springs and ruining their temper. 😉 This is actually an excellent way to temper literally anything you want to - the mass of the sand helps to control the temperature and also helps to heat the item more rapidly and thoroughly. And in the case of springs, allows that slow cooldown that is so important to their functional temper.
@@Broadpaw_Fox
That's true. But the trick is to hold the spring at the 425 to 450F temperature reasonably accurately for around 20 minutes or more before the slow cool down. I'd want to pre-heat the sand in a tray of some sort to temp first and then push the spring(s) into the sand, soak for around 30 to 40 minutes and then turn off the oven. While this would certainly work just fine I'm thinking that the same amount of energy used to pre-heat the sand is roughly what I use up during the graduated cool down. And if you're suggesting using a torch of some sort I simply don't have the temperature measuring or controls to manage that. So it's a toaster oven for me.
@@brucematthews6417- yeah, I wasn't so much worrying about energy savings - I realized a while ago that it's not beneficial for that, but the smoother temp control and the ability to just leave it be IS a definite benefit. Get it up to temp and ready, set your timer for the soak, and go do something else for a couple hours. Sort of automation, without having to buy an expensive kiln/temper oven. 😀
An old adage I tell myself often is "keep it simple, stupid", and a basic setup with something like a toaster oven (or regular one for larger parts) is an excellent example of simple, but effective. 😉
Your videos are both easy to follow and fun. Thank you so much for your posts.
My toxic trait is me telling myself I can learn to do this in a weekend on the 75-year-old metal lathe I have in my garage that I have never turned on! All jokes aside, this is some amazing instruction, thank you for sharing it with us. New subscriber because of this video.
Transparent finger! Love your dry humor!
The finish grinding jig was new for me. Great idea, thanks!
I love your gentle voice and humor, and your willingness to show how things can go wrong, and how to fix them. I'm always delighted to find you've made another upload regardless of the subject. I don't even have a lathe, but I love watching your work. You should make a springy, sproingy, toy thingy for Sprocket to annoy you with!
Been a tool maker since 79, but enjoy learning things I have not experienced. Also enjoy your voice and no rock music.
Every now and then Quinn reads the minds of her followers and posts another great how to video. Making springs has been on my list of things to learn and do for some time.
I have something similar, but I made my wire feed able to accept MIG torch tips then I can use the same feed bar for various sizes.
Love this one so much, can't wait to try it. It's not about the cost or time, but it's the fun, and you're right machining really can be fun.
When I took the left front coil spring out of my 1955 Studebaker President Speedster for the first time, I was amazed at the length, quality, and squareness, despite having been bent and compressed for 45 years.
As I was working on the car I kept hearing a strange noise until I finally got up to find it.
The spring was literally dancing across the concrete in tiny vibrations. It did this for about 12 hours as it tried to grow back to its pre-loaded length.
I have done a ton of suspension work in my career but never experienced this before.
Respect big springs, they can kill you.
Especially the one(s) on your garage door. Super dangerous. One of the few things I won't d-i-y.
Yep, the forces in coiled springs can really be interesting. Not so much with the flat ones, they generally have room to move when they are installed.
@@UnlikelyToRemember The roll-up doors aren't so bad, with the spring captive on the rod. It's the cantilever doors that'll get you. I re-sprung my garage door back in 2001. I ran a wire rope through them and secured it to the frame to keep them from flying if they got loose.
@@GrayRaceCat You're a braver man than I!
@@UnlikelyToRemember Not so much brave as desperate. I needed to build a wheelchair ramp for my wife, all my tools were trapped in the garage, and I was broke, having sunk all my cash into materials for the ramp. (They were stuck in the garage too.) The door had to get fixed and I couldn’t afford to hire someone.
I always appreciate that you include your vulnerability in presentation. Makes me feel like a pro rather than a failure when the work goes in the bin! Thanks again and God bless!
Buying springs stinks when you want it *right now*
Thanks for showing how to DIY it
It's the middle of winter Down Under so it was nice to see a bit of spring in the air.
I’m 40years at various types of engineering and thought I knew how springs were made until I saw you make them. Your a super teacher and presenter really enjoyed looking at your work .😊
If you think that`s how springs are made, you need to go to a springmaker and watch.
That makes so much more sense why we studied where feathers and cannonballs would land if when dropped in the fall semester.
Always a treat to see a blondihacks vid
Agree, and her, calming H.R., voice overs are the best!
Not sure which was better , the technical ability or the humor. Did subscribe and thanks for the video.
Well that was worth it just for the 'Spring semester' gag and the understated badum-tish in the background... 😂
The algorythm decided to show this channel to me after my most recent ToT binge.
Bravo, good springs.
This video changed something inside me! I'll try once more! 😅You just proved that devil is in the details.. but you kicked him out and decided to reveal the secrets. Then you made this magic instructional vid!!! No waste of time with joking and THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN OUR WORLD. It's highly needed :)
I bought myself some piano wire a few years ago, and it came in a reel.
There was no warning on the packaging, but with hindsight I suppose I should have seen this coming, but wow do those reels contain a lot of energy! When I first unhooked the wire from the latch thingy which was holding it in, the reel unravelled, quite explosively, hurting myself a tiny bit. Thankfully I was wearing goggles, and a leather apron, otherwise I may have lost an eye and a nipple.
Important story - i worry about my kid and eye-pro all the time! need more scary stories👍❤
THIS STORY WILL HELP ME WITH MY KID AND THEIR WANTON DISREGARD FOR PROPER NIPPLE SAFETY.
But you could have made a cool eye patch out of the detached nipple.... Ew i grossed myself out lol
I've done similar with steel wire rope. The manufacturer had wound it tightly around the reel and i've just gone in with side cutter and sliced the banding. Like Dave my PPE saved me that day.
Yep. Try working on watches, clocks or pocketwatches. The mainsprings can be deadly little buggers. Take out an eye, slice fingers...
For the best possible life of those springs, you should 'set' them in an oven at 150 C for an hour or two. Otherwise they will quite quickly lose their springiness.
I really enjoy watching your videos. I not only learn from them but you make it so interesting and fun. You are one fantastic person and thank you for taking the time to share.
Quinn is wonderful, sharing and instructing. Smart. Methodical. Well, if you're a machinist ya better have a method.
8 springs. I thought you were done making 8 of the same thing.
Great video and easy to follow. Thank you, once again, for showing that things don't happen perfectly on the first try.
Oh honey.... I think Quinn would be fine if she only had to make 8 of these... there's like 3 or so on each truck, and there's several trucks on this locomotive. ;)
Your videos are just so good. The perfect amount of explanation, not overly concerned with being perfect like most on youtube, admission to mistakes, great cadence...wonderful content. Keep up the good work.
You are absolutely right! Coiled helix technology is an ever-growing body of knowledge. My undergraduate engineering degree had 5 spring semesters. When I went back to earn my master degree 10 years later they required another 2 spring semesters. 😜
Quinn , you amaze me ! What a great educator you are . Thank you for the videos you do !!
Another awesome video. I'm with Kris at WhiteOeks Farm, you gentle voiceand humor is a great way to teach machine work and you do a great job. Thanks I have been a so called (Machinist) for a long time. I consider a beginner compared to people like Joe Pie and Abom. The only problem with your channel is you got me saying "YATSEE" when I cut a piece of metal. I guess there are bigger problems out there. Thanks again for years of very enjoyable videos. I'm still learning at 72.
Haha. Brings back memories. As a kid building models, I found I could do much the same thing with a drill press set for lowest revs. Not nearly as precise as your setup, but all we owned. Chuck up a bit of rod (nail, bold shank, or even coat hanger wire for the tiny ones) for the mandrel. Bend a 3/4" right angle on the end of a 3' length music wire. (The extra length helps with pitch angle.) Grip the other end hard with a vice grip. Insert the bent end between the Jacobs chuck jaws and the mandrel. Pull hard on the vice grip and make the first 1/2 turn of the chuck by hand. Eyeball the angle to get the right pitch. Goose the power to wind the spring. With practice, I could actually get fine results most of the time. Tension springs are particularly easy this way. You want a negative winding angle to pre-tension the turns. The 3/4 end becomes the hook. Up to .04" wire was fine.
Yeah. I think this convinces me you could make the mandrel with no taper, but a slot parallel to the axis rather than the cross-hole. Removal would be much easier.
Nice video! Well done! I’ve been doing this 50 years there’s always something new to learn.
You are a rock star in my beginning machinist world. Thanks for the videos over the years.
Quinn, thanks for the laughs as well as the tips on how to make quality looking springs.
A quality spring making by hand.. that's what you have taught in this video..
Quite a number of steps..
Thanks for the video
She said because shut up that's why😂😂.... you go girl! Awesome content Quinn
So good!
It's surprising how often you need specific springs for diy projects and they're not actually that easy to find (conversely, I'm usually building the part around the dimensions etc of a spring I already have).
So much practical knowledge in one video!
That's a sub from me!
Very enjoyable and handy, and as I always say... you have the ability to transmit knowledge and in a very reach way... Thank you.
I LEARNED SO MUCH in 20 minutes! Mind BLOWN! Keep up the good work!
I'm delighted to stumble across your channel. Very easy to listen to as well as very informative.
Muchas gracias....tantos años creyendo que era màs dificil de lo que pareciò en tu mètodo. Un gran abrazo.
"Spring Semester" is the best 'Dad Joke' of 2023. RESPECT!
Very fine teaching. I definitely learned more about making springs from your clear presentation!
This is probably interesting to nobody but me, but just as Quinn says "Notice how the wire forms... A helix?" at 10:04, my kitten Helix ran across my keyboard (with kitten Swizzle-Stick in hot pursuit) and paused the video.
Really well done. Bravo!
Extremely helpful video, nicely produced, with a wonderful sense of humor. Thanks a lot!
I appreciate your content. Thank you. I've never done much machining work, but I'm learning a metric ton from you.
Hahahahahaha you totally got me and my husband with your Spring Semester joke! 😂🤣😅😂
The best explanation how to make springs on a lathe. Brilliant from end to end. Thank you for sharing 👏👏👍😀
Another entertaining and instructional video - between Blondihacks and This Old Tony, I have learnt all of my machining! Worth pointing out that piano wire is no stiffer than other steel wire, just very strong.
Funny enough, I found this channel all because of springs.
I needed a spring for small robot Im making, but it needed some specific dimensions. So I needed to make it. But the more I looked the more I needed a lathe. Then I slowly drifted to mills and ended up on this and a few other channels for mills and lathes : P
Hi! This is a very nice video for making strong springs. However, for my work, I need to make very light springs for chiming door bell hammers. I use the lathe, but also place two pieces of leather in the tool post and clamp the 0.001" stainless wire to cause resistance as the lathe turns and winds the wire on the mandrel. As the wire is pulled through the leather pads, the frictional resistance also helps to maintains the spring diameter. I do like your technique to flatten the ends of the spring. You always do such great, well calibrated work. Thanks so much for your videos!
Outstanding!
I am a hobbyist of airsoft-replica's , which apply springs in a variety of shapes and sizes. These springs are readily available from China, but in some cases, there's just not the right one for a particular job. They're either too small, too large, too long, too short, too stiff, or too weak. I already have used shims to tweak the spring tension, but it comes with drawbacks in other departments.
As a lathe beginner, I'm not even beginning to contemplate making my own customized springs, but this video is a real inspiration nevertheless!
Very nice to see this, I had similar setup a long time ago, as for the mandrel I had about 5 different size sleeves that slid over the mandrel at 0.5 mm diameter intervals instead of making loads of different mandrel sizes.
and to stored them in a metal Tobacco tin, Very common use back in my days .. :)
But your 3D print storage looks far better.
Greetings.
Thank you for the short and useful lesson..
Your a great content provider.
I look forward to seeing what tips and tricks you come up with next.
I hope youtube shares this with many people.
One thing I'll add to this - if you know you're going to be making a few copies of a certain size spring, you can get a rather close measure of the length of wire needed by using something soft as a mock up spring. Copper wire if you have it laying around, safety wire, hell - even string can be used. You're just looking to get a measure of the length you need to form the spring correctly while having enough tail length to keep it in the guide tool. Once you know the length you can save some material by not cutting quite so long for safety, and this can save a bit of money if you're making a fair amount of springs.
Just throwing out ideas. Loving the videos. Quinn. Have fun!! 😃
I see springs in my future. Super and relevant video - thank you!
That is great. Thanks for sharing it. I have some compression springs I hope to make for a sheering machine. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Also, petition for merch with Sprocket playing with one of those ball of fluff on a long coil spring toys with the caption "Spring Semester". 🙏
This was great! I loved the fixturing tips. Thank you, Quinn. I have made springs with music wire and a drill bit, but never anything this nice. The "Spring Semester" in my mechanical engineering degree talked a lot about calculating spring rates and selecting wire and coil sizes. It would be a stretch to say they covered making them, though.
We had one class that was supposed to cover springs, but the professor was tired of teaching springs, so we learned bolts instead. Why only one class covering both? Because the university decided that everyone had to take 7 different humanities classes, a "science" class, and a math class to graduate.
Got to say bolt calcs have been a lot more useful than designing springs.
Instead of your L shaped metal part I use a pair of wood strips that go in place of a tool bit. They are two layers with the wire run between them. By adjusting the tool hold down screws you control the wire tension. One set of strips covers any size wire. With good tension control you get better springs.
How tf did I not find your channel earlier. This is gold content, well explained and with many ways to do things. Thank you so much.
Don’t make springs out of gold. It’s much too soft.
Quinn, I truly hope you’re “don’t be a buster and cut your springs” was a fast & furious reference.
Nice jig, love the channel. 👌
I do a lot of music wire for my RC airplanes and I have a cutter designed for music wire I have cut some pretty big stuff before and its pretty effortless. Love your channel that was just a little info for people that may need to cut a lot of music wire.
I enjoyed that very much. I've been wondering all these decades how in basic principle that was done. Thanks!
That's the new source of springs!
Thanks for ideas & 'how to'
My first Machine shop job was back in the '70s in a custom shop that made manual spring coilers and spring grinders. I made all the parts and accessories over a 10 year period, even now almost 50 years later I can make them in my sleep, no blueprints needed! Hmmm, might be a good project!
So cool. I'd had a lathe for many years. Had no idea I could make springs with it. This will come in very handy. Thanks Quinn!
As a non-certified spring aficionado, I must say, your springs look terrific!
I had to make some springs for old Singer treadle sewing machine drawers. I planned to make a jig, but since I only needed six springs so it was faster to do each one by hand.
Thanx for sharing, very clear explanation and I like your way of working very much. Friendly greetings from Holland. 👍👍👍
Thank you for a really good video about, how easy it is to making springs. The tools you make is easy in a way to copy and your explanation is very easy to follow, so I will try to make my own small springs.
Keep up your good work 🙂
Thank you once again for a very informative and entertaining video, Quinn.
It's amazing how many incredibly useful "little things" of method and process one learns watching these videos you make...
__AND__ I cant thank you enough for posting and mentioning the missed steps as well! While failure is often the best teacher, and thus I can't guarantee I won't repeat similar mistakes, it sure adds significant context and emphasis behind choices made in those processes and methods!! ♥
Xuron has a hard wire cutter, number 2193F, that makes it really easy to cut music wire or other hard wire up to 0.064" in diameter. That's what I've been using for hard wire, and they're great cutters. Fast and produces flat cuts, as it shears the material.
Nice video Quinn, springs are easy to make, getting them perfect is hard. Really nice fixture for grinding the ends square, you taught me a new trick, arf arf! Enjoyed, cheers!
Hi Quinn, there are easier methods for making one or two springs to replace ones that got away. Lots of bolts have convenient diameters, put into the chuck with the end of the wire tucked into the gap between teeth. Mig welding wire, stainless or steel can be hardened by drawing it over a sharp edge. Winding the wire close together with a large strong ball bearing pressed hard against the mandrel. Run the wire in highly tensioned and close wound. The spacing can be by stretching later. When grinding the ends with a rig like yours, press firmly and the end turn will heat up and glow, just quench in the water. A final light touch will give a tapered end turn like commercial springs. Cheers from NZ where springs are expensive.
Wow, this video sure sprung up for me to watch.
I am impressed by the fancy tools. When I learned as an apprentice we has a special machine. ( not sure who made it) but over the years I have used the lathe with custom mandrels. Of course I Never used a mandrel more than once. So I skimp on some of the other parts and just use something quick.
I just enrolled in the spring semester. You saved me a ton of money!😂
New Fan (and experienced mechanic) great videos, great educator ✅
This is a much nicer spring than what I made the last time one ZINGED across the shop.
I used smaller music wire with a piece of 3mm (2mm) drill rod chucked in a cordless drill, and held the end with Vice Grips.
The important thing was that it fit into a tiny hole to capture a teeny ball for a socket wrench ratchet switch.
I don’t know if Machinery’s Handbook would have helped me eyeball everything, but I would have learned something if I picked it up!
Thank you for taking the time to explain this
I stumbled on this channel by complete accident and I love it, btw thx for the metric numbers.
I'm thinking Tender suspension, to go along with the wheels and those cool little boxes you made in the last video. 🤔😁
I was literally going to comment "... because shut up, that's why" makes me laugh every time, but others beat me to it, so I won't say that. Wait, what?
That's a neat operation. It does look kind of simple, but I'm sure it isn't. Nicely done.
Thanks, and Meow to Sprocket.
Hi, Quinn!! 🥰🤩 I'm no Spring Chicken! Really. I'm not afraid to make springs, now that you showed me how!! At 60, it should be a fun retirement project! 🤣😂 😉
Thank you for showing the mm !
Thanks Quinn, helps a lot!
8 though, what an unusual number of things to have made
Wow you made some great springs! The fact you are on this equipment blows me away, you are super interesting so thank you for the content and Im now subbed and will join patreon
Wow that vintage tool is amazing.
Really good filming and explanations! Makes all the steps and process really clear and nice to watch.
I also liked how you included the failures, I certainly would love to see a few more examples a long the way of if you do this you get this.
One thing I would have liked to see is some sort of overview/diagram of the result at the start of the video to know what you're working towards.
Spring Semester... thanks got a nice chuckle out of that.
Thanks for adding in the learning curve experiments at the end.
Nicely done! I have Mr. Pete's book on spring making. He goes into it way to far the what I need.
I didn't have a clue how. Now I'm like..... I have a Lathe; I can make springs some day.
Thanks Quinn.
17:35 - to hold the small spring well, you could use a handle with a screw sticking out - a) matching the inner diameter of the spring - and b) a nut (with washer?) to adjust the depth. Then you don't have to hold the (small / short) spring with your fingers.
The effort for the whole project is so "big" that this little extra effort does not matter. A handle for a hand-operated drill could also help if its clamping element is suitable for the diameter of the screw. (My hand drill can grip max 4.2 mm. Other handles probably offer other possibilities. Otherwise, an adapter will have to be made for the following project. - Or simply a wooden handle with a suitable hole into which the screw with the nut can be screwed.
Anyway: More comfort and less cramps for the fingers).
ii) The metal rod could still have an opening for a simple or complicated plug-in connection for a (plastic) pipette for the water, so that the spring does not have to be removed during sanding. Of course, a visual check of the work progress remains necessary. .... ;)
iii) With a depth stop (better 2) on the handle, the length for the spring can be adjusted during sanding to produce a small series. The depth stop can then find its limit on the metal bolt for one of these work steps at a time.
a very nice demonstration on a rare subject - thank you
Because "Shut Up That's Why"! Gets me every time.
Great job of manufacturing springs. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.