How to Make Springs

HOW TO MAKE
SPRINGS

There are three things you'll need to read before you

get started. First, the DISCLAIMER:

This document is designed to provide information

in regard to the subject matter being covered.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy
of its contents. However there may be mistakes,
both typographical and in content. Additionally,
work in the metal trades implies an acceptance of
the risk of injury, loss, or damage, the cause of
which is clearly beyond the control of the writer of
a work on the subject. Therefore, the author of this
document accepts no responsibility or liability
whatsoever for any injury, loss or damage
sustained by a reader who, having read this
material, then seeks to apply what he or she has
learned therein.

Please read the Terms of Use.

Second, before you start to work with spring wire, read

the section on safety. When you have read that section,
read it again. No kidding.

And third, about this document: I've tried to write for

the benefit of someone who has (or can gain access to)
basic hand and power tools. The sections of the
document are arranged in logical order presuming a
minimal knowledge of the metalworking trades in
general or of springmaking in particular, and cross-
linked to provide a forward path that leads from this
point through the entire manufacturing process. There's
NEW STUFF a glossary of spring terminology and an addendum,
which should help you to define terms and find
Here's what's new since additional resources. Where possible, I've indicated
where to find additional information in the main body

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How to Make Springs

January, 2003! of the text. Most of the current material relating to the
subject is written for mechanical engineers, but there
are some other writeups I've heard of, too — see the
addendum for links to these.

In its first incarnation, this site was made in frames. In

the second, I did away with the frames for the sake of
design simplicity. My apologies to anyone who linked
to 'frameset'. The other new addition is the site map,
which will give you a bird's-eye view of the whole
shebang. This is now the third incarnation and except
for freshening the links from time to time, I consider it
done. If you want to have it as a handy reference, feel
free to download the zipped version. Lastly, the text
itself is of very limited use without the graphics, and
there is no 'text-only' version of this site. So if you've
got your graphics turned off, turn 'em on, OK?

Any comments or suggestions for improvement should

be made to yours truly.

INTRODUCTION
This section will give you some basic information
about springs, what they look like, what their parts are,
and how they work.

If you already know about springs and want to get right

to it, be my guest.

There are three basic types of springs:

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How to Make Springs

Compression springs
can be found in ballpoint
pens, pogo sticks, and the
valve assemblies of
gasoline engines. When
you put a load on the
spring, making it shorter,
it pushes back against the
load and tries to get back
to its original length.

Extension springs are

found in garage door
assemblies, vise-grip
pliers, and carburetors.
They are attached at both
ends, and when the things
they are attached to move
apart, the spring tries to
bring them together again.

Torsion springs can be

found on clipboards,
underneath swing-down
tailgates, and, again, in
car engines. The ends of
torsion springs are
attached to other things,
and when those things
rotate around the center of
the spring, the spring tries
to push them back to their
original position.

See the Glossary for detailed diagrams of these types of

springs.

Forward to Spring Design

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Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

HOW TO MAKE SPRINGS

SITE MAP
Introduction Disclaimer, preface, description of
the main types of springs

Design General principles, mathematics,

design limitations, buying design

Materials Types of wire and their attributes,

buying wire

Safety General safety, wire handling,

opening and closing coils, coiling
safety, wire storage

Equipment Winding machines, drills, hand

winders, lathes, grinding
equipment, finishing equipment,
ovens, passivating equipment,
hand tools, testing equipment,
tooling stock

Tooling Pickup pins, wire guides, looping

plates and rods, layover plates,
bending pipes, bending jigs,
passivating baskets, grinding
stages

Setup First coils, drill setup, hand winder

setup, lathe setup, left-handed
springs, coiling without a lead
screw

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Torsion springs Wire length, first trial spring,

torsion spring ends, extended
hooks

Extension springs Wire length, first trial spring,

loops, hooks, swivel hooks

Compression springs Wire length, first trial spring,

grinding the ends, squareness, free
length adjustments, setting solid,
heat setting

Finishing Tweaking dimensions, stress

relief, passivation, plating

Other types of springs Buckling columns, nested

compression springs, conical
compression springs, variable-
pitch springs, snap-rings, double-
torsion springs, wire forms,
bedsprings, limited-travel
extension springs, braided wire
springs, heavy wire, light wire,
square and flat wire, tubular stock,
leaf springs, Belleville washers,
clock springs

Spring shops Organization, product costing and

pricing, careers

Glossary Definitions of spring-related

words, detailed diagrams of the
major types of springs and their
parts

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Resources Sources of information,

associations, spring shops,
suppliers, and other related links

Credits About this site; about me; and how

to download this site.

New stuff This is an index page that provides

access to new stuff added since
January, 2003, and a chronicle of
updates to the main body of the
site.

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

SPRING DESIGN
If you're trying to make a spring to replace a broken one, you don't
need to know a whole lot about design. On the other hand, if you're
making a prototype of a machine, for instance, and you don't know
exactly what you want, then this page is for you. Here you'll learn
some basic data about spring design, which is what you'll need to
know to make exactly the spring you want.

● General principles
● Mathematics
● Design limitations
● Buying design

General Principles

There are three basic principles in spring design:

● The heavier the wire, the stronger the spring.

● The smaller the coil, the stronger the spring.
● The more active coils, the less load you will have to apply in
order to get it to move a certain distance.

Based on these general principles, you now know what to do to change

the properties of a spring you already have. For instance, if you want
to make automotive valve springs a little stronger than stock, you can
a) go to a slightly heavier wire and keep the dimensions and coil count
the same, b) decrease the diameter of the spring, keeping the wire size
and coil count the same, or c) decrease the number of active coils,
keeping the wire size and spring diameter the same. Naturally, you can
also go to a stronger material to achieve the same result.

Now, what if you're making a spring from scratch, with nothing to go

on in the way of a sample? You can engineer your own design (see the
next section of this page for the math), coil a spring, and then test it. If
it's what you want, fine. If it's, let's say, a skosh too strong, then you
can a) go to a lighter wire, b) open up the coil diameter, or c) increase
the number of active coils to get a slightly weaker spring.

Or, if you want to make things really simple, go to the Addendum,

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where you'll find a few websites that offer online design!

Mathematics

Naturally, spring design software is available — you can find out

where to get it in the Addendum. For the purists (or those who don't
want to pay for a program), here's a very short summary of the
mathematics of spring design. These equations, by the way, are taken
from The New American Machinist's Handbook, published by
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.in 1955. I don't pretend to
understand them.

There's a lot more in the way of engineering that goes into spring
design: these are only the basic equations. If you're interested, you can
contact someone who makes spring design software or (gasp!) find it
in the library under Dewey classification number 621.824.

You can also contact the Spring Manufacturers' Institute: they make a
handy-dandy spring calculator, suitable for simple design work, that
anyone can learn to use. They also have spring design software,
training classes, and a bunch more stuff. Dave sez, “Check it out.”

Design Limitations

Depending on what kind of spring you want to design, and depending

on where it will be used, your design will be limited:

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For all springs:

● A spring under load is stressed. If you put too much stress on a

spring, its shape will deform and it will not return to its original
dimensions.
● The material from which the spring is made will have an effect
on the strength of the spring: it will also have an effect on how
much stress the spring will withstand. The section on spring
materials will tell you more about this.
● When you heat spring wire (which you always do), it may
change its dimensions. Again, the section on materials will tell
you more about this.

For compression springs:

● If the spring will set solid (compress all the way, so that all the
coils touch each other) at the limit of its travel, the diameter of
the wire times the number of coils cannot be greater than the
space allowed, unless you want the spring itself to act as a
mechanical stop to the motion.
● Springs that operate in a high-temperature environment (like for
instance inside an engine) will need to be made slightly longer
to compensate for the fact that the heat may have an effect on
the length of the spring. The section on finishing will tell you
more about this.
● As a compression spring assumes a load and shortens, the
diameter of the active coils will increase. This is only a problem
when the spring has to work in a confined space.

For extension springs:

● There should be some mechanical limit on how far the spring

will extend, or the spring will lose its shape and not return to its
initial condition with all coils closed.
● Extension springs operating in a high-temperature environment
may have to be coiled extra-tight, as the heat will tend to
weaken the spring. The section on extension springs will tell
you more about this.

For torsion springs:

● When a torsion springs assumes a load, the diameter of the coil

body will decrease. If the spring has something inside the coil,
it will act as a mechanical stop to the action of the spring.

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Buying Design

If you want to have a mechanical engineer design your spring, your

best bet is to call a spring shop. You can find spring shops in the phone
book. If your phone book doesn't list any, go to the library: they should
have phone books for major cities where spring factories are -- try
Detroit or Los Angeles if there are none in your area.

A spring shop will generally do the design work for you for a small
charge. They will also try to get you to let them make the spring for
you, which you may or may not want.

The section on spring shops will tell you more about how their
business operates. The addendum will give you links to spring shops,
suppliers, people who make spring design software, and a whole slew
of other stuff.

Forward to Materials

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

CREDITS
“Old springmakers never die ... they just lose their initial.”
(Don Coache)

I hope you've found the information here useful. I know I've

forgotten to mention a whole slew of stuff that'll probably
occur to me at 3 in the morning. But enough is enough, and if
I don't quit now, this site will never get launched at all!
Before I do that though, some credits are due:

● This site was done with the aid of Arachnophilia, with

technical graphics prepared in Windows Paint and
converted with LViewPlus. Navigation graphics were
done in Paint Shop Pro, which is widely regarded as
the poor man's PhotoShop. It was optimized for
Netscape 3.0+. The graphics and drawings are mine,
mistakes and all.

● The site was completely redone in February of 2006

by Wendy Hart. She is amazing and I'm still learning
lessons from her code.

● Since this site was first published on the Web in 1997,

I've had literally hundreds of emails from people who
were seeking information on how to make springs or
just happened to breeze by accidentally. To those who
asked questions, I hope I've been able to help. Others
offered suggestions, shared technical knowledge,
pointed out errors, and sent links. To each of those
people — and there were many — my heartfelt
thanks.

● My springmaking career began in grinding and

progressed through secondary to short order work. I
worked in San Francisco- and Los Angeles-area shops
from 1974 to 1979, and I still remember a thing or two

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about the trade. Some of my teachers were Don “a

little pain never hurt anybody” Nyswonger and
Charlie “you're gonna have problems if you do it that
way” Gamble.

Feel free to download this site in zip format - it's about

350KB uncompressed, graphics and all.

Or, if you prefer, you can have the printable PDF version,
courtesy of Harry Seibert. (You'll need Adobe's Acrobat
reader to view this document. If you don't have Acrobat, you
can download it here for free.)

And don't forget to drop me a line if you've got the notion :-)

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

RESOURCES AND
LINKS
Here are a few of the many places you can go for information
on springs and springmaking.

● Spring factories
● Equipment and supplies
● Associations
● Springmakers
● Miscellaneous

Spring Factories
(Manufacturers of coil springs unless otherwise noted.)

● Australia

❍ Bernhart Springs
❍ Carrolls Spring
❍ Dobinsons Spring & Suspension
❍ Industrial Engineers & Spring Makers
❍ Jubilee Springs
❍ Kings Spring Works
❍ Lovells (automotive)
❍ Thomas Marsh & Co

● Belgium

❍ FLR

● Brazil

❍ Associated Spring do Brasil

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● Canada

❍ Associated Spring (ON)

❍ Bohne Spring Industries (ON)
❍ Chamberlain Spring (BC) hot wound springs
❍ Commercial Spring & Tool Co (ON)
❍ Custom Spring (ON)
❍ Dendoff Springs Limited (BC)
❍ DeSantis Industrial Spring Stampings (ON)
❍ Dominion Spring Industries (ON)
❍ Hasco / Springco Industries Inc (ON)
❍ Liberty Spring (QB)
❍ Maverick Spring Makers
❍ Muliform Spring (BC)
❍ Newcomb Spring of Canada (ON)
❍ Paris Spring (ON)
❍ Peterson Spring (ON)
❍ Premier Spring & Mfg Ltd (ON)
❍ REM Mfg Ltd (SA)
❍ United Springs Ltd (ON)
❍ Wallbank Mfg Co Inc (ON)
❍ Western Spring & Wire Ltd (ON)

● China

❍ China Metal Spring Factory (Hong Kong and

mainland)
❍ Hang Cheong Metal Factory (Hong Kong)

● Costa Rica

❍ Resortes Industriales, S.A.

● Great Britain

❍ Airedale Springs Ltd.

❍ Ashfield Springs Ltd.
❍ Bywell Springs and Pressings Ltd

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❍ Capital Springs
❍ Design & Technical Engineering Standards Ltd
(gas springs)
❍ Doig Springs Limited
❍ Harris Springs Ltd.
❍ Holt Springs Ltd
❍ W M Hughes Ltd
❍ Irvine Spring Co Ltd
❍ Leeming & Peel Ltd
❍ Southern Springs & Pressings
❍ Springmasters
❍ Sterling Springs (also stocks material)
❍ TruSprings

● India

❍ S K Spring Co

● Israel

❍ Nordia Springs
❍ Sprinco Ltd.

● Malaysia

❍ Chung Rong

● Mexico

❍ Associated Spring - Mexico

❍ Peterson Spring - Resortes y Productos
Metalicos S.A.
❍ Resortes Monticello de Mexico

● Pakistan

❍ Pakistan Spring & Engineering Company

● South Africa

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❍ O.A.L. Spring Manufacturers Pty Ltd (Added 3-

16-2004)
❍ Springmaster
❍ Webroy (Pty) Ltd

● Spain

❍ Muelles Crom

● United States

❍ Nationwide Directory maintained by Thomas

Co. — you must register to use.
❍ Alabama
■ Alabama Spring Mfg

❍ Arizona
■ Phoenix Spring Company

❍ Arkansas
■ Spring South Inc

❍ California
■ Aard Spring & Stamping

■ Acxess Spring (Southern California)

online ordering
■ Advanced Spring Technology (AST)

(Southern California)
■ American Precision Spring

■ Argo Spring Mfg

■ Bazz-Houston Co

■ Betts Spring Company

■ Century Spring Corporation (Southern

California) catalog store

■ Connor Mfg Services

■ Diversified Spring Tech Inc (Southern

California)
■ Eibach Springs Inc

■ Flex Metal Components

■ Foremost Spring Co Inc

■ FTR Metal Products Inc.

■ Kato Spring

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Mid-West Spring Mfg

■

■ Newcomb Spring of California

■ O'Hara Metal Products Co

■ Peninsula Spring (N California)

■ Peridot Corp (N California)

■ Precision Coil Spring (S California)

■ Scandic Springs, Inc (N California)

■ Schellinger Spring Inc

■ Spring Industries (Southern California)

■ Titan Spring Inc

■ Tru-Form Tool & Mfg

■ Walker Corp

■ Weichhart Stamping Co

❍ Colorado
■ Colorado Coiling

■ Newcomb Spring of Colorado

❍ Connecticut
■ Acme-Monaco Corporation

■ Arrow Manufacturing

■ Associated Spring

■ Atlantic Precision Spring Inc

■ Banner Spring

■ Bristol Spring Manufacturing Co.

■ Century Spring Mfg Co

■ Colonial / Han-Dee Spring LLC

■ Connecticut Spring & Stamping

■ Dayon Mfg,. Inc.

■ D R Templeman Co

■ Dymco

■ Fourslide Spring Products, Inc.

■ Fourslide Spring Products Inc

■ Gemco Mfg

■ Imperial Spring

■ Lee Spring Co

■ Newcomb Spring Corp.

■ Peck Spring

■ Plymouth Spring Co., Inc.

■ Rowley Spring & Stamping Corp.

■ Southington Tool & Mfg. Corp.

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■ TAK Enterprises Incorporated

■ Tollman Spring, Inc.

■ Triple A Spring, Ltd.

❍ Florida
■ Gilco Spring of Florida

■ Industrial Spring

■ Southern Spring & Stamping

■ Wolf Wire Forms Inc

❍ Georgia
■ Landrum Spring Service

■ Newcomb Spring of Atlanta

■ Peterson Spring - Georgia

❍ Illinois
■ Alco Spring Industries, Inc. (railroad

springs)
■ All-Rite Spring

■ Dudek & Bock Spring Mfg

■ Form-All Spring & Stamping

■ High Precision Components

■ International Spring Company

■ Keats Mfg

■ Lewis Spring & Mfg

■ Master Spring and Wireform

■ PJ Spring Co.

■ Mastercoil Springs

■ Mid-West Spring Mfg

■ O&G Wire Forms Co

■ O'Hare Springs Co, Inc.

■ Patrick Manufacturing, Inc.

■ Perfection Spring & Stamping Corp.

■ Peterson Spring - Greenville

■ Precision Products Group

■ Rich Industries

■ Rockford Spring Co.

■ Solar Spring Corporation

■ Spring Specialists Corp.

■ Stanley Spring and Stamping Corp.

■ Sterling Spring Corporation

■ Wesco Spring Co

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■Wireformers, Inc.
■ York Spring Co.

■ Zaco Mfg

❍ Indiana
■ Firestone Industrial Products Company

air suspension
■ Kokomo Spring Co Inc

■ Mid-West Spring Mfg

■ Monticello Spring

■ Myers Spring offers online design!

■ Pepka Spring offers online design!

■ Winamac Coil Spring, Inc.

❍ Iowa
■ Iowa Springs Mfg

❍ Kentucky
■ W B Jones Spring Co

■ Hasco/Springco Industries USA Inc.

❍ Maryland
■ Kirk-Habicht Spring Company

(Baltimore)
■ Maryland Precision Spring

❍ Massachusetts
■ Peterson Spring

■ Spring Manufacturing Corp.

❍ Michigan
■ Apex Spring & Stamping

■ Associated Spring

■ Automatic Spring Products

■ Bohnert L.L.C.

■ Eaton Springs automotive suspension

■ Gilco Inc.

■ GR Spring & Stamping

■ Hasco Spring Industries, Inc.

■ HyTech Spring and Machine

■ Lake Michigan Wire Technologies, Inc.

■ M & S Spring Company, Inc.

■ Michigan Spring & Stamping

■ Mid-West Spring Manufacturing

■ Peterson Spring

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Quality Spring/Togo, Inc.

■

■ Schnorr Corporation (Belleville

washers)
■ Spring Dynamics, Inc.

■ Spring Engineering & Manufacturing

■ STC Technologies

■ Wolverine Coil Spring

❍ Minnesota
■ Industrial Spring Company

■ Mid-West Spring Manufacturing

■ Spring Force Inc.

■ Original Standard Spring leaf springs

■ Vadnais Technologies Corp.

■ Western Spring

❍ Missouri
■ Industrial Spring (Kansas City)

■ Industrial Spring (St. Louis)

■ Spirolox Springs

■ Wermke Spring Mfg

❍ New Jersey
■ Atlantic Spring

■ Murphy & Read Spring Mfg

■ Omega Shielding Products

❍ New York
■ Associated Spring

■ Lee Spring Company

■ Midstate Spring, Inc.

❍ North Carolina
■ Baumann Springs USA

■ HS Wire Technology (bed springs)

■ Newcomb Spring of Carolina

■ North Carolina Coil Inc.

■ Southern Precision Spring Co.

❍ Ohio
■ Bloomingburg Spring & Wire Form

■ Capital Spring

■ Elyria Spring & Specialty

■ Hasco Spring Industries, Inc.

■ Marik Spring

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Michigan Spring & Stamping - Elyria

■

■ North Coast Spring & Stamping

■ Peterson Spring

■ Reliable Spring & Wire Forms Co

■ Sanborn Wire Products, Inc.

■ Service Spring Corporation garage door

springs
■ Spring Team, Inc.

■ Twist, Inc.

■ Yost Superior Co.

❍ Oklahoma
■ Ebsco Spring Company

■ Gardner Spring, Inc

❍ Oregon
■ Anderson Quality Spring

■ Benz Spring Co.

■ Connor Manufacturing Services

■ Curran Coil Spring, Inc.

■ Northwest Fourslide, Inc.

■ Northwest Spring & Mfg

❍ Pennsylvania
■ A.V. Weber Co., Inc.

■ Ace Wire & Spring

■ Ametek, Hunter Spring Products

■ Associated Spring

■ Chestnut Group Inc.

■ Diamond Wire Spring

■ General Wire Spring

■ James Spring & Wire

■ John Evans Sons, Inc.

■ General Wire Spring Company

■ Mercer Spring & Wire

■ Navarro Spring Co., Inc.

■ Sun Spring Manufacturing

■ Vulcan Spring & Mfg Inc.

❍ South Carolina
■ Diamond Wire Spring

■ Duer/Carolina Coil, Inc.

■ Springmasters

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❍ Tennessee
■ General Spring, Inc

■ Hasco Spring Industries of Tennessee,

Inc.
■ Newcomb Spring of Tennessee

■ Southern Spring & Mfg, Co., Inc.

❍ Texas
■ Associated Spring

■ Coiling Technologies

■ Connor Manufacturing Services

■ Diamond Wire Spring

■ Draco Spring Manufacturing

■ Engineered Spring Products

■ Gifford Spring

■ Keats Southwest

■ Leeco Spring International

■ Michigan Spring & Stamping

■ Newcomb Spring of Texas

■ SEI Metalforms

■ SEI MetalTek

■ Southern Spring Manufacturing, Inc.

■ Spring Engineers of Houston

■ Suhm Spring Works, Inc.

❍ Utah
■ Spring Works Utah Inc.

❍ Washington
■ Renton Coil Spring Co.

❍ Wisconsin
■ Aaron Spring

■ Associated Spring

■ Automated Wire Products Inc

(hydraulic power industry)

■ Exacto Spring

■ Fox Valley Spring Company glossary

■ ITW Shakeproof/Milwaukee

■ Oshkosh Coil Spring, Inc

■ R & L Spring Co.

■ Wisconsin Coil Spring

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● Taiwan

❍ Accord Kev Ind. Co., Ltd. (springs and

equipment)
❍ Chien Sheng Spring Industrial Co., Ltd. (clock
& power springs
)
❍ Ta Ming Springs Co Ltd
❍ Ty Power Spring (clock & power springs)

Equipment and supplies

● Machinery (note that most machinery manufacturers

sell and distribute worldwide)

❍ Accord Kev Ind. Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)

❍ A.I. Technology (Japan)
❍ American International Machinery, Inc (US)
❍ Automated Industrial Motion (US)
❍ Asahi-Seiki Mfg (Japan)
❍ BHS-Torin (US)
❍ Forming Systems Inc
❍ G+M Dorn - grinders (US)
❍ Horizon Machinery (US) coilers & grinders
❍ Howar Equipment (Canada) wireworking
machinery (added 3-16-2004)
❍ Max Springs Machinery Inc (US)
❍ Moyer Mfg Co Inc grinders
❍ Nichols International lathe coilers (US)
❍ Okuno Machine Co (Japan)
❍ Oriimec Corp. of America
❍ Phoenix Machinery (US - under construction 4
Nov 01)
❍ SECEM coiling & wire straightening
machinery (Italy)
❍ Systemes Sarotech Inc (Canada) - torsion
spring software

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❍ Taihei Mfg., Ltd. (Japan)

❍ Toyo Seiko shot peening media (Japan)
❍ Unidex Group (US - select “spring machinery
& equipment” in the left-hand panel)
❍ U S Baird Corp slide forming machinery

● Wire (note that most wire manufacturers sell and

distribute worldwide)

❍ A D Mackay Inc - unusual alloys, etc. (US)

❍ Admiral Steel (IL)
❍ Alloy Wire Intl (UK)
❍ Amstek Metal (US)
❍ Bekaert (Belgium & elsewhere)
❍ Elgiloy
❍ Gibbs Wire & Steel (US / Canada)
❍ Haldex Garphyttan Wire (US)
❍ Industrial Alloys, Inc. (US)
❍ The Interwire Group (US)
❍ Kiswire
❍ Lapham-Hickey Steel (US)
❍ Leggett & Platt Wire Group
❍ Little Falls Alloys (NJ / CA / AZ / UK)
❍ Loos & Co., Inc.
❍ Mapes Wire (US)
❍ Maryland Specialty Wire, Inc.
❍ Miraglia (Italy)
❍ North American Wire Products Corp (OH)
❍ Precision Steel Warehouse
❍ R&F Alloy Wires (US)
❍ Regal Steel Co.
❍ Sandvik
❍ Seneca Wire & Mfg.
❍ ShapedWire Company (US)
❍ Sivaco (US)
❍ Stainless Wires
❍ Sterling Springs (also makes springs)
❍ Sugita Wire
❍ Sumiden Wire Products Corp. (US)

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How to Make Springs

❍ Techalloy Co., Inc. (US)

❍ Theis Precision Steel Corp. (US)
❍ United Wire Co., Inc.
❍ Ulbrich Stainless (US / UK)
❍ Tool King, Inc. (US - flat stock)
❍ Wire Source, LLC
❍ WRCA Wire (Missouri - wire rope)

● Misc supplies & equipment

❍ Accra-Wire Controls (US) - wire handling

equipment
❍ Advance Car Mover (US) - hand looper &
coiler
❍ Anchor Abrasives grinding supplies
❍ Apex Industrial Machinery Company (IL) -
dereelers, ovens, test equipment
❍ Carlson Company, Inc. (US) hand coilers -
web site gone with the wind :-(
❍ Creative Coatings, Inc. (US)
❍ Dynaphysics spring design software, including
online application
❍ Electronics Inc. - shot peening equipment
❍ Furnace Fixers, Inc. - ovens
❍ General Inspection (US - QC machinery)
❍ J N Machinery - heat treating equipment
❍ Larson Systems Inc. (US - testing equipment)
❍ Lesmo America (US) - wire straighteners &
other equipment
❍ Link Engineering Company test equipment
❍ Lion Precision (gauges)
❍ Marquardt Engineering Inc. US - coiler parts)
❍ Moyer Mfg. Co., Inc. Grinding & mfg
equipment
❍ Nichols International Machinery Systems Co.
(US - testing equipment)
❍ North American Spring Tool Co. (US - tools &
tooling)
❍ Norwalk Innovation Inc. - wire handling
equipment (US)

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How to Make Springs

❍ Precision Quincy heat treating ovens

❍ Pyromaitre, Inc. (Canada - stress relief ovens)
❍ Spectral Systems Inc (US - wire handling
equipment)
❍ Stamping Specialty Co Inc stock oilers
❍ Varland Metal Service Inc.- electroplating
(OH)

Associations

● Chicago Association of Spring Manufacturers

● Precision Metalforming Association
● Spring Manufacturers' Institute (US mainly - trade
organization)
● WireNet (Wire Association Intl)
● Wire Technology International wire industry journal

Springmakers

Randy Kepner is a springmaker in Pennsylvania

Miscellaneous

The Library will typically contain engineering and design

reference texts at Dewey classification #621.824. There are
also a couple of articles in magazines to check out:

● “Helical Springs” by Kozo Hiraoka, in Home Shop

Machinist, May/June and July/August issues, 1987.
(Thanks to Don Peterson for telling me about this) -
NOTE: This article is avaiable on the Web here.
● “Spring Winder” by Glenn Wilson, in Machinist's
Workshop, Feb/Mar 2001 issue (thanks, Glenn!)
● “Springs & Pressings A Designer's Guide” by

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How to Make Springs

Matthew Drew, privately published by Southern

Springs & Pressings. Ask nice and he may send you a
copy.

Bookstores are usually not so helpful unless they're technical

in nature.

The Thomas Catalog has a listing for springmakers

Don't forget the Guild of Metalsmiths

And here's a directory of manufacturers of wire forms!

[added 9-15-2003]

Saving the best for last, we have the metalworking

newsgroup that provided me with the inspiration to put this
site on the Web, as well as many comments as well as some
good, lasting friendships.

If you know any other links that should be on this page, let
me know.

This page was last updated on 14 July 2004.

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

GLOSSARY
These are many of the common words that have definitions in the
springmaking field. The definitions are my own (caveat) and are
admittedly not complete. This is not a dictionary -- it's just another tool
you can use to do a better job.

● Definitions of words
● Pictures
❍ Compression spring

❍ Extension spring

❍ Torsion spring

Active coil
A coil of wire which contributes to the motive force of a spring.
In extension and torsion springs, all the coils are active coils. In
compression springs, only the coils which show daylight between
them are active coils.
Arbor
A bar or pipe around which wire is wound to form a spring.
Back gear
A mechanism in a lathe that allows the chuck to turn very slowly.
Beryllium copper (wire)
An exotic material that can be made into springs.
Bundle
A roll or coil of wire as it is shipped from the manufacturer.
Cast
The curvature in wire that results from its being bundled into
coils at the factory.
Chrome Silicon (wire)
An alloy of steel, stronger than Oil Tempered wire.
Chrome Vanadium (wire)
An alloy of steel, stronger than Oil Tempered wire.
Closed and ground end
Referring to the end of a compression spring where the wire
forms one dead coil and is ground square.
Closed end
Referring to the end of a compression spring where the wire
forms one dead coil and is not ground square.
Coil
1) (noun) The wire of a spring going completely around once (see
active coil, dead coil).

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2) (noun) A bundle of wire as it is shipped from the factory.

3) (verb) To form (wire) into a spring.
Compression
Making smaller.
Compression spring
A spring which derives its usefulness because it pushes against a
load which makes it smaller.
Dead coil
A coil of wire which does not contribute to the motive force of a
spring. In extension and torsion springs, there are no dead coils.
In compression springs, the coils at each end that lay against each
other are dead coils: all the rest are active coils.
Double torsion
A form of torsion spring that has two coils; one left-handed and
one right-handed, connected by a central tongue.
Extension
Making longer.
Extension spring
A spring which derives its usefulness because it pulls against a
load which makes it longer.
Free length
The length of a spring with no load applied.
Grinding stage
A flat (usually) steel platform used to ensure that the ends of
compression springs orient correctly to a grinding wheel.
Heat treat(ing)
1) The process of tempering metal.
2) (colloquially) The process of stress relief.
Lathe
A machine which derives its usefulness by rotating stock against
which tooling may be brought to bear. Springs are often wound
on a lathe.
Lead screw
A mechanism in a lathe that allows the tool post to move from
side to side at a precise rate.
Mandrel
An arbor.
Music wire
A high-carbon steel alloy used in making springs.
Open end
Referring to the end of a compression spring where the pitch of
the spring extends all the way to the end of the wire, and does not
form any dead coils.
OT (Oil Tempered wire)
A lower-carbon steel alloy used in making springs.
Passivate (-ation)
The process of removing chemical coatings from stainless steel
by immersion in an acid bath.

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Phosphor bronze (wire)

An exotic alloy sometimes used in making springs.
Pigtail
A form taken by tie wire when used to secure a bundle of heavy
spring wire.
Pitch
The distance, center to center, between two active coils of a
compression spring.
Spring [dia]
A helically formed piece of (usually) wire which derives its
usefulness because it tries to regain its original shape when
subjected to a load. See Compression Spring, Extension Spring,
Torsion Spring.
Stainless Steel (wire)
An alloy used in making springs that will not rust. The most
common stainless steels are called 302 and 17-7.
Stress
Misalignment of the molecules in wire due to bending.
Titanium
A strong, lightweight metal sometimes used in making springs.
Tool post
The part of a lathe that allows tooling to be mounted and used on
stock.
Torsion
Twisting.
Torsion spring
A spring which derives its usefulness by trying to return to its
original shape when subjected to a load traveling around its axis.
Variable pitch
A form of compression spring that has more than one pitch.
Wind
To coil (a spring).
Wire
Metal, usually round and solid in section, used in making springs.

Compression Spring:

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Extension Spring

Torsion Spring

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How to Make Springs

HOW SPRING SHOPS WORK

This section will tell you about spring shops and how they work, so that if you need to contact one, you'll know how
to talk to the people there intelligently.

● How spring shops are organized

● Costing and pricing
● Careers in springmaking

Spring Shops

In almost every major city you will find spring factories. Some specialize in certain kinds of springs, while others can
make anything you can dream up. The major springmaking centers in the United States are the area around Detroit
(which serves the automobile industry) and the area around Los Angeles.

Most spring shops are divided into two parts: the office and the shop itself. Inside the shop, there are often four
departments:

Coiling This is the area where the automatic coiling machinery operates. Automatic coilers can handle wire
from .010" to .500", and once they're set up, can pretty much run all day long.

Added 3-16-2004: For a really great description of how automatic coiling machinery works, click
here.

Grinding This is the department where the ends of compression springs are ground. A lot of the work is done
with automatic machines, which pass the springs between two grinding wheels that can be four feet
across.

Secondary The secondary department is where wire is bent by hand. This is where the ends of torsion springs
are formed, where loops are put onto the ends of extension springs, and where wire forms are made.

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Short Order This is where small quantities of springs are made by hand. If a customer wants less than 50 of a
spring, the job is given to the short order department, since they can generally make the springs
faster and their work doesn't tie up the automatic coilers.

Most of the information on this site would be used in the short order part of the shop.

Depending on the size of the shop and what it's equipped to make, there can also be machinists to make tooling, a
shipping and receiving department, a quality control department, and a “hot shop,” where larger sizes of wire are
made into really big springs.

How Spring Shops Make Money

Springs are sold by the piece. When you call a spring shop and ask for a quote, here's how they'll figure out how much
to charge you:

$ _____ Cost of material, plus

$ _____ How long it will take to set the job up, times an hourly rate, plus
$ _____ How long it will take to run the job, times an hourly rate, plus
$ _____ How long it will take to do any secondary work, times an hourly rate, plus
$ _____ How much it will cost to get any outside finishing work (like plating) done,
plus
$ _____ A margin for profit, plus
$ _____ Sales tax
$ _____ = TOTAL COST

The hourly rates will vary from shop to shop. Generally, they'll figure an hour to set up an automatic machine, and
they'll estimate the time it takes to do the coiling, grinding, looping, etc., based on what they know the machines and
people can do. They'll have a minimum charge to cover their expenses, even for small orders.

There are also catalog stores, which stock a variety of more-or-less common spring designs. Some have catalogs, and
you can call them and place an order just like you would with any other retailer.

Careers in Springmaking

Someone applying for work in a spring shop will generally start out either in grinding (the dirtiest, most boring part of
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the work) or in secondary. Experienced springmakers will tend to make a home for themselves either in coiling or in
short order.

Springmaking is a good field, especially if you're into machinery. But once you're working in a spring shop, it's hard
to transfer from the shop into the front office. Also, if you've spent a few years in springmaking, it's next to impossible
to find work in any other trade.

Beats selling pencils on the corner tho ... :-)

Terms of Use

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OTHER TYPES OF SPRINGS

This section will tell you about other types of springs that can be made. Where it's
possible for you to make them easily, I'll tell you how. Otherwise, your best bet is to
have these types of springs made commercially.

● Round wire
❍ Buckling columns

❍ Nested compression springs

❍ Conical springs

❍ Variable-pitch springs

❍ Snap-rings

❍ Double torsion springs

❍ Wire forms

❍ Bedsprings

❍ Limited-travel extension springs

❍ Braided-wire springs

● Heavy wire
● Light wire
● Other materials
❍ Square and flat wire

❍ Tubular stock

❍ Leaf springs

❍ Belleville washers

❍ Clock springs

I've also written up how to make clock and power springs. You can find that info
here, which is where I list all the new stuff that's been added to the site beginning
January, 2003.

Made from Round Wire

Buckling columns: Get the idea of a plain

coil of very fine wire with no loops or hooks
on the ends. Get the idea of one end of this
coil being held in place, while the other end
is approached by something. When the
'something' hits the other end of the coil, the
coil will support it until the load passes a
certain point, and the the coil will buckle.
Here's what it looks like:

Buckling columns are also used as sensors that send an electrical signal when

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something gets close to it. You can make buckling columns very easily with a drill:
just follow the procedure for making fine-wire extension springs.

Nested compression springs: Sometimes, you'll need a compression spring that's

stronger than any single spring can be. In that case, you can make nested
compression springs — one spring inside the other — that will be a lot stronger than
a single spring. Some automobile valve spring assemblies are actually nested
springs: so are the suspension springs on railroad cars.

You can make nested compression springs easily: just remember two things:

1. Nested compression springs must be different-handed. If the outer spring is

right-handed, then the inner spring must be left-handed, or vice-versa.
2. The outside diameter of the inside spring CANNOT be larger than the inside
diameter of the outside spring. If it is, the springs will not nest.

Conical springs: You may want to make a compression spring that's smaller at one
end than the other. This is called a conical, or tapered, spring. You can make these
just like any other compression spring: the only difference is the arbor, which must
also be cone-shaped.

The best way to make a cone-shaped arbor for light

wire is to turn one out of wood. Get your arbor
diameters for both ends by using the steps in the
section on The Setup and turn your arbor like this:

Use good, hard wood — ash, for instance — and remember: wood is a lot weaker
than steel. Don't try to coil long springs on a wooden arbor, and don't try to make a
conical spring with wire heavier than about .125". It can be done, but with heavier
wire, the wire will start to cut a groove in the wood. More important, the arbor may
snap, which would NOT be fun.

The other thing to watch out for is that when you grind the ends of a conical spring,
you have to hold the spring in your hands to get it ground square. Because the sides
of the coil are sloped, using a grinding stage would not give you a square end.

Variable-pitch springs: Sometimes you'll want a compression spring that starts out
“soft” and after a certain load is placed on it, becomes stiffer. This is called a
variable-pitch spring, and you can see springs like this in some motorcycle shock
absorbers:

These are pretty tricky to make, but you can do it. Here's how:

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1. Make your setup as you would for any other compression spring.
2. Find the right settings for your lead screw for each of the segments of the
coil.
3. Start to wind the spring. When you've wound what you want at the first pitch,
STOP THE LATHE and change the lead screw speed setting to the second
position.
4. Continue winding at the second pitch until you've finished the spring.

The key is to have some way to remember TWO coil counts: one for the first
section, and one for the second. Once you can do this, then you can change where
you switch from one lead-screw speed to another and come out with the exact spring
that you want.

Snap-rings: Snap rings are easy. Just coil an extension spring with the right diameter
and cut off single rings, one at a time, with wire cutters.

Double torsion springs: You recall how

torsion springs can be either left-handed
or right-handed? Well, sometimes you'll
want to make a torsion spring that's both.
Such springs are sometimes found on
clipboards, and they might look like this:

Making double torsion springs means

making some pretty specialized tooling,
and the best way to actually wind them is
with a hand-winder. Here's how:

1. First, find the right size of arbor for making the coils. The arbor will have to
be at least a few inches longer than the widest part of the coils.
2. Grind a flat spot on the arbor, narrower than the distance between the insides
of the two coils.
3. Drill a hole through the arbor at the flat spot.

At this point, your arbor should look like this:

4. Make a short pin that'll fit into the hole in your arbor. The pin should
be an inch or so longer that the arbor is thick, and have a bend in one
end. The other end should be slightly rounded, like this:
5. Now, get a piece of flat stock as thick as the inside gap between the
two coils of the spring. Grind it like this:

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6. Drill a hole in this piece (the tongue piece) so that when you put the arbor,
tongue piece, and pin together, they look like this:

7. Make TWO wire guides, one for each side of the spring. Make sure that the
pins on the wire guides come out one to the left and one to the right.

Whew! You're about half done!

8. The next step is to prepare your wire:

1. The first step is to figure out how much wire you'll need to make a
spring. Do this the same way you did for a single torsion spring,
figuring out how much you'll need for ONE SIDE of the double
torsion spring.

Don't forget the fudge factor. When you're done, then just double your
answer: that'll do for a start.
2. Take a length of wire and form a U in the center. (Your design may
call for other bends in the center piece — I call it a 'U' just for
simplicity's sake.) This will be the tongue of your spring, so make sure
you get the inside dimension of the bend the right size. You can form
the U using any of the bending jigs we've discussed.
3. Save this setup. After you make your first spring all the way through,
you'll use it again to make as many springs of this design as you need.
9. Now it's time to actually coil the springs.

Chuck up your arbor in your hand winder. Leave enough room between the
chuck and the flat spot to fit one side of the completed coil, the width of one
wire guide, plus at least half an inch.
10. Slide the left-hand wire guide onto the arbor. That's the one with the pin
coming out the RIGHT side.
11. Slide the tongue piece onto the flat spot on the arbor and put the pin through
both to hold them together.
12. Slide the right-hand wire guide onto the arbor.
13. Hook your prepared wire onto the tongue piece and over the arbor. Hold it

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tight against the tongue piece as you catch each free end of the wire with the
wire guides. Your setup should look like this:

14. With your left hand, put a little tension on the arbor -- enough to be sure that
your wire guides have both caught the wire securely.
15. Then start to wind, holding both wire guides with your right hand. Keep a
little pressure toward the center of the spring from each side. Spring coils
should start to form on either side of the tongue piece. You can let them
'push' your wire guides outwards as you continue.

16. Stop winding when you have a little more coils down on each side than the
finished spring will need. Back the winder off until the spring hangs free on
the arbor.
17. Now, take the spring off the arbor:

1. Slide the right-hand wire guide off the arbor.

2. Use a finger to pull the tongue of the spring off the tongue piece.
3. Pull the pin out of the tongue piece.
4. Pull the tongue piece off the arbor.
5. Slide the spring free.

Then, check your dimensions and change the number of coils you lay down until
you've got the right number.

Stress-relieve the coils and finish the ends like any other torsion spring. Note that

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because the two coils are mirror-images of each other, you'll probably need to make
two setups to do any bending on the legs of the spring -- one for the right-hand coil
and one for the left-hand coil.

Wire forms: Wire forms are any shape made out of wire — not just a coil. There are
a jillion different kinds of wire forms: here's a common one.

You can make wire forms easily with round-nose pliers, or with a bending jig.

Bedsprings: These are basically hourglass-shaped compression springs in which the

ends wrap around themselves. They're made on special automatic machinery — I
hope you don't need one bad enough to try making it yourself — they can probably
be made by hand, but it would not be easy.

Limited-travel extension springs: Sometimes you'll want to make an extension

spring that only extends so far and then stops. You'll see these sometimes on screen
doors:

As you can see, they're basically compression springs with a little extra added
hardware. Here's how to make them:

1. Make the compression springs and don't grind the ends.

2. For each spring, make two wire forms that look like this:

3. Stick one of the wire forms through the center of the spring coil until the wire
form sticks out the other end.
4. Slide one of the legs of the other wire form through the center part of the first

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one.
5. Flip the second wire form around so that the center part is aimed down the
middle of the spring, and push it through.

There you go!

Braided wire springs: Howitzers and other military hardware use springs that have
to handle sudden significant loads. Ordinary solid-wire springs would shatter under
the stress of artillery recoil, so for these situations springs are made out of braided
wire. I haven't seen any of these myself but I imagine that coiling such material
would be similar to coiling solid wire.

Very heavy wire: What's the heaviest wire that can be made into a spring? Well,
coiling cold, the heaviest is about 5/8". Most spring shops won't coil 5/8" wire cold,
though, because it's too dangerous.

Springs made from larger material start as straight bars of steel with the ends tapered
down. The bars are heated red-hot and then coiled on special machinery. I've seen 2-
1/2" bars made into railroad suspension springs, and I've heard of 6" bars being
made into compression springs that are used as shock absorbers for underground
military command sites.

If you need a spring made with wire thicker than .375", I'd recommend going to a
spring shop and having them make your springs for you. With a big enough lathe
and a thorough awareness of wire safety, you can coil up to .625", but frankly, most
springmakers you talk to will think you're crazy.

Very light wire: Common commercial coiling machines typically handle wire as fine
as .010", but springs have been made with wire as fine as .002" using custom-made
micro coilers. Winding extremely fine wire by hand is difficult because the wire
tangles easily and cuts flesh even easier. Leave these to the pros, OK?

Springs Made from Other Materials

Many springs are made from material other than round wire. Again, if you can make
some of these with simple setups, this section will tell you how.

Square and flat wire: All types of coil springs can be made from either square or flat
wire. Using these materials gives you a stronger spring than if you use round wire
for the same design.

You can use these materials to make your springs: the only change to your setup is
the wire guide. Besides the wire guide that fits in the tool post of your lathe, hold the
wire in a crescent wrench, in front of the tool post.

As the wire coils onto the arbor, it'll try to “roll” in a clockwise direction. To prevent
this, keep a counterclockwise pressure on the wire with the crescent wrench. Then,
the wire will lay down flat on the arbor.

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Tubular stock: You can also coil tubing into spring shapes for cooling coils and so
forth. Tubular stock is very soft, though, compared with solid wire, so a couple of
extra steps are needed:

● All tooling parts which come in contact with the stock should be “dished” to
accommodate the stock. That means the arbor should be made with a shallow
groove:

And the wire guide, ideally, should be a roller with a groove in it, gimballed
to allow it to swing:
● To prevent the stock from collapsing during bending, fill it with fine sand
before you start. Be sure the sand is packed tight — the tighter the sand, the
less the stock will deform.

Leaf springs: Leaf springs start out as bars of flat stock, which are then heated red-
hot and formed, either by machine or by hand. If you need leaf springs, best bet is to
go to a spring shop that specializes in making them.

Belleville washers: These are just like regular washers — flat metal donuts —
except that the inside of the washer is higher than the outside. Belleville washers are
mounted in a pack and with a bunch of them together, make a very strong spring.
Belleville washers are made by a stamping process that's best done in a spring shop.

Clock springs: Some springs are made from wide, flat stock and coiled up like the
shell of a snail. These are called clock springs, and the material they're made from is
called 'blue clock', because the color of the steel is blue.

Springs like this are found inside clocks, retractor reels, and other machinery. Take
apart an old thermostat and you'll see that the sensor element is basically a clock
spring. You can make them on a lathe, but you'll need special tooling that's not easy
to make. Your best bet, again, is to go to a spring shop and get them made for you.

Forward to how spring shops operate.

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FINISHING
This section will tell you about a few of the finishing touches
you can put on your springs. Some of these are necessary,
while others may be called for by the design you have in
mind.

● Tweaking
● Stress relief
● Passivating
● Optional finishing
processes

Tweaking

Sad to say, your spring may not be exactly what you want.
Sometimes not all is lost though — you should know, first,
how to correct what's wrong and second, what you can do to
“tweak” your springs into shape.

First, how to correct what's wrong:

Increasing the Will give you

A weaker
spring: it will
take less force
Number of coils
to deflect the
spring a certain
amount.

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A weaker
spring: it will
Diameter of the take less force
spring to deflect the
spring a certain
amount.

A stronger
spring: it will
take more force
Diameter of the wire
to deflect the
spring a certain
amount.

(You'll note that this is the same data you read about in the
section on spring design.)

Sometimes you'll be able to “tweak” your springs into shape,

especially when they're not too far off, and also especially
before you've relieved the stress. Here are some techniques
you can use:

You can open up the diameter a notch or two by grabbing the

ends of the wire in your hands and twisting the coil gently in
the opposite direction. This works best on short springs with
few coils. On longer springs with many coils, you can open
the diameter up by simply dropping the spring onto a hard
surface (like maybe the floor).

Compression springs can be shortened by setting them solid

or heat setting them (see the section on compression springs).
You can lengthen a compression spring by driving a wedge in
between each pair of coils. Be careful to use the same amount
of force each time you do this, and also be sure you do it
evenly all the way up and down the spring body. Note that
when you do this, the diameter of the spring will also open
up.

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Necessary Steps

Stress relief

Spring wire that gets bent has to have the bending stress
relieved. Here are the stress relief guidelines for all common
spring wire materials.

Temperature Time
Material Movement
(deg. F.) (hrs)

Aluminum (none) 400 ½

Basic (none) (none) (none)

Brass (none) (just warm) —

Beryllium
close slightly 600 1½
copper

Bronze (none) 350 ½

Chrome Silicon close 800 ½

Chrome
close 800 ½
Vanadium

Elgiloy open 900 5

Hard drawn (none) 500 1/3

Inconel (none) 800 1

Inocnel 718 (none) 1375 16

Inconel X 1375 16
(none)
#1 temper then 700 1

Inconel X
(none) 1250 4
spring temper

K Monel (none) 1000 4

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Maraging
(none) 950 4+
flat stock

Maraging
(none) 850 ½
wire

Monel (none) 600 1

Music wire close 500 1

Ni-span C (open) 1250 3

Oil Tempered close slightly 500 ½

Premier (none) 625 ½

Rene' 41 (none) 1400 16

Stainless steel
open 600 1
(302)

Stainless steel
open 900 1
(17-4 or 17-7)

Titanium open 800 10

Passivating

Working with stainless steel creates “free iron”

contamination on the surface that can later rust and create
problems with the part and its working environment. The
process of removing this free iron is called passivation: here's
how you do it.

BEFORE YOU START, find a safe spot to do this. You

should do it outdoors, and away from anyplace where
animals or other people can get into it.

1. Put your springs into a stainless steel basket, which

you made on the tooling page.
2. Fill your passivating tank with acid. The tank itself
can be anything large enough that doesn't leak and is

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made out of stainless steel. An old sink, fitted with a

stainless steel plug in the drain hole, works great.
Muriatic acid — the same kind they use for swimming
pools — is a good acid to use*. Pour the acid into the
tank, being careful not to get ANY on your body or
your clothes.
3. Lower the basket with the springs into the tank and let
it sit there for an hour.
4. After an hour, lift the basket out of the tank and wash
the springs with plain water. If you want to save the
acid for later use, put it back into its original container
and WASH OUT THE TANK so that no animals or
people can get into it accidentally.

Don't passivate anything but stainless, by the way: the acid

will eat non-stainless steel and ruin the springs.

* I have had correspondence from a metallurgist who advises me that

muriatic acid is incorrect. He advises nitric acid and has asked me to
include a reference to the ASM Metals Handbook on Cleaning and
Finishing, for those of you who are interested. You may want to consult
a metallurgist or materials engineer on this point — there may be
another acid that's more workable, or a recommended dilution of
muriatic acid that I'm not aware of.

Optional Steps

Depending on where you want your springs to go, you may

want them to look shiny. If you do, you can have them plated
after you're finished making them. Plating will not change
their dimensions. You can have springs plated with chrome,
silver, gold, or any other metal. Springs that are used to make
electrical connections are usually plated with silver or gold. If
you're not in the plating business yourself, your best bet is to
get your springs plated commercially, rather than try to do it
yourself.

Also depending on the use of the springs you make, you may
want to have them painted or dipped in rubber (like if you
want to hang something from an extension spring and not let
the spring scratch whatever it is that's hanging from it).

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I personally think that small-wire springs can be beautiful,

and although I've never done it myself, there's no reason why
someone couldn't make jewelry using them as a starting
point. Earrings, for instance. If you want to try this out, go
right ahead.

Forward to other types of springs that you can make.

Forward to how spring shops operate.

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

CLOCK and POWER SPRINGS

CLOCK SPRINGS

Clock springs are made from flat stock and coiled like a snail shell, each coil nesting inside the next larger one. They typically work
inside a housing and exert torsional force against either a central shaft or the housing itself. Clock springs can be made from a variety
of materials depending on what's needed. Smaller springs may be made from beryllium copper or similar alloys while larger springs
are typically made from a high-carbon steel called 'blue clock' for its color. Making these springs is not difficult, but remember,
safety first. Here's how you do it.

First, figure out how much material you need. Unfortunately, I don't happen to know any handy-dandy formulas for designing clock
springs, so if you know how many coils are involved, you can just multiply that by the the diameter (outside) and then by pi (3.1416)
to get a rough idea. Add a bit so you don't run short while coiling.

Strip out material for a couple of samples. Note how long these are. Anneal one end of each piece and form whatever bends, holes,
etc., will be needed to secure it to the central shaft. Make the bends as gradual as you can, to minimize residual stress.

Then make two pieces of tooling. One is the arbor, and the other is a keeper ring. The arbor is simply a piece of round stock that has
one end formed to accept the 'inside' end of the the stock as you've made it. Exactly what this looks like will depend on the final
installation of your spring - all it needs to be is a way to hold it safely while you coil. The maximum diameter of the arbor is
whatever will allow you to make the required number of coils and still wind up with a solid spring body that's smaller in diameter
than its final destination.

The keeper ring is also very simple, yet absolutely essential to make BEFORE you actually begin coiling. All the keeper ring is is 3/4
of a coil of round wire that will be able to hold your clock spring inside it and still have an inside diameter slightly smaller than the
housing inside which the spring will eventually go. This is so that when you wind your spring, you'll be able to 'capture' it inside the
keeper ring (with the 'outside end' of the spring protruding through the gap in the keeper ring) and then, to install the spring in its
housing, simply put the spring half inside the housing and slide it out of the keeper ring safely.

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The coiling setup for making a clock spring is pretty simple too. Chuck up your arbor and put a piece of square stock in your tool
holder, parallel with the arbor. You can define a channel through which your stock will pass by using a couple of C clamps. It's best
to wind the spring with the stock traveling under the wire guide and over the arbor so you can see what's going on. There's no left
hand and right hand to these springs, so how the stock actually feeds into the setup makes no difference.

If you're working with heavy stock or if you're working with ANY stock and have to make a lot of coils, make one final modification
to your arbor. Bolt a flat plate onto the end of it so that the stock cannot slip off the end while you're coiling and bring you grief.

Okay. Let's give it a try. Take your first sample and secure the “inside” end to the arbor. Let the tail end of the stock run under the
wire guide and make sure you have your keeper ring handy. Go ahead and coil up the stock (coiling speed DEAD SLOW) and stop
when you have coiled the right number of coils plus ten percent OR when you get close to the end of your stock.

When you're done coiling, slip the keeper ring over the spring (you may have to remove the safety plate first) and run the lathe
backwards to release the tension. The spring will expand the keeper ring slightly: when it's loose on the arbor, go ahead and slide it
off:

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You can check it now — ideally in its final assembly — and figure out how much to change the length of the stock piece you start
with. Once you've figured that out, go ahead and trim the second sample to that length. Then, form up the “outside” end of this
second sample by bending, drilling, etc., so that it can be mounted in its final housing securely.

Now go ahead and coil up this second sample and see if it works. Ideally it will. If not, you can always cut a fresh piece of stock and
try again. Don't forget to make enough keeper rings!

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

COMPRESSION
SPRINGS
This page will tell you how to make compression springs.
Making compression springs is a lot more fun than making
either extension or torsion springs, but it's also a lot more
complicated.

Before we start, let's have a word about equipment.

Compression springs have pitch — that's the distance between
the open coils in the spring — and to make a spring with pitch
means that you have to be able to control how fast your wire
guide travels from left to right as the arbor turns around.

With a lathe, it's easy. You just engage the lead screw and away
you go.

But with a drill or a hand winder, it's more difficult. Not

impossible, just more difficult.

Spring shops get around the difficulty by buying a hand-

winding machine designed for making light compression
springs. These are designed so that once you set it up, you can
make any number of springs and they will all be exactly the
same. Carlson Company, Inc. is one manufacturer of hand-
winders: the contact data I had for them has proven outdated
and as of April 2006 I know of no way to reach them. That's too
bad - they make a great product.

Using a lathe, especially for light wire, you're likely to get a lot
of different springs, even though you think you're doing the
same thing each time you wind one. That's the difference
between doing the job 'by eye' and having professional
equipment.

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● Wire length
● First trial
● Coiling without a lead screw
● Closed ends
● Grinding the ends
● Free length and coil count
adjustments
● Setting solid
● Heat setting

Wire Length

The first thing to do is figure out how much wire you'll need to
make a spring. To do this:

1. Take the outside diameter of the spring and multiply it

by 3.3.
2. Take the number of active coils and add 9.
3. Multiply the results of steps 1 and 2 together.
4. Add in a fudge factor. With light wire, make the fudge
factor about 6"; with medium wire, about 3" with heavy
wire, about 6".
5. Write the result down. If you're WAY off, you can save
yourself a lot of wire by cutting it closer. By writing
down what you think you'll need, you'll know how much
you can change this figure and still have a margin for
safety.

Coiling the First Trial

BEFORE YOU START, set your lead screw to the right setting
and make sure your back gear is engaged. Remember that the
heavier the wire you're using, the slower your lathe speed
should be. Here's how to set your lead screw speed:

1. First make sure that the lead screw will go in the right
direction — left to right — when you engage it.

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2. The second step is to set the speed of the lead screw so

that the coils will be properly spaced along the arbor. To
do this, measure (or figure out by math, or guess) how
far apart the coils should be.

The quick way to ballpark the pitch is:

1. Take the free length of the spring and subtract 1½

times the diameter of the wire.
2. Divide the result by the number of active coils.
3. Then turn on your lathe and engage the lead screw. Hold
a piece of chalk tight against the tool post and move the
post toward the arbor until the chalk just touches it. Let
the chalk mark the arbor for a couple of turns, and then
stop the lathe.
4. Measure the distance between your chalk marks and
compare it to what you want. Adjust the speed of your
lead screw until they're about the same.

Once you've gotten your lead screw setting, you can go ahead
and make your first trial spring:

1. Cut a piece of wire to the length you figured out above.

Be sure that anyone else in the area stays out of danger
while you do the rest of this. Also, get your oven heated
up.
2. Put the wire into your setup and move your wire guide
to the left, close enough to the pickup pin so that the
wire catches on both.

Your setup should now look like this:

READ THE NEXT STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH

BEFORE YOU START IT.

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3. Start your coiling. Move the chuck DEAD SLOW until

the wire has come around for one full coil. Lay down at
least two full coils touching each other. The way you do
this is to have your wire guide a little to the LEFT of
where the wire lays down on the arbor, like this:

4. When you have these first coils laid down on the arbor,
you'll then need to do two things at the same time.

1. First, engage your lead screw.

If you're winding wire over about .187", DO NOT

reach over the wire to grab the lead screw
control! Instead, reach UNDER the wire. That
way, if the wire guide breaks, the wire won't take
your arm off at the shoulder.
2. Second, start counting your coils. Count “one”
each time the point at which the active coils
separate from the end coils passes the top of the
chuck.

Looking at the setup from the top, this is the

point you use to count:

3. Keep counting until you reach the number of

active coils you want in the finished spring, and

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then let a couple more coils wind on, keeping

your count going. Then disengage the lead screw.
The wire will close up on itself and start to form
closed coils.
4. Let a couple of closed coils form on the arbor and
then turn off the lathe. DON'T LET THE
“BACK” END OF THE WIRE PASS THE PIN
ON THE WIRE GUIDE! Write down your final
coil count for reference.
5. Reverse the chuck slowly so that the spring is
loose on the arbor. Don't let the pickup pin or the
jaws of the chuck catch the front end of the wire
as the spring gets loose on the arbor!

If there's a lot of extra wire, cut it off. Then, put

your spring into the oven and relieve the stress.
For this trial, you can leave it in the oven for half
an hour. Remember that stress relief will cause
music wire springs to close up slightly, while
stainless steel will expand.

When you've finished this process, let the spring air-cool and
measure it to see how close you came to what you want. Check
the diameter first. If it's not OK, don't bother going any further:
you'll need a different arbor, which will change all the rest of
your dimensions.

If the diameter is OK, count the number of active coils in your

spring. You should be pretty close: for a small number of
springs, being a quarter coil off either way is OK. If you're
more than a quarter coil off, figure out how much more or less
you need and change your coil count for the next trial.

Coiling without a lead screw

It's possible to coil compression springs without a lead screw on

your lathe. The difficulty you'll run into is making more than
one spring alike. Here's how you do it:

1. Calculate the pitch of the spring. Take the free length,

subtract 1½ wire diameters, and divide the result by the
number of active coils you want.
2. Hold your chalk up against the tool post and move the

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tool post toward the arbor until the chalk leaves a mark
an inch or two to the right of the chuck.
3. Turn on the lathe, letting the chalk ride on the arbor,
making a complete circle around the arbor.
4. With the handwheel, move the tool post to the right at a
steady pace, keeping the chalk in contact with the arbor.
The chalk will mark a path approximating the spring you
want to make.
5. Count the number of coils you mark with the chalk and
stop the rightward motion of the tool post when you
reach your trial coil count.
6. Let the lathe continue to run until the chalk has marked
the arbor all the way around.
7. Wind a trial spring, making the wire follow your chalk
line as closely as possible.
8. If your spring is not right, wash the chalk off the arbor,
recalculate the pitch as needed, and try again.

Finishing the Ends

The next step is to cut off the excess coils

from both ends. Find the point where the
active coils first close up and cut off
anything past that point. Each end of your
spring should look like this when you're
done:

This type of end is called a “closed end.”

For a lot of applications, you can leave your springs exactly like
this: if this is the case with your spring, you can skip down to
“Free Length”. If your spring has to be ground square, read on.

Grinding

BEFORE YOU START, PUT ON A PAIR OF GLOVES.

There's nothing quite so much fun as accidentally touching your
hand to a moving grinding wheel! Then, make sure that there's
nothing flammable nearby: grinding will give off sparks!

Take your spring over to your grinding wheel and grind it

square. Some tips:

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● Hold the spring lightly, so that if it catches on the

grinding wheel it won't drag your hand along with it.
● A standard bench grinder will work for light wire, but
whatever size grinder you're using, grind on the side of
the wheel -- not the front.
● Start grinding with the free end up, rotating the spring
about 1/8 of a turn every so often.
● Keep the spring square with the grinding wheel. With
light wire, it's easy. Heavy wire takes some practice.
Spring shops have jigs that they use for keeping the
springs square while grinding.
● Move the spring from side to side across the surface of
the grinding wheel (which prevents the spring from
digging a groove in it). Keep the body of the spring
perpendicular to the flat side of the wheel, and don't
forget to dress the wheel from time to time, especially if
you're grinding stainless steel or other softer material.
● Every few seconds, dip the end of the spring into some
water to keep it cool. If it starts to glow red, it's WAY
too hot. Stainless steel has to be kept cooler than other
types of wire.
● When you've ground the top surface, start to rotate the
spring so that the grinding wheel ends up hitting 3/4 of
the first coil.
● Grind until the tip of the first coil is about 3/4 ground
away. If you've kept the spring square to your wheel,
that'll give you a good grind.

If you're looking at the end of the spring, the ground surface

should look like this:

The other thing to check is how square your ground ends are.
You can do this by setting your spring down next to a
carpenter's square, a machinist's square, a book, or anything

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else that stands up straight. Then, holding the bottom end of the
spring next to your square, turn the spring around and watch the
gap between the square and the top end.

If your spring is perfectly square, there will be no gap as you

turn the spring around. A small gap is OK, since the ends of the
spring will flatten out under load. If there's a big gap, then you
need to grind the end some more. (Commercial squareness in
spring shops is ±3 degrees.)

When you're finished grinding the end surfaces, use a file or a

pointed grinding stone to get rid of any burrs on both the
outside and the inside of the ends.

Free Length

Once you've ground your ends, measure the length of the spring
from end to end (“free length”). If it's not what you want, you
may have to adjust your lead screw speed. Here's how to tell
what adjustments to make:

● If the number of active coils is right but the spring is too

short, keep the coil count the same and increase the
speed of the lead screw.
● If the number of active coils is right but the spring is too
long, keep the coil count the same and decrease the
speed of the lead screw.
● If the number of active coils is too low and the spring is
too short, increase your coil count.
● If the number of active coils is too low and the spring is
too long, increase your coil count and decrease the speed
of your lead screw.
● If the number of active coils is too high and the spring is
too short, decrease your coil count and increase the
speed of your lead screw.
● If the number of active coils is too high and the spring is
too long, decrease your coil count.

One last thing. If your spring is good except that it's just a little
long, you may be able to shorten it without any more grinding.
There are two ways to do this:

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Setting solid:

Take the spring and put enough load on it to make all the open
coils touch each other all the way around. This is called setting
the spring solid, and it might shorten your spring up a little bit.

Remember that when you put a load on a compression spring,

it'll want to spring back to its free length. If you hold it
unevenly, it might fly out sideways. Best bet, if you're going to
set your springs solid, is to mount your arbor in a vise, slip your
spring(s) onto the arbor, and set them solid using a piece of flat
steel, drilled to accommodate the arbor. This will prevent your
springs from flying away and hurting someone.

Heat setting:

Heat setting your springs will make them shorter than setting
them solid will. You MUST heat set springs that will be used
somewhere hot — like inside an engine, for instance. Here's
how to do it:

1. Find a rod that's longer than your spring and just a little
bit narrower than the inside diameter of the spring. The
arbor you used to coil the spring should work nicely.
2. Grind a flat spot near one end and make two collet
clamps. Mount one so that the set screw fits into the flat
spot on the rod.
3. Slide your spring onto the rod up against the collet
clamp and slide the other collet clamp on after it.
4. Set the spring solid ON THE BAR, using a vise as in
“setting solid” above, and tighten the set screw on the
second collet clamp so that it holds the spring in that
position.

AFTER THIS POINT, BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO

POINT EITHER END OF THE ROD AT ANYONE,
INCLUDING YOURSELF!
5. Stick the rod, with the spring and collet clamps, into
your oven. The longer you let it cook, or the higher the
temperature, the shorter the spring will get.
6. Take the rod out of the oven and let it air-cool.
7. MAKING SURE THAT THE ENDS OF THE ROD

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POINT AWAY FROM YOU, loosen the second collet

clamp. If you're working with heavy wire, mount the
“tail” end of the rod in a vise, so that when the collet
clamp breaks loose, it won't go anywhere.

The spring will bounce back to near its free length, and you can
check it against what you want.

Forward to finishing your springs.

Forward to how spring shops operate.

Terms of Use

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EXTENSION SPRINGS
This section will tell you how to make extension springs.

● Wire length
● Trial spring
● Loops
● Hooks
● Swivel hooks

(For how to make extended hooks, see the torsion spring

page.)

I'm also planning to make an animated gif showing the

looping process, but for now it's turning out to be a MAJOR
project and I'd rather get this site on the web without it than
wait until it's done. It will be done, though, so keep checking
back ;-)

Once you have your setup done, the first thing you should do
is make sure you have enough wire.

Wire Length

If you're using light wire, or if you're making short extension

springs with wire up to about .250", you really don't need to
know how much wire you need for each spring — just be
sure you have more than enough. You can figure a rough
length by taking the length of the body of the spring, dividing
by the wire size (which gives you an approximate count of
the number of coils in the spring) and then multiplying that
by 3.3. It'll probably come out too long, but that's okay —
you can use your first couple of springs to set up for making
your loops.

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If you want to make long extension springs out of wire over

about .250" or if you want more than 50 of one design, I
recommend that you go to a spring shop and have them make
your springs for you.

Coiling the First Trial

Now let's make a spring.

1. Cut yourself a piece of wire that's the right length. If

you're using light wire, you can just undo the wire and
let it sit on the floor in front of the lathe or winding
machine. Take the end of the wire on the inside of the
coil for your starting end — that way it won't tangle.
If you're coiling short springs, cut yourself off a
LONG length of wire, so you can coil several springs
at the same time. Be sure that anyone else in the area
stays out of danger while you do the rest of this. Also,
get your oven fired up.
2. Put the wire into your setup and move your wire guide
to the left, close to where the pickup pin is. As you
look down at your setup, it should look like this (these
diagrams will show both a hand-held wire guide and a
tool post-mounted wire guide):

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3. Start your coiling. Move the chuck DEAD SLOW

until you're sure that the wire is seated on the pickup
pin and the pin on your wire guide. Let a couple of
coils lay down on the arbor.

READ THE NEXT STEP ALL THE WAY

THROUGH BEFORE YOU START IT.
4. When you have your first coils laid down on the arbor,
you'll then need to do two things at the same time.

1. First, bring the wire guide a little to the left.

You want there to be a gap between the first
two coils as the wire lays down on the arbor,
but you don't want the wire to run over itself as
the arbor turns. The gap should look something
like this:

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This gap controls what's called “initial

tension.” Initial tension is the force in the wire
that makes it necessary to apply some load to
the spring in order to break the coils apart.
Garage door springs, for instance, have a LOT
of initial tension. Slinky toys (which are
basically extension springs without loops) have
very little.
2. Stop winding when the first of these four
things happens:

1. You reach the point beyond which you

can't reach the “off” switch on your
lathe.
2. You run out of wire. DON'T LET THE
“BACK” END OF THE WIRE PASS
THE PIN ON THE WIRE GUIDE!
3. Your wire guide gets close to the end of
your arbor.
4. (if you're just going to make one spring)
If the coils on the arbor measure about 1-
1/4 times the length of the body of the
spring you're trying to make.
5. Back off the chuck so that the spring is loose on the
arbor. If you're using light wire, you can just grip the
body of the spring near the chuck and pull the dogleg
out, loosening your grip slowly so that the coils
unwind slowly. Slide the wire guide and the spring off
the arbor.
6. Put your spring into the oven and relieve the stress.
Remember, springs made of stainless steel wire will
open up a little in the heat, while springs made of
music wire will contract.

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How to Make Springs

When you've finished this process, let the spring air-cool and
check the diameter. If you did your setup properly, it should
be just what you want. Then, look at the coils. They should
all lie flat against each other, all the way out to the ends of
the spring body. If you see gaps in the body of the spring,
that means that you let the wire guide go too far to the right
while you were coiling.

Now, another word about initial tension. It may or may not

be important whether the loops on the ends of your spring
line up with each other or cross. If the spring is long enough,
you can twist the loops so that they either align or cross, and
the initial tension in the coils will hold them in that position.

The information that follows, which will tell you how to

make loops, assumes that the position of the loops IS
important: if it's not, then just make the loops and let the
spring's initial tension take care of how they align.

Making Loops

This section will tell you how to make one type of loop; a
basic, no-frills type of loop that will do the trick for most
springs. There are other types of loops that are stronger and
prettier but to make them, you need tooling that is specially
made for making this type of loop and nothing else. Brillisour
& Moline used to make looping pliers designed for light
wire, but I'm afraid they're out of business. If anyone knows
of a new source for these, lemme know .

NEWS FLASH: “Hook-Kon” brand looping pliers are

available from Advance Car Mover! These are the same
pliers mentioned above — I've got a pair and they work great
for light wire extension springs!

Simple loops:

1. Cut off the end of your spring, leaving only coils that
touch each other all the way around.

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2. Mount your spring between two looping plates in a

vise, like this:

3. Reach into the center of the spring coil with your

looping rod, hooking the tip of the rod under the first
coil:
4. Bend the coil upwards by pushing down on the rod
until when you let go, the top of the coil is directly
over the center of the spring:

5. With the looping rod, reach under the coil you just
bent up and snag the end of the wire with the tip of the
rod:

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6. Bend the end of the coil so that it aligns with the body
of the spring itself:

Now you've made one end of the spring. The next thing to do
is to figure out how much you have to cut off the other end to
make the whole thing the length you want it to be. If it's a
matter of being just a little short, you can always extend your
hooks by straightening out the wire after if comes off the

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body of the spring.

If it's a short spring and you're just making one from the coil
you have, count the coils and add enough to make the loop —
just shy of a full coil.

If it's a short spring and you've wound a long coil, do the

same thing and separate the first spring from the main body
with wire cutters (or with your cutoff wheel, if you're
working with heavier wire). You can cut the whole coil to
about the right length, but remember, you have to add “just
shy of a full coil” to each end of the spring to make it come
out right.

If it's a long spring (or you just don't want to bother counting
coils), measure the body of the coil and then add about 1-3/4
coils.

Once you've trimmed the body to size, go ahead and make

the second loop, exactly the same way that you made the
first. Then, doublecheck the length of the spring — usually,
inside one hook to inside the other will give you the best
check on this — and see if it's what you want.

If it's too short, you have a couple of options. You can make
the next spring with more coils in the body, or you can make
the next spring with the fancier type of loop.

Loops and Hooks

Loops will work best for most extension springs. Sometimes,

though, you'll want hooks — like when you'll want to slip the
spring onto a pin, for instance.

Making hooks is very simple, once you've made loops: all

you have to do is cut the end of the wire off so that it doesn't
come all the way around to the body of the spring:

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Swivel Hooks

Extension springs are sometimes made with hooks that

swivel:

Doing this without kickpress tooling is abysmally difficult, so

your best bet, if you have to have this type of spring, is to
have it made commercially.

Forward to finishing.
Forward to how spring shops operate.

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

TORSION SPRINGS
This chapter will tell you how to make torsion springs.
Before you start, read the section on The Setup, and have
your setup done (spring coil diameter correct).

Don't forget that torsion springs come left-handed and right-

handed. Be sure to make your setup for the correct hand. If
you're making a left-handed spring, remember that the setup
and the motion of the chuck and arbor will be OPPOSITE to
what is described.

● Wire length
● First trial spring
● Torsion spring ends
● Extended hooks

Wire length

When you're ready to start coiling, the first thing you need to
do is figure out how much wire you'll need to make your
spring. Here's how:

1. Take the outside diameter of the spring and multiply it

by 3.3.
2. Take the result of this and multiply it by the number
of coils in the spring.
3. Figure out about how much wire you'll need to form
each end. Allow a couple of inches on each end to
grab onto when making your bends. Add those two
numbers together.
4. Add together the results from steps 2 and 3.
5. Add in a fudge factor (about 10%, but not less than
6").
6. Write the result down. If you're WAY off, you can

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save yourself a lot of wire by cutting it closer. By

writing down what you think you'll need, you'll know
how much you can change this figure and still have a
margin for error. When in doubt, err on the side of
safety and plan to use more wire, rather than less.

Coiling the First Trial

Now you're ready to actually start.

1. Cut yourself a piece of wire to the length you figured

out above. Be sure that anyone else in the area stays
out of danger while you do the rest of this. Also, get
your oven heated up.
2. Put the wire into your setup. Let the 'front' end of the
wire stick out beyond the pickup pin for as much as
you need to form the SHORTER of the two ends.
3. It may be that your short end will need more wire than
will clear the ways of your lathe or (if you're using a
hand winder) your workbench. If this is the case, you
can bend the wire by hand so that it will clear and then
straighten it out by hand once the coiling is done.
4. Move your wire guide to the left as close as you can to
where the pickup pin is, but not so close that the pin
will hit the wire guide as it comes around on its first
pass.

Your setup should now look like this (these diagrams

will show both a hand-held wire guide and a tool post-
mounted wire guide):

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READ THE NEXT STEP ALL THE WAY

THROUGH BEFORE YOU START IT.
5. Start your coiling. Move the chuck DEAD SLOW
until you have completed your first full coil. When
you have your first coil laid down on the arbor, you'll
then need to do two things at the same time.

1. First, bring the wire guide a little to the left.

You want there to be a gap between the first
two coils as the wire lays down on the arbor,
but you don't want the gap to be big. In fact,
the smaller, the better, as long as it's always
there. The gap should look like this:

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2. Second, start counting your coils. Count “one”

each time the pickup pin passes top dead
center. Stop winding when you've wound one
coil MORE than your spring should have when
finished, or when you run out of wire. DON'T
LET THE “BACK” END OF THE WIRE
PASS THE PIN ON THE WIRE GUIDE!
6. When you've stopped coiling, mark the top of the
chuck with a chalk line, and write (on the chuck) the
final coil count. You can rig up a pointer out of tie
wire that will indicate when the chuck reaches the
exact stopping point as marked by the line.
7. Back off the chuck SLOWLY until the spring is loose
on the arbor. Don't let the pickup pin or one of the
jaws of the chuck catch on the front end of the wire
and start to “unwind” your spring! When the spring is
loose, slide it off the arbor and cut the excess off the
“back” end, leaving yourself what you need to form
the longer of the two ends.
8. Put your spring into the oven and relieve the stress.
For this trial, you can leave it in the oven for half an
hour: all you want to do is make sure you have the
right diameter.

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The process of baing out the stress in the wire

may change the dimensions of your spring.
Stainless steel coils will generally expand
slightly when heated: music wire coils will
generally contract slightly.

When you've finished this process, let the spring air-dry and
measure it to see how close you came to what you want.
Check the diameter first. If it's not OK, don't bother going
any further: you'll need a different arbor, which will change
all the rest of your dimensions.

If the diameter is OK, count the number of coils in your

spring. You should be pretty close: if you're only making one
or two springs, being an eighth of a coil off either way is OK
— you can always strip out or add a small amount of coil by
hand. If you're more than an eighth of a coil off, figure out
how much more or less you need and change the chalk mark
on your chuck so that the next time you wind a spring, you
can stop coiling at the right spot.

Lastly, look at the coils themselves. They should all lie flat
against each other, all the way out to the ends of the spring
body. If you see gaps in the body of the spring, that means
that you let the wire guide go too far to the right while you
were coiling. If you see a gap at one end (usually the “front”
end), that means that when you started coiling, your wire
guide was too far to the right of the pickup pin.

Finally, set this spring aside to use in setting up for bending

the legs. If needed, repeat the coiling process again until you
get what you want. At this point, you're ready to begin work
on the ends.

Torsion Spring Ends

When you coil your springs, it's a good idea to wind up a few
extras so you can practice making whatever bends you need
to the legs. When you have one spring that's exactly what you

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want, bends and all, stress relieve it again, doublecheck all

your measurements, and, if possible, test it where it'll be
used. Then, make all the bends in as many springs as you
need.

Take the extra springs to figure out how best to form the ends
the way you want them. There are a million different ways to
form the ends of torsion springs, so what this section will tell
you is general principles to follow.

Start with straight ends. If you're using light wire, the curve
of the coil will probably make the ends of your springs
curved. The curve is called “cast.” You can straighten it out
by running the wire over your thumbnail or by bending the
wire in the direction opposite to the cast by hand.

Heavy wire usually doesn't have this problem, unless it's

stainless steel. To straighten heavy wire, secure the spring in
a vise and use a pipe for leverage, straightening the wire by
hand a little at a time.

Make your bends gradual. This is the difference between a

gradual bend and a sharp bend:

A sharp bend may cause the wire to break when a load is

placed on the spring. As you figure out how to form your
ends, keep this in mind. The best tool to use for light wire is
round-nose pliers.

Always relieve the stress in your springs again after you form
the ends. A second stress relief won't likely change any
dimensions, but it will allow the bends in the formed ends to
stay in the shape you put them in when they're under load.

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Easy Bends:

Here's a quick way to make torsion spring ends. It's not too
precise, but then again, maybe your spring doesn't have to be,
either.

Find a rod that you can use to make the bend. Try not to have
it skinnier than twice the diameter of your wire.

Mount the rod in your vise, along with a pickup pin. Put the
end of the spring between the pickup pin and the rod.
Measure the distance so that when you're done, it comes out
right.

Using a wire guide or a bending pipe, bend the end the way
you want it. (With very light wire, you can do this by hand.)
If the spring slips as you bend the end around, put some
pressure on the coil body so that the pickup pin grabs it
solidly.

If you're just making a few springs, you can probably get

away with doing each one by hand.

If you want to make a lot of the same kind of spring, go

ahead and make a more sophisticated bending jig — see the
section on tooling for how to do this.

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Extended hooks

If you're making an extension spring with extended hooks,

like this:

you'll need to treat the ends as if the spring was a torsion

spring.

The first step in forming extended hooks is to make sure that

the ends of the wire are straight. Having done that, the next
step is to lay the ends over. Here's how you do this:

1. Take the narrow plate with the knife edge that you
made when you were making tooling and shove it in
between the coils of your spring, like this:

2. Put a spacer plate the same size as your wire across

the bottom of your spring.
3. Put the layover plate you made across the end of the
spring, a little below the center of the coil. At this
point, the spring and the three plates should look like
this:

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4. Chuck the three plates — with the spring, if possible

— up in a vise.
5. Using your hand (for light wire) or a pipe (for medium
wire), bend the end of the spring down over the
bending plate. While you do this, hold the spring
down with your other hand so that it doesn't pop off
the knife plate. You'll need to bend the wire MORE
than 90 degrees to get a 90- degree bend.

The two most common bugs that happen when doing this are
A) the end comes up outside the coil and B) the end hooks in
toward the center of the spring.

To fix these errors, A) raise or B) lower the spacer plate.

This procedure will give you ends that come straight off the
ends of the coil, and fom here you should be able to form
hooks or loops, as you wish.

Forward to finishing.
Forward to how spring shops work.

Terms of Use

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SETTING UP FOR
COILING
This is the first of five pages that will tell you how to make
springs. The information covered on this page is necessary,
no matter what kind of spring you want to make.

The next pages, covering torsion springs, extension springs,

compression springs, and finishing techniques, will round out
the subject.

To get the most from these pages you should have your wire,
your tools, and the design in mind for a spring you want to
make. You should also print out this page and the page
relating to the type of spring you want: that way you can get
started right away.

● Figuring the arbor length

● First coils
❍ With a drill

❍ With a hand winder

❍ With a lathe

● Left-handed spring setup

(For info on coiling without a lead screw, see the section on

compression springs.

NOTE: I'm planning to make an animated gif showing the

coiling process, but it's turning out to be a MAJOR project
and I'd rather get this site on the web without it than wait
until it's done. It will be done, though, so keep checking back
;-)

The Arbor
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Making springs by hand basically consists of bending wire

around a rod called an arbor or mandrel. The arbor is secured
in the chuck of a winding machine (typically either a drill, a
hand winder, or a lathe). This section will tell you how to get
the right diameter arbor, but it's also important to get the
right length. Correct arbor length is important because it's
difficult (not impossible, but difficult) to coil a spring on an
arbor that's not long enough. Here's how to figure out how
long your arbor has to be.

1. Estimate the amount of arbor you'll need to

accommodate the spring itself.

Know that spring wire wound on an arbor will take up

more space than the same spring will after it's off the
arbor. How much more depends on the number of
coils and the size of the wire. Generally, the more
coils in the spring, the more it will contract after
coiling. Also generally, the smaller the wire, the more
space it will take up on the arbor. And lastly, the
larger the arbor, the more room you'll need to
accommodate your spring while coiling. A couple of
examples might help with all this:

A heavy torsion spring with 5 coils will

❍

generally not uncoil more than about 1/2 a coil

after winding. Giving yourself as much slack
as you can, your arbor might be 6-8" longer
than the spring, plus whatever length you need
to chuck it up.
❍ A similar torsion spring made from very light

wire (same diameter arbor) will lose more

coils, and take up more room on the arbor
when coiling. Because it's short to begin with,
though, the 6-8" addition to the arbor length
should still be okay.
❍ A long extension spring (like on a screen door)

should be wound on an arbor at least a foot

longer than the spring itself, again plus
whatever you need for the chuck.
2. Add in the amount of arbor you'll need to secure it

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safely in the chuck.

3. Add in a fudge factor — 10% will do — just for the
heck of it.

Remember that your arbor should be at least the length you

figure out here: there's no real maximum length until your
winding machine won't support the weight.

The First Coils

Once you have your arbor, make a few coils to check the
diameter. How you do this depends on what kind of machine
you're using to coil your wire.

If you're using a drill:

1. First, make sure that your drill is mounted solidly.

Best bet is to mount it in a vise. DON'T TRY TO
HOLD ONTO A DRILL THAT'S BEING USED
TO COIL WIRE! Mount your drill so that if you're
standing with the drill in front of your left shoulder,
the top of the chuck spins away from you when you
turn it on.
2. Next, chuck up your arbor. The diameter of the arbor
should be a little less than the inside diameter of the
spring you want to make.
3. Get a piece of wire maybe a couple of feet long. Cut it
off from the coil and make a 90-degree bend in one
end, giving you a dogleg end about an inch long.
4. Put your wire guide onto the arbor. Hold it with your
right hand and position it an inch or so away from the
chuck.
5. Stick the dogleg end of your wire between the two
topmost jaws of the drill chuck. Shove it in as far as
the bend in the wire.
6. Bring the wire guide near enough for the wire to catch
in the groove in the pin. Keep the wire guide away
from the chuck. At this point, your setup should look
something like this:

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7. READ THIS STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH

BEFORE DOING IT!

When your setup is done, go ahead and turn on the

drill. Keep the speed LOW, and keep your finger on
the trigger. All you want to do is make a few coils, to
check the diameter.

As the arbor
starts to turn,
two things
will happen.
The wire
guide will
“kick”
upward: you
can steady it
with your
right hand. It
will also try to slide away to your right: let it slide for
an inch or so, and then move your right hand to the
left until the coils of wire lie flat against each other.
What you're looking for is this:

Stop the drill before the “back” end of the wire

reaches the pin in the wire guide. The gap in the
diagram, by the way, is a good thing. If you see it
while the coils are laying down, that means the coils
will be tight up against each other when you're done.
(In an extension spring, how tight the coils are is
called “initial tension.” There's more info on this on
the extension spring page.)

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8. Reverse the drill SLOWLY until the coils hang free

on the arbor. If you can't reverse the drill, you can
grab the coils tight near the chuck and pull the dogleg
out of the chuck. Loosen your grip on the coils slowly
and let them unwind themselves until they're not
under any tension. Then let go.
9. Slide the wire guide and the coils off the arbor. Check
the diameter of the coils and see how close you are to
what you want. Remember, if you need an exact
diameter, the size of the coil may change when you
relieve the stress in the spring. See the page on
finishing techniques for information on this.
10. If the diameter is not what you want, go to a different
size arbor, repeating steps 2-9 until the arbor is the
right size.

That's it.

If you're using a hand winder:

1. First, make sure that your hand winder is mounted

solidly. Mount it in a vise, or bolt it onto a workbench.
Mount your hand winder so that the handle is to your
left and the chuck is in front of your left shoulder.
2. Next, chuck up your arbor. The diameter of the arbor
should be a little less than the inside diameter of the
spring you want to make.
3. Get a piece of wire maybe a couple of feet long. Cut it
off from the coil and make a 90-degree bend in one
end, giving you a dogleg end about an inch long.
4. Put your wire guide onto the arbor. Hold it with your
right hand and position it an inch or so away from the
chuck.
5. Stick the dogleg end of your wire between the two
topmost jaws of the drill chuck. Shove it in as far as
the bend in the wire.
6. Bring the wire guide near enough for the wire to catch
in the groove in the pin. Keep the wire guide away
from the chuck. At this point, your setup should look
something like this:

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7. When your setup is done, go ahead and start turning

the handle. Turn it so that the TOP of the chuck
moves AWAY from you.

As the arbor
starts to turn,
two things
will happen.
The wire
guide will
press
upward: you
can steady it
with your
right hand. It
will also try to slide away to your right: let it slide for
an inch or so, and then move your right hand to the
left until the coils of wire lie flat against each other.
What you're looking for is this:

Stop turning the handle when you have three or more

complete coils side by side on the arbor.

The gap in the diagram, by the way, is a good thing. If

you see it while the coils are laying down, that means
the coils will be tight up against each other when
you're done. (In an extension spring, how tight the
coils are is called “initial tension.” There's more info
on this on the extension spring page.)
8. Turn the handle the other way SLOWLY until the
coils hang free on the arbor. Don't unwind so far that

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one of the jaws of the chuck catches the wire dogleg

and starts to unwind the spring for you!
9. Slide the wire guide and the coils off the arbor. Check
the diameter of the coils and see how close you are to
what you want. Remember, if you need an exact
diameter, the size of the coil may change when you
relieve the stress in the spring. See the page on
finishing techniques for information on this.
10. If the diameter is not what you want, change your
arbor, repeating steps 2-9 until the spring is the right
size.

That's it.

If you're using a lathe:

1. If this is the first time you're using the lathe, make

sure you're familiar with it. Know how to stop the
dang thing before you turn it on! Also, make sure you
have a clear space around you (common sense).
2. Next, chuck up your arbor. The diameter of the arbor
should be a little less than the inside diameter of the
spring you want to make.
3. If you're using a four-jaw chuck, you'll have to center
your arbor. Do this by turning on the lathe and holding
a piece of chalk in your hand, right next to the tool
post. Move your hand slowly towards the arbor until
the chalk leaves a mark. Then, stop the lathe and
adjust the jaws of the chuck so that the arbor moves
away from the mark. Tighten the jaws and do this
again, until the arbor is close to being centered (it
doesn't have to be exact).

Next, back off one of the jaws of the chuck and put
your pickup pin between the jaw and the arbor. Let it
stick out past the end of the jaw about twice the
diameter of the wire you'll be using (see the diagram
below).
4. What type of wire guide you use depends on how
heavy your wire is. For medium and light wire, you

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can use the same type of guide as for a hand winder or

drill: for heavy wire (over about ¼"), use a tool post-
mounted wire guide. If you're using light wire, you
can read the directions for this step as if you were
using a hand winder (above). Otherwise, complete this
step as below.

Put your wire guide into the tool post. It should be

positioned just a little under the top of the arbor. With
small wire, the distance between the arbor and the
wire guide should be fairly close; for medium wire, 3-
6"; for heavy wire, 6-12". The groove in your wire
guide should also be fairly close to the tool post: the
heavier the wire, the closer it should be. Cinch the
wire guide down TIGHT.

This is what your setup should look like edge-on from

where you're standing:

Note the horizontal clearance between the right end of

the pickup pin and the left end of the wire guide.

5. Get a piece of wire a few feet long (the heavier the

wire, the longer the piece: also, the bigger the arbor,
the longer the piece). Cut it off from the coil.
6. Position the pickup pin of the lathe at the top of the
chuck and thread your wire UNDER the wire guide,
OVER the arbor, and UNDER the pickup pin. At this
point, your setup should look something like this:

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7. READ THIS STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH

BEFORE DOING IT!

Before you start the lathe, make sure you have one
hand on the motor control and the other on the lead
screw lever. (If you're coiling without a lead screw,
see the section on compression springs on how to
control the motion of the tool post as you coil.) Reach
UNDER the wire with this hand, so that if the wire
guide breaks, the wire will not snap upwards and
catch you in the armpit.

Start
the
lathe

DEAD SLOW so that the TOP of the chuck moves

AWAY from you. Keep the tool post steady and
watch the “front” end of the wire as it comes around.
It should clear the ways and the wire guide.

As the arbor starts to turn, the wire will close up on

itself. Keep the tool post steady until a small gap

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How to Make Springs

appears in the coils, like this.

When this
gap appears,
let the tool
post move
slowly to
the right and
continue
coiling until
you have
about three full coils side by side on the arbor:
8. Stop the lathe and run it backwards SLOWLY until
the coils hang free on the arbor. Don't let the “front”
end of the wire catch on the jaws of the chuck as they
come around.
9. Slide the coils off the arbor and check the diameter to
see how close you are to what you want. Remember,
if you need an exact diameter, the size of the coil may
change when you relieve the stress in the spring. See
the page on finishing techniques for information on
this.
10. If the diameter is not what you want, change your
arbor, repeating steps 2-9 until it's the right size.

That's it.

Left-Handed Springs

There's one more little oddity you should know about: torsion
springs come left-handed and right- handed:

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How to Make Springs

Depending on what you want your spring to do, you may

need one or the other, or both. The setups described above
tell you how to set up for a right-handed spring. If you want
to make a left-handed spring, you'll need to make a left-
handed setup because a right-handed setup will not work for
a left-handed spring!

Left-Handed Spring Setup

Everything you read about setups for right-handed springs is

exactly the same for left-handed springs, except for two
things. When winding a left-handed spring:

1. The wire will travel OVER the pin on the wire guide,
UNDER the arbor, and OVER the pickup pin.

2. The top of the chuck will be going TOWARD you as

you make your coils.

The basic setup for a tool post-mounted wire guide will look
like this:

The only tooling modification you'll need is if you're using a

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hand-held wire guide: the guide pin will need to stick out in
the opposite direction from what was shown above.

The only difference this will make is that your first coil count
will be somewhat of a guess, because you won't be able to
see when the gap passes bottom dead center of the arbor. On
your second trial spring, though, you should be able to
correct this exactly with your chalk mark.

Forward to torsion springs

Forward to extension springs
Forward to compression.springs

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

TOOLING
The whole purpose of tooling is to keep the wire under control while
you make your springs. The important parts of the wire to keep under
control are the two ends. This section will tell you how to make the
tooling you'll need to keep the ends of your wire under control:

● Pickup pin
● Wire Guide for light wire (hand
held)
● Wire Guide for heavy wire (tool
post mount)
● Looping Plates
● Looping Rod
● Layover Plate
● Bending jig (vise mounted)
● Spinner (light wire bending jig)
● Bending pipe
● Passivating basket
● Grinding stage

The important parts of the wire that you want to keep under control are
the two ends:

● The front end — the part of the wire that you use to begin
coiling, and
● The back end — the part of the wire that is last to be coiled, or
that most closely approximates that condition.

The Front (Starting) End

For wire between .003' and about

.025', you'll be using either a drill or a
hand winder to make your springs.
For extension or compression springs,
no special tooling is needed for the
front end of the wire. Just make a 90-
degree bend in the wire by hand and
stick the bent end in between two of
the jaws of your chuck.

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For heavier
wire, you'll
need to
make a
pickup pin to
keep the
front end under control. A pickup pin can be made from a square bar,
using a grinding wheel:

Notice how the pickup pin has been ground to accommodate both the
arbor and the wire.

It's better not to use a three-jaw chuck for heavier wire, but if there's no
alternative, you can control the front end of the wire be either drilling a
hole in one of the jaws of the chuck and press- fitting a pickup pin into
it, or welding a pickup pin onto one of the jaws. Again, it's much safer
to use a four-jaw chuck. 'Nuff said.

The Back (Finishing) End

To control the back end of the wire, you'll need a wire guide. What
kind of wire guide you'll need depends on the type of spring you want
to make and the size of the wire you're using.

Extension and torsion springs:

For wire up to about .125", you can make a simple wire guide that
looks like this:

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For larger wire, you'll need to make a wire guide that fits into the tool
post of your lathe:

If the spring you want to make is longer than your lathe, you will need
to make some special tooling. Write to me and I'll tell you how.

Finishing Tooling

You'll also need to make tools to help you finish the ends of extension
and torsion springs. Again, the tooling you'll need will depend on the
size of your wire.

Extension springs:

Most often, the ends of extension springs are formed

like either loops or hooks. To form these you will
need two tools: the first is a set of looping plates,
which can be made out of flat steel with a grinder.
To make looping plates, first take two pieces of
stock (1/4" thick, width about 1½ times the outside
diameter of your spring ) and chuck them up in a
vise, one at a time. Bend the ends to about 100
degrees. Then, cut off all but a small amount of the
end that you bent over:

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Using the grinding wheel, carve out a hollow in

each end. Taper it down so that the edge is
sharp enough to “grab” between two coils of
wire.

These plates work best with relatively stiff

extension springs. If you find you're having
trouble keeping the body of the spring steady
between the plates, you can always cut some
grooves on the inside face of the plates to help
the wire stay put.

Also note that the sloped area that's been ground away at the top of
each plate is somewhat larger than the diameter of the spring.

The second tool you'll need to form

the ends of extension springs is a
hooking rod: again, you can use
your grinding wheel to make this
tool.

This is a hand-held tool that you'll

need a fair degree of control over,
so make it about 6-14" long
(depending on the size of the spring
wire) out of stick that's about a third
again as thick as the wire you're
coiling.

Notice that the end is relieved to accommodate the wire.

Extended hooks:

You may want to make an extension spring with extended hooks, like
this:

The best way to do this is to coil the spring as if it were a torsion spring
and then bend the ends over to form the extended hooks (see the page
on torsion springs).

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If you're making this kind of spring, you'll need to make

a different set of plates. The first will be a thin steel
plate with one edge ground knife-sharp.

For the other plate, take a piece of flat steel and bend it
over just like you did for the looping plates, only bend it
over a little more and don't trim quite so much off the
end:

You might also want to make a bending pipe to aid in bending wire
larger than can easily be bent by hand. Start with a short section of pipe
or tubing that's a little bigger on the inside than your wire. Then,
simply cut off the end on a diagonal, like this:

See the section on extension springs for how to use the plates and the
bending pipe to form your ends.

Torsion springs:

The ends of torsion springs can be formed in a million

different ways. The key is to make the bends smooth:
the sharper the bend, the more likely it'll break:

If you're using light wire, you can probably use round-

nose pliers to form your ends. For medium wire, make a
layover plate (above) and use a length of pipe to grab
the end of the wire. This will give you enough leverage to get it to
bend.

For wire too big to bend by hand, just heat the bend area of the wire
with your acetylene torch. Don't get it too hot — just warm it up
enough so that it will bend with the help of a piece of pipe.

Bending jigs

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This is the simplest bending jig I

know of: it uses tooling you've
already made!

In your vise, chuck up a piece of

bar stock, maybe a little smaller
than your arbor, and a pickup
pin suitable for the wire you're
using.

Then, when you lay the leg of

your spring between the bar
stock and the pickup pin, you can use a wire guide to made the leg
bend around the bar stock.

Keeping careful track of how much wire is used up making the bend
will allow you to make your bends fairly precisely - with practice,
within 1/10".

You can also make a more complex bending jig capable of handling
virtually any light wire bend:

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You can make stops and guides mounted on top of the jig (to control
your spring) out of thin steel, and other stops mounted on the side of
the jig out of thicker stock — 1/8" works well — to control how far the
handle should move (to control the amount of bend).

Passivating basket

If you're working with stainless steel wire, you'll need a passivating

basket. All a passivating basket has to do is hold the springs while
they're taking a bath in some nice acid. You can make one very easily
using stainless steel mesh. Just bend the edges of the mesh up to form a
basket shape large enough to hold your springs, “stitch” the edges
together with stainless steel wire, and make a handle, also out of
stainless steel.

Don't use anything but stainless to make your passivating basket —

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otherwise, the acid will eat it alive.

Grinding stage

A grinding stage is simply a flat piece of material (either steel or wood

will work) attached to your grinder. The purpose of a grinding stage is
to provide a flat surface that your spring lays on while you're grinding
the ends.

Make your stage so that it faces the flat side of the grinding wheel, and
is at least as wide as the grinding wheel's side surface.

Forward to Setting Up.

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

EQUIPMENT
This section will tell you what equipment you will need to make
springs.

● Winding machines
● Grinders and wheels
● Finishing equipment
❍ Ovens

❍ Passivating tanks

❍ Plating

● Hand tools
● Testing equipment
● Tooling stock

Winding Machines

The basic thing you'll need is a winding machine of some sort. A

winding machine is something that will pull your wire around and
make it coil up into a spring shape. What kind of winding machine
you'll need depends on what size wire you'll be working with, and
also, how many springs you want to make.

If you want to make more than about 50 springs of one kind, it'll
probably be worth your while to have your springs made
commercially. You can find out about how spring factories operate:
the Addendum also has a list of spring shops that have a Web
presence. You can also find spring shops in your area by consulting
the phone book.

Added 3-16-2004: I recently found a site that details a very basic

hand-winding setup. Here it is.

Light Wire

For light wire (.003-.025") extension springs, you can use a hand
drill mounted in a vise. A variable-speed drill is best: set it on the
lowest speed you can.

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For light wire torsion springs (up to about .125"), you can use a hand
winder:

For light wire compression springs and for medium wire (.025-.187")
springs of all types, you should have a lathe. For wire bigger than
about .187", you'll need a lathe strong enough to pull the wire: for
compression springs in all sizes of wire, your lathe should have a
back gear and a working lead screw.

Your lathe doesn't have to be a precision machine. In fact, the

heavier the wire you want to work with, the better it is if your lathe is
a piece of junk. All it has to have is a working motor, a tool post (for
compression and torsion springs), and a reliable back gear, and, also
for compression springs, a variable-pitch lead screw.

Other than that, it can be as sloppy as you want.

Wood lathes, by the way, may work for light extension springs if the
tooling can be made to fit.

Grinding Equipment

You'll need a grinding wheel for several purposes. The best kind is a
double wheel, where you can have a grinding wheel in one side and a
cutoff wheel on the other. Metal trades suppliers can sell you the
wheels.

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For all springs, you'll have to be able to cut away the waste wire
from the ends of your springs. You can do this with wire cutters (for
wire up to about .062"), with a cutoff wheel, or with an acetylene
torch. (One note: an acetylene torch will not be effective on large-
diameter stainless steel wire.)

For compression springs, you may want to have the ends ground
square with respect to the body of the spring. You can do this with an
abrasive wheel. For heavy compression springs, you may need a
bigger grinder: a small grinder will take forever.

Also for compression springs, you may want to deburr the inside and
outside of the ends after grinding. You can do this with a conical
grinding stone mounted in a drill (for the inside) and a regular
abrasive wheel (for the outside).

You'll also need a grinding wheel to make some of your tooling:

most of the tooling you'll need can be made rough, and a grinding
wheel will work just fine.

Finishing Equipment

After you've wound your springs and formed the ends, you'll need to
get rid of the stress that bending the wire has caused. To do this, you
need an oven. How hot your oven needs to go depends on what
material you use for your spring:

Oil tempered wire, music wire, and

500 degrees
302 stainless

17-7 stainless and chrome silicon 650 degrees

Chrome vanadium 750 degrees

Most exotic materials >850 degrees

It's probably best not to use your kitchen oven for oil tempered wire,
chrome silicon, or chrome vanadium. The wire will come coated
with oil, which will burn off in the oven. If your oven won't reach the
temperature you need, find a potter who has a kiln you can use.

For stainless steel wire, you'll also need a passivating tank to

remove the chemical coating on the wire. This is a tank made out of

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stainless steel (an old sink is fine) and filled with acid.

If you want your springs to be plated, send them out to a plating

shop. Don't try to do your own plating unless you're already in the
plating business.

Hand Tools

You'll need some basic hand tools:

● A vise (either floor- or bench-mounted)

● Wire cutters (6" diagonal)
● Needle-nose pliers
● Calipers (if dimensions are critical)
● Tape measure (if dimensions are rough)
● Crescent wrench
● Acetylene torch (if working with wire over about .250")
● Bolt cutters (for wire between .080-.250")
● Round nose pliers (for forming the ends of torsion springs)
● Chalk

Testing Equipment

Depending on what kind of machine your spring is going to work in,

probably the best way to test a spring is to make one and see if it
does the job. Other than that, here are a few ways to perform rough
testing on springs.

To test extension springs, you can always hang the spring from the
ceiling and load it up with weights on the other end.

For medium-sized compression springs, you can made the spring act
as a limited-travel extension spring (see extension springs for how to
do this) and test them the same way. This method will not work for
light or heavy compression springs — just medium ones.

I don't know of a simple way to make a really accurate testing rig for
torsion springs: best bet is to just plug it in and see if it works.

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Tooling Stock

To make the tooling you need, you should have some pieces of flat
stock (mild steel) and some bar stock. You'll get the idea of what
kind of stock you'll need for your tooling as you read the section on
tooling. You can find this kind of stuff at your local scrap dealer or
junkyard: they usually sell it by the pound.

You'll also need arbor stock (an arbor is the bar or pipe you use to
wrap the wire around to make the spring). Once you know what size
arbor you need, visit your local scrap yard: it doesn't have to be
pretty, but remember, it does have to be long enough.

If you're working with heavy wire, you may need a welding rig to
make your tooling safe.

Forward to Tooling

Terms of Use

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How to Make Springs

WIRE SAFETY

THIS PAGE IS
IMPORTANT!
Spring wire can be
dangerous if not
properly handled.

Read this section

carefully
before you start
working with wire.

● General safety
❍ Small wire

❍ Medium wire

❍ Heavy wire

❍ Stainless steel

● Breaking open coils

❍ Small wire

❍ Medium wire

❍ Heavy wire

● Coiling safety
● Securing coils after use
● Storing wire

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General Safety

Springs under load want to return to their original shape. The

same goes for spring wire. Spring wire will try to straighten
itself out if given the chance: don't let your body get in its
way.

Small wire

Small wire (diameter less than about .025") will not hurt you
if it hits you. On the other hand, small wire is nothing more
than an edge, waiting for something to cut. Don't use your
hand to try to stop wire that's moving, especially if it's moving
under power (like being pulled by a lathe). Instead, wait till it
stops moving. Gloves are an excellent idea, too.

Medium wire

Medium wire (diameter from about .025" - .312") is too wide

to act as an edge, and usually not massive enough to break
bones, but it can raise quite a knot if you get in its way.
Again, always keep track of where the ends of the wire are,
and if they start to move, get out of the way.

Heavy wire

Heavy wire (diameter greater than about .312") needs respect.

If it gets loose, it can EASILY break bones, or worse.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel is a lot softer than other types of wire. When

cut, the end of the wire is like a knife edge. Always keep track
of where the end of the wire is, and keep your hands away
from it while it's moving.

Handling Wire

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The two most dangerous times are when you're breaking open
a coil of wire and when you're actually winding a spring.

Breaking open coils

Once you have your wire, you'll need to take it out of its coil.
The coil may be wrapped in paper — take that off first.

Under the paper, the wire will be tied. Light wire will be tied
with string. Medium wire will be tied with tie wire. Large
wire will be tied with metal bands. Whatever size wire you
have, remember that the coil should have only two ends. One
will be on the inside of the coil, and the other will be on the
outside. You'll normally use wire from the inside, to avoid
tangling. Always make a hook on the “inside” end so it's easy
to find again:

Handling Small Wire in Coils

To break open a coil of small (up to about .125") wire, cut all
the ties except two. Don't cut the closest tie holding the
outside end of the wire, and the tie most directly opposite to
that one.

To remove wire from the coil, start with the end on the inside
of the coil: this will keep the coil from tangling. Grab the end
of the wire and cut off the hook. Pull it slightly, until you can
see the gap between it and the rest of the coil. Grab the wire at
the gap and pull the end free from the tie holding it. Repeat
this process, working around the coil, until you have the
length you need.

Medium-sized wire

(.125 - .312") can be handled the same way, except that you
should keep three ties instead of two. When uncoiling wire
larger than .250", you should lay the coil flat on the ground

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and always stand in the center of the coil, for safety.

Large wire

(.312 - .625") needs special handling. First of all, you'll

probably be using a hoist or forklift to move the coil, because
of the weight. Lay the coil on top of something (a 2x4 or a
pipe works great) to keep one end off the ground so that you
can pick it up when you're done. Stand inside the coil from
now on!

Then, take a length of tie wire and double it over. Loop it

twice around the coil, right next to the second tie holding the
inside end of the wire. Pull it tight and twist it so that you
have a 'pigtail' and the tie wire is too tight to move by hand.
Then, cut the first two original ties. Grab the end of the wire
and flip it over the coil, so that it sticks out.

Go to the next tie and repeat this process, working your way
around the coil until you have the length you need. You can
use heavy bolt cutters or an acetylene torch to cut the wire.

If heavy wire gets away from you and starts to come undone
all by itself, the very best thing to do is

● Run like hell, and

● Pray it doesn't hit you.

Coiling

If you're using a lathe to make your springs, you'll be standing

there, letting the lathe pull the wire. The lathe will do what
you want, but it will not know to stop if things get out of
control. So, before you start the lathe, figure out what you're

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going to do if things go haywire. Know how to stop the lathe,

and know which way you can safely run.

Never reach over the wire to get to your lathe controls,

especially when working with heavy wire. Reach under it and
avoid injury if your wire guide breaks.

Keep the lathe speed DEAD SLOW: with heavy wire, 10 rpm
is about right.

Don't grab onto wire that's being fed into the lathe. Stop the
lathe and back it off until there's no tension in the wire before
you put your hands near.

NEVER try to guide wire by hand. Use tooling.

When you're done

After you've removed wire from a coil, the coil will be looser
than it was before. Before you put it away, retie it so that it
doesn't tangle up or uncoil by itself. For light wire, use string.
For medium size wire, use tie wire. For heavy wire, use tie
wire doubled over, looped around the coil twice, and tied in a
“pigtail”:

Lastly, make a hook in the “inside” end of the wire, so you

can find it again easily when you need to.

Storing Wire

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Safety first: always store your wire someplace where kids

can't get at it.

Common sense second: keep your wire dry. Steel wire will
rust if it gets wet.

More common sense: keep your wire tight. When you're

finished working with a coil of wire, make a hook in the
inside end (so you can find it again easily) and tie the coil
securely. Be especially careful with heavy wire, which should
be tied with at least six doubled strands of tie wire, each
looped around the coil twice and cinched tight.

Still more common sense: if you live in an area that has

earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc., be sure that you
chock your coils of wire so that they don't get loose and start
to move around when mother nature starts acting up.

Forward to Equipment.

Terms of Use

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SPRING MATERIALS
This section will tell you about the different kinds of material
that springs are made out of. It will also tell you where to get
your wire -- make sure you read the Safety section so you
know how to handle it safely once you've got it.

● Types of wire
● Buying wire

Types of Wire

Springs are usually made from alloys of steel. The most

common spring steels are music wire, oil tempered wire,
chrome silicon, chrome vanadium, and 302 and 17-7
stainless. Other materials can also be formed into springs,
depending on the characteristics needed. Some of the more
common of these exotic metals include beryllium copper,
phosphor bronze, Inconel, Monel, and titanium. The
following table summarizes the more important properties of
each material:

Common Properties and

Material
Sizes Uses

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Music Wire .003-.250 A high-carbon steel

wire used primarily
for applications
demanding high
strength, medium
price, and
uniformly high
quality. Guitar and
piano strings are
made from this
material, as are
most small springs.
Music wire will
contract under heat,
and can be plated.

Oil Tempered .010-.625 This is the

Wire (OT) workhorse steel
spring wire, being
used for many
applications in
which superior
strength or
uniformity is not
crucial. Will not
generally change
dimensions under
heat. Can be plated.
Also available in
square and
rectangular
sections.

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Chrome .010-.500 These are higher

Silicon, quality, higher
Chrome strength versions of
Vanadium Oil Tempered wire,
used in high-
temperature
applications such
as automotive
valve springs. Will
not generally
change dimensions
under heat. Can be
plated.

Stainless Steel .005-.500 Stainless steels will

not rust, making
them ideal for the
food industry and
other environments
containing water or
steam. 302 series
stainless will
expand slightly
under heat: 17-7
will usually not
change. Cannot be
plated.

Inconel, .010-.125 These specialty

Monel, alloys are
Beryllium sometimes made
Copper, into springs which
Phosphor are designed to
Bronze work in extremely
high-temperature
environments,
where magnetic
fields present a
problem, or where
corrosion
resistance is
needed in a high-

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temperature
working
environment. They
are much more
costly than the
more common
stocks and cannot
be plated.
Generally will not
change dimensions
under heat.

Titanium .032-.500 Used primarily in

air- and spacecraft
because of its
extremely light
weight and high
strength, titanium
is also extremely
expensive and
dangerous to work
with as well:
titanium wire will
shatter explosively
under stress if its
surface is scored.
Generally will not
change dimensions
under heat. Cannot
be plated.

Titanium is the strongest material, but it is very expensive.

Next come chrome vanadium and chrome silicon, then music
wire, and then oil tempered wire. The stainless and exotic
materials are all weaker than the rest.

Buying wire

Spring wire is made in common sizes (see table above) and in

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How to Make Springs

special sizes to order. The common sizes that are

manufactured are available within the ranges specified at
intervals ranging from a couple of thousandths of an inch (for
the smaller sizes) to sixteenths of inches (for the larger sizes).
Metric-measure sizes are available outside the US.

These spring wire materials may be bought from steel

suppliers in two forms: coils and straightened- and-cut bars.
Unless you are dealing with extremely close tolerances,
exotic materials, or need a stock size that is not commonly
manufactured, you'll probably find it most economical to buy
your stock in coils.

Bought in coils, spring steel is generally sold by the pound:

the coils range in size from about 6 inches (for wire under
.005') to 7 feet (for wire in the .437-.500' range) in diameter.
The smaller coils are generally shipped UPS, while the larger
sizes require truck transport as well as special unloading and
storage facilities.

Finding a source of supply is as easy as looking in the phone

book: if you're in a rural area, try the local library which will
have Yellow Pages for the major metropolitan areas -- try
Detroit or Los Angeles for starters. You can also contact the
Spring Manufacturers' Institute and ask them for a copy of
Springs magazine, which is filled with suppliers'
advertisements (as well as technically interesting articles).
The Addendum also lists some wire manufacturers and
suppliers.

One caution: you should not order straightened-and-cut wire

until you're SURE you know what you want. Once you get
your material, you'll find it impossible to return if the bars are
an inch too short.

And one note: when spring wire is made, it develops what's

known as a 'cast' from being tied into round coils. If you strip
wire from a coil, it will likely not be perfectly straight: the
'natural' curvature of the wire is 'cast'. The cast of the wire
will introduce an extremely small variance in the physical
dimensions of the springs made from the wire -- it's only a
problem when you're working with very close dimensional

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How to Make Springs

tolerances. Cast is why wire is also available in straightened-

and-cut bars.

Forward to Safety.

Terms of Use

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Terms of Use

HOW TO MAKE SPRINGS

Terms of Use

The information on springmaking that is presented on this web site is made available free of
charge to anyone who wants it.

You can download the entire site or any portion of it to use or distribute as you see fit,
commercial use excepted. That means, it's free, so if you want to give it away for free, you can.
But you can't charge for it, or make it part of anything that's charged for.

Plain, simple English. I think you get the idea.

Best,

- Dave

P.S.: Close this window to return to the site.

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 Hew's Wire Coiler

Hew's Wire Coiler

There are any number of maille web sites that show you how to make a mandrel for coiling wire into
springs to make rings, but when it comes to making the coils, you'll find that the hand that feeds the the
wire onto it has to both pull the wire tight and allow it to slip through the fingers. Even with gloves (and
maybe a little thimble-like plate attached to the thumb of the glove) my fingers get tired and sore before
I get half-way along. So, I made a gizmo that does the job for me. It does a pretty good job of
straightening out bends in the wire too.

My mandrel base is set up for a 21" long 5/16" diameter steel rod, a leftover piece from the axle of a
trebuchet. The handle is a generic replacement window crank from a local Home Hardware store. To
make the crank fit I had to turn the end of the 5/16" rod down to 1/4 inch diameter, on a metal lathe. I
slightly flattened one side with a grinder, for the setscrew on the side of the handle. I could have drilled
out the handle to 5/16", but I wanted to keep it so I could still use it on a 1/4" rod someday later. I could
also simply have bent the rod into a handle, but this way I get to use the extra 6 or 8 inches for longer
coils. A removeable crank handle also gives me the option of power-winding with a variable-speed
electric drill

The support is some really cheap 1" x 3" scraps I found under my porch. The angled braces are
screwed down with two 1 3/4" wood screws each, and the end pieces are screwed into the end grain of
the bottom board with two screws each.

The winding tool is two scraps of some kind of 1"x2" hardwood (maybe oak?).

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 Hew's Wire Coiler

Cut two identical lengths, clamp them together, and drill them in two spots with 1/4" holes, closer to the
centre, for the 1/4" bolts.

After bolting them together, drill all the way the sides with a 5/16" bit (for a 5/16" coil forming rod). They
must be tightly bolted together when you do this, or the two wood pieces may slide over each other as
you drill, resulting in hole halves that don't line up.

Turn it over, and drill only half way through the 5/16" hole with a 7/16" bit (for 16 gauge wire), so that the
hole is larger on one end than on the other.

Take one of the pieces, and saw a slot in the end, stopping at the inner side of the 7/16" portion of the
hole.

(The photo below is a bit misleading because the angle I took it at makes it look like I sawed it only to

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 Hew's Wire Coiler

the inner side of the 5/16" hole.)

I chose this half because I'm right-handed, and I wanted to turn the crank clockwise, feed the wire from
the front of the mandrel, and have the coils to come out with a twist that has the opposite handedness
from that of the threads on screws and bolts. That way, when I use my snips (also right-handed) to cut
the rings I can see the end of the coil butt up against the upper jaw of the snips. If I was left-handed and
used left-handed snips, then I would have cut the slot in the other half of the tool.

Notice the grooves in the wider hole. These were formed when I first used it to wind wire, and result in a
gap of about 1/3 the diameter of the wire between each turn. I haven't tried it, but I'm pretty sure that if
you cut the slot at a slight angle, that gap would be a bit bigger.

I could have just drilled a 1/16" diameter hole, but that would mean I'd have to disassemble the tool
every time I wanted to start a new coil. The slot allows me to find the hole in the rod when I insert the
wire end, and then give it a 1/4 turn to lock it in.

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 Hew's Wire Coiler

Here's a closeup of the bending tool in action. I hold the tool in my left hand to keep it upright, and crank
the mandrel with my right. The spool of wire feeds up from the floor, to my left. If I had a stand for the
wire spool to roll freely, I could just put it on the bench behind the mandrel, and just let the free end of
the tool slide along the mandrel base.

As the coil gets near the left end of the mandrel (one full width of the tool between the tool and the left
rod support) , I just snip the wire and allow the end to feed in, and crank it until the last turn clears the
right side of the tool. I pry the other end of the wire out of the hole in the rod and snip it, allowing me to
pull the rod out of the support and remove the coil. This setup only wastes about 1/2 of a ring's worth of
wire per coil.

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 Hew's Wire Coiler

Even without the wooden base for the mandrel and crank, you can simply use vise grips to turn the rod,
and hold the bending tool with the other hand.

Of course, after I made this wooden tool, I discovered that Matthew E. Johnston describes a tool with a
similar function, at http://members.tripod.com/~mailmaker/tools.html. He also shows how to make two
other kinds, at http://members.tripod.com/~mailmaker/winding.html.

Hew of Kilraag (mka: John Rose)

Over to my Hew of Kilraag - Medieval Stuff index page

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How to Make Springs

NEW STUFF

Here's a summary of updates and additions to the site that

were made since January, 2003. None of the new stuff is
indexed on the Site Map (mainly because I'm lazy) but this
page itself is. The terms of use that apply to the main part of
the site also apply here, natch.

October, 2003 Finally did the graphics for

the clock springs page.
About time!

Also freshened the links

page.

September, 2003 A few new links.

March, 2003 Uploaded freshened links

including, finally, another
“how-to” article that was
published in Home Shop
Machinist.

January, 2003 Added pages covering clock

and power springs and my
resume as a springmaker.

Uploaded freshened links.

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springmaking resume

MY RESUME
as a Springmaker

Type: Compression
Free 6 1/8'
length: 2 7/8'
Outside 5
diameter: 3
Total 5/8'
coils: Oil
Active tempered
coils: Squared and
Wire ground
size:
Wire
type:
Ends:

THIS SPRING, shown

next to a 1½-liter bottle of
water for scale, is a shock
absorber used at the
bottom of a mine shaft to
prevent ore cars from
jumping off the track. A
railroad tie is placed across
the tracks with one of these
springs at each end. When
an ore car hits the railroad
tie, the springs compress
and bring the car to a safe
stop.

The spring was coiled cold

on a lathe at Betts Spring
Company in San Leandro,

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springmaking resume

where I worked for a

while. Six springs were
made, of which four were
shipped to the customer
and one destroyed in
testing. Thirty tons of load
failed to set it solid.

If you talk to Betts, they

may tell you they still have
someone who's crazy
enough to coil this spring
cold. I could be wrong, but
frankly I doubt it.

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 Company Services

An Insight Into Spring Manufacturing

Compression Springs are by far the most common type of spring and account for approximately eighty per
cent of our production, therefore I am going to give you a brief description of three of our manufacturing
methods of compression springs.

When dealing with large batch quantities, auto-coilers are the machines used to coil the springs. The picture
below shows two views from the front of the auto coiler.

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 Company Services

The four large rollers on the front of the machine work in pairs and force the wire through the wire guide
tubes towards the coiling points as shown in the blown up picture on the right.

There are two grooved coiling points, one vertical and one horizontal from the right hand side of the machine
which are positioned round a half round mandrel. The four large wire feeders force the wire through the
coiling points which in turn force the wire round the mandrel thus giving you the required spring coils.

The number of coils can be adjusted by the amount of wire feed and the pitch spacing and the free length of
the spring is governed by the spacing tool just visible on the right hand picture at the twenty past position.
When the spring is finished being coiled it is cut of by the cutting tool showing on the left.

For the smaller batch sizes and particularly when using thicker wire sizes we use the semi automatic Maxi
Coil machines. These have the advantage of being set up very quickly and although the springs are coiled one
at once, they are automatic in the sense that all the coiling operations are controlled by compressed air.

The Maxi coil basically comprises of a large chuck in which various sizes of mandrel are fitted depending on
the the required diameter of the spring. There is then a large travelling attachment to which is fastened the
wire feed tool and the compressed air spacer. The wire is fed under the plate shown at the front of the
machine and is passed under a peg fastened to the chuck.

When the chuck is set in motion by depressing the front handle, the wire is pulled round the mandrel thereby
forming a spring. The pitch is applied by the spacer at the back of the traveller which automatically comes

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 Company Services

out on its own powered by compressed air and then

returns when the required number of coils have been
turned. The spring is then cut off and the procedure
repeated for the next spring. Although this takes more
time than automatic coiling, its advantage lies in the
very quick setting up time required. Small batches of
springs can be set up, coiled and finished while an
automatic is still being set up.

When really small quantities of springs are required in

reasonably small wire sizes, then Carlson hand coilers
are used. These coilers work in a similar way to the
maxi coilers but are only very small machines and
depend on the operator turning a handle to produce the
springs and the pitch is applied mechanically, not by compressed air.

Again we have a chuck and mandrel arrangement with a peg for catching the wire. The wire is fed in through
a tube as can be seen on the right hand picture. The handle is manually turned and again the wire is formed
round the mandrel. This time however the pitch and length is obtained by the traveller resting on the long
angled bar at the front of the machine which pushes the traveller thus giving the spring a pitch equal to the
angle that the bar is set, so the greater the angle the longer the spring.

Which ever method is used to produce compression springs, the last operation is common to all of them and
that is the flattening of the ends so that they will stand up straight and square.

In the majority of cases this grinding flat of the ends is done on an automatic grinding machine as pictured
below. These machines consist of a round plate into which bushes are fitted. The bushesinside diameter is of
a size so that the springs will fit leaving a small amount of spring protruding top and bottom. The plate then
turns slowly round so that the bushes plus springs pass in between either one pair of grinding wheels or as in
the illustrated photograph, two pairs of grinding wheels depending on what type of machine is used. the
grinding wheels grind the ends of the springs flat and square and then they drop into a waiting box for
inspection when they are thoroughly tested to make sure they comply both dimensionally and in their load
requirements.

This is a very simplified insight into the manufacture of compression springs to try and give you at least some
idea of how springs are made. It takes, however, many years to become a competent fully qualified spring
maker. If you have any questions regarding spring making do not hesitate to contact us at our email address.

GO TO TRUSPRINGS HOME PAGE

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 HOW TO MAKE SPRINGS

Introduction 2
Spring Design 3
Materials 6
Wire Safety 8
Equipment 11
Tooling 14
The Setup 20
Torsion 28
Extension 34
Compression 40
Finishing 47
Other Types of Springs 50
Spring Shops 58
Glossary 60

The HTML version of this document (http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/intro.html) was

written and illustrated by Dave Silberstein, who holds and retains the full copyright.

How to make Springs Page 1 of 62

 HOW TO MAKE SPRINGS
There are three things you'll need to read before you get started. First, the
DISCLAIMER:

This document is designed to provide information in regard to the subject matter being
covered. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. However there
may be mistakes, both typographical and in content. Additionally, work in the metal trades
implies an acceptance of the risk of injury, loss, or damage, the cause of which is clearly
beyond the control of the writer of a work on the subject. Therefore, the author of this
document accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any injury, loss or damage
sustained by a reader who, having read this material, then seeks to apply what he or she has
learned therein.
Please read the Terms of Use at http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/spring_terms.html.

Second, before you start to work with spring wire, read the section on safety. When you
have read that section, read it again. No kidding.
And third, about this document: I've tried to write for the benefit of someone who has
(or can gain access to) basic hand and power tools. The sections of the document are
arranged in logical order presuming a minimal knowledge of the metalworking trades in
general or of springmaking in particular, and cross-linked to provide a forward path that
leads from this point through the entire manufacturing process. There's a glossary of
spring terminology, which should help you to define terms and find additional resources.
Where possible, I've indicated where to find additional information in the main body of
the text.

Any comments or suggestions for improvement should be made to [email protected].

INTRODUCTION
This section will give you some basic information about springs, what they look like,
what their parts are, and how they work.

If you already know about springs and want to get right to it, be my guest.

There are three basic types of springs:

Compression springs can be found in ballpoint pens, pogo sticks, and the valve
assemblies of gasoline engines. When you put a load on the spring, making it
shorter, it pushes back against the load and tries to get back to its original length.
Extension springs are found in garage door assemblies, vise-grip pliers, and
carburetors. They are attached at both ends, and when the things they are attached
to move apart, the spring tries to bring them together again.
Torsion springs can be found on clipboards, underneath swing-down tailgates,
and, again, in car engines. The ends of torsion springs are attached to other things,
and when those things rotate around the center of the spring, the spring tries to
push them back to their original position.

See the Glossary for detailed diagrams of these types of springs.

How to make Springs Page 2 of 62

 SPRING DESIGN
If you're trying to make a spring to replace a broken one, you don't need to know a
whole lot about design. On the other hand, if you're making a prototype of a machine,
for instance, and you don't know exactly what you want, then this book is for you. Here
you'll learn some basic data about spring design, which is what you'll need to know to
make exactly the spring you want.

General Principles
There are three basic principles in spring design:

• The heavier the wire, the stronger the spring.

• The smaller the coil, the stronger the spring.
• The more active coils, the less load you will have to apply in order to get it to
move a certain distance.

Based on these general principles, you now know what to do to change the properties
of a spring you already have. For instance, if you want to make automotive valve
springs a little stronger than stock, you can a) go to a slightly heavier wire and keep the
dimensions and coil count the same, b) decrease the diameter of the spring, keeping
the wire size and coil count the same, or c) decrease the number of active coils,
keeping the wire size and spring diameter the same. Naturally, you can also go to a
stronger material to achieve the same result.
Now, what if you're making a spring from scratch, with nothing to go on in the way of a
sample? You can engineer your own design (see the next chapter for the math), coil a
spring, and then test it. If it's what you want, fine. If it's, let's say, a skosh too strong,
then you can a) go to a lighter wire, b) open up the coil diameter, or c) increase the
number of active coils to get a slightly weaker spring.
Or, if you want to make things really simple, go to
http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/resources.html,
where you'll find a few websites that offer online design!

How to make Springs Page 3 of 62

Mathematics
Naturally, spring design software is available -- you can find out where to get it at
http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/resources.html. For the purists (or those who don't
want to pay for a program), here's a very short summary of the mathematics of spring
design. These equations, by the way, are taken from The New American Machinist's
Handbook, published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.in 1955. I don't pretend to
understand them.

There's a lot more in the way of engineering that goes into spring design: these are only
the basic equations. If you're interested, you can contact someone who makes spring
design software or (gasp!) find it in the library under Dewey classification number
621.824.
You can also contact the Spring Manufacturers' Institute ([email protected]): they make
a handy-dandy spring calculator, suitable for simple design work, that anyone can learn
to use. They also have spring design software, training classes, and a bunch more stuff.
Dave sez, "Check it out."

Design Limitations
Depending on what kind of spring you want to design, and depending on where it will be
used, your design will be limited:

For all springs:

• A spring under load is stressed. If you put too much stress on a spring, its shape
will deform and it will not return to its original dimensions.

• The material from which the spring is made will have an effect on the strength of
the spring: it will also have an effect on how much stress the spring will
withstand. The section on spring materials will tell you more about this.

• When you heat spring wire (which you always do), it may change its dimensions.
Again, the section on materials will tell you more about this.

How to make Springs Page 4 of 62

For compression springs:
• If the spring will set solid (compress all the way, so that all the coils touch each
other) at the limit of its travel, the diameter of the wire times the number of coils
cannot be greater than the space allowed, unless you want the spring itself to act
as a mechanical stop to the motion.

• Springs that operate in a high-temperature environment (like for instance inside

an engine) will need to be made slightly longer to compensate for the fact that
the heat may have an effect on the length of the spring. The section on finishing
will tell you more about this.

• As a compression spring assumes a load and shortens, the diameter of the

active coils will increase. This is only a problem when the spring has to work in a
confined space.

For extension springs:

• There should be some mechanical limit on how far the spring will extend, or the
spring will lose its shape and not return to its initial condition with all coils closed.

• Extension springs operating in a high-temperature environment may have to be

coiled extra-tight, as the heat will tend to weaken the spring. The section on
extension springs will tell you more about this.

For torsion springs:

• When a torsion springs assumes a load, the diameter of the coil body will
decrease. If the spring has something inside the coil, it will act as a mechanical
stop to the action of the spring.

Buying Design
If you want to have a mechanical engineer design your spring, your best bet is to call a
spring shop. You can find spring shops in the phone book. If your phone book doesn't
list any, go to the library: they should have phone books for major cities where spring
factories are -- try Detroit or Los Angeles if there are none in your area.
A spring shop will generally do the design work for you for a small charge. They will
also try to get you to let them make the spring for you, which you may or may not want.
The section on spring shops will tell you more about how their business operates.
http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/resources.html will give you links to spring shops,
suppliers, people who make spring design software, and a whole slew of other stuff.

How to make Springs Page 5 of 62

 SPRING MATERIALS
This section will tell you about the different kinds of material that springs are made out
of. It will also tell you where to get your wire -- make sure you read the Safety section so
you know how to handle it safely once you've got it.

Types of Wire
Springs are usually made from alloys of steel. The most common spring steels are
music wire, oil tempered wire, chrome silicon, chrome vanadium, and 302 and 17-7
stainless. Other materials can also be formed into springs, depending on the
characteristics needed. Some of the more common of these exotic metals include
beryllium copper, phosphor bronze, Inconel, Monel, and titanium. The following table
summarizes the more important properties of each material:

Common
Material Properties and Uses
Sizes
Music Wire .003-.250" A high-carbon steel wire used primarily for
applications demanding high strength, medium price,
0.08-6mm and uniformly high quality. Guitar and piano strings
are made from this material, as are most small
springs. Music wire will contract under heat, and can
be plated.
Oil Tempered .010-.625" This is the workhorse steel spring wire, being used
Wire (OT) for many applications in which superior strength or
0.25-16mm uniformity is not crucial. Will not generally change
dimensions under heat. Can be plated. Also available
in square and rectangular sections.
Chrome Silicon, .010-.500" These are higher quality, higher strength versions of
Chrome Oil Tempered wire, used in high-temperature
Vanadium 0.12-13mm applications such as automotive valve springs. Will
not generally change dimensions under heat. Can be
plated.
Stainless Steel .005-.500" Stainless steels will not rust, making them ideal for
the food industry and other environments containing
0.125-13mm water or steam. 302 series stainless will expand
slightly under heat: 17-7 will usually not change.
Cannot be plated.
Inconel, Monel, .010-.125" These specialty alloys are sometimes made into
Beryllium springs which are designed to work in extremely
Copper, 0.25-3mm high-temperature environments, where magnetic
Phosphor fields present a problem, or where corrosion
Bronze resistance is needed in a high-temperature working
environment. They are much more costly than the
more common stocks and cannot be plated.
Generally will not change dimensions under heat.

How to make Springs Page 6 of 62

Titanium .032-.500" Used primarily in air- and spacecraft because of its
extremely light weight and high strength, titanium is
0.8-13mm also extremely expensive and dangerous to work
with as well: titanium wire will shatter explosively
under stress if its surface is scored. Generally will not
change dimensions under heat. Cannot be plated.

Titanium is the strongest material, but it is very expensive. Next come chrome vanadium
and chrome silicon, then music wire, and then oil tempered wire. The stainless and
exotic materials are all weaker than the rest.

Buying wire
Spring wire is made in common sizes (see table above) and in special sizes to order.
The common sizes that are manufactured are available within the ranges specified at
intervals ranging from a couple of thousandths of an inch (for the smaller sizes) to
sixteenths of inches (for the larger sizes). Metric-measure sizes are available outside
the US.
These spring wire materials may be bought from steel suppliers in two forms: coils and
straightened-and-cut bars. Unless you are dealing with extremely close tolerances,
exotic materials, or need a stock size that is not commonly manufactured, you'll
probably find it most economical to buy your stock in coils.
Bought in coils, spring steel is generally sold by the pound: the coils range in size from
about 6 inches (for wire under .005") to 7 feet (for wire in the .437-.500" range) in
diameter. The smaller coils are generally shipped UPS, while the larger sizes require
truck transport as well as special unloading and storage facilities.
Finding a source of supply is as easy as looking in the phone book: if you're in a rural
area, try the local library which will have Yellow Pages for the major metropolitan areas
-- try Detroit or Los Angeles for starters. You can also contact the Spring Manufacturers'
Institute (http://www.smihq.org) and ask them for a copy of Springs magazine, which is
filled with suppliers' advertisements (as well as technically interesting articles).
http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/resources.html also lists some wire manufacturers
and suppliers.
One caution: you should not order straightened-and-cut wire until you're SURE you
know what you want. Once you get your material, you'll find it impossible to return if the
bars are an inch too short.
And one note: when spring wire is made, it develops what's known as a "cast" from
being tied into round coils. If you strip wire from a coil, it will likely not be perfectly
straight: the "natural" curvature of the wire is "cast". The cast of the wire will introduce
an extremely small variance in the physical dimensions of the springs made from the
wire -- it's only a problem when you're working with very close dimensional tolerances.
Cast is why wire is also available in straightened-and-cut bars.

How to make Springs Page 7 of 62

 WIRE SAFETY
THIS PAGE IS IMPORTANT!
Spring wire can be dangerous if not
properly handled.
Read this section carefully
before you start working with wire.

General Safety
Springs under load want to return to their original shape. The same goes for spring wire.
Spring wire will try to straighten itself out if given the chance: don't let your body get in
its way.

Small wire
Small wire (diameter less than about .025") will not hurt you if it hits you. On the other
hand, small wire is nothing more than an edge, waiting for something to cut. Don't use
your hand to try to stop wire that's moving, especially if it's moving under power (like
being pulled by a lathe). Instead, wait till it stops moving. Gloves are an excellent idea,
too.

Medium wire
Medium wire (diameter from about .025" - .312") is too wide to act as an edge, and
usually not massive enough to break bones, but it can raise quite a knot if you get in its
way. Again, always keep track of where the ends of the wire are, and if they start to
move, get out of the way.

Heavy wire
Heavy wire (diameter greater than about .312") needs respect. If it gets loose, it can
EASILY break bones, or worse.

Stainless steel
Stainless steel is a lot softer than other types of wire. When cut, the end of the wire is
like a knife edge. Always keep track of where the end of the wire is, and keep your
hands away from it while it's moving.

Handling Wire
The two most dangerous times are when you're breaking open a coil of wire and when
you're actually winding a spring.

Breaking open coils

Once you have your wire, you'll need to take it out of its coil. The coil may be wrapped
in paper -- take that off first.
Under the paper, the wire will be tied. Light wire will be tied with string. Medium wire will

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be tied with tie wire. Large wire will be tied with metal bands. Whatever size wire you
have, remember that the coil should have only two ends. One will be on the inside of the
coil, and the other will be on the outside. You'll normally use wire from the inside, to
avoid tangling. Always make a hook on the "inside" end so it's easy to find again:

Handling Small Wire in Coils

To break open a coil of small (up to about .125") wire, cut all the ties except two. Don't
cut the closest tie holding the outside end of the wire, and the tie most directly opposite
to that one.
To remove wire from the coil, start with the end on the inside of the coil: this will keep
the coil from tangling. Grab the end of the wire and cut off the hook. Pull it slightly, until
you can see the gap between it and the rest of the coil. Grab the wire at the gap and
pull the end free from the tie holding it. Repeat this process, working around the coil,
until you have the length you need.

Medium-sized wire
(.125 - .312") can be handled the same way, except that you should keep three ties
instead of two. When uncoiling wire larger than .250", you should lay the coil flat on the
ground and always stand in the center of the coil, for safety.

Large wire
(.312 - .625") needs special handling. First of all, you'll probably be using a hoist or
forklift to move the coil, because of the weight. Lay the coil on top of something (a 2x4
or a pipe works great) to keep one end off the ground so that you can pick it up when
you're done. Stand inside the coil from now on!
Then, take a length of tie wire and double it over. Loop it twice around the coil, right
next to the second tie holding the inside end of the wire. Pull it tight and twist it so that
you have a "pigtail" and the tie wire is too tight to move by hand. Then, cut the first two
original ties. Grab the end of the wire and flip it over the coil, so that it sticks out.

Go to the next tie and repeat this process, working your way around the coil until you
have the length you need. You can use heavy bolt cutters or an acetylene torch to cut
the wire.
If heavy wire gets away from you and starts to come undone all by itself, the very best
thing to do is
• Run like hell, and
• Pray it doesn't hit you.

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Coiling
If you're using a lathe to make your springs, you'll be standing there, letting the lathe
pull the wire. The lathe will do what you want, but it will not know to stop if things get out
of control. So, before you start the lathe, figure out what you're going to do if things go
haywire. Know how to stop the lathe, and know which way you can safely run.
Never reach over the wire to get to your lathe controls, especially when working with
heavy wire. Reach under it and avoid injury if your wire guide breaks.
Keep the lathe speed DEAD SLOW: with heavy wire, 10 rpm is about right.
Don't grab onto wire that's being fed into the lathe. Stop the lathe and back it off until
there's no tension in the wire before you put your hands near.
NEVER try to guide wire by hand. Use tooling.

When you're done

After you've removed wire from a coil, the coil will be looser than it was before. Before
you put it away, retie it so that it doesn't tangle up or uncoil by itself. For light wire, use
string. For medium size wire, use tie wire. For heavy wire, use tie wire doubled over,
looped around the coil twice, and tied in a "pigtail":

Lastly, make a hook in the "inside" end of the wire, so you can find it again easily when
you need to.

Storing Wire
Safety first: always store your wire someplace where kids can't get at it.
Common sense second: keep your wire dry. Steel wire will rust if it gets wet.
More common sense: keep your wire tight. When you're finished working with a coil of
wire, make a hook in the inside end (so you can find it again easily) and tie the coil
securely. Be especially careful with heavy wire, which should be tied with at least six
doubled strands of tie wire, each looped around the coil twice and cinched tight.
Still more common sense: if you live in an area that has earthquakes, tornadoes,
hurricanes, etc., be sure that you chock your coils of wire so that they don't get loose
and start to move around when mother nature starts acting up.

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 EQUIPMENT
This section will tell you what equipment you will need to make springs.

Winding Machines
The basic thing you'll need is a winding machine of some sort. A winding machine is
something that will pull your wire around and make it coil up into a spring shape. What
kind of winding machine you'll need depends on what size wire you'll be working with,
and also, how many springs you want to make.
If you want to make more than about 50 springs of one kind, it'll probably be worth your
while to have your springs made commercially. You can find out about how spring
factories operate: http://home.earthlink.net/~bazillion/resources.html also has a list of
spring shops that have a Web presence. You can also find spring shops in your area by
consulting the phone book.

Light Wire
For light wire (.003-.025") extension springs, you can use a hand drill mounted in a vise.
A variable-speed drill is best: set it on the lowest speed you can.
For light wire torsion springs (up to about .125"), you can use a hand winder:

For light wire compression springs and for medium wire (.025-.187") springs of all types,
you should have a lathe. For wire bigger than about .187", you'll need a lathe strong
enough to pull the wire: for compression springs in all sizes of wire, your lathe should
have a back gear and a working lead screw.
Your lathe doesn't have to be a precision machine. In fact, the heavier the wire you
want to work with, the better it is if your lathe is a piece of junk. All it has to have is a
working motor, a tool post (for compression and torsion springs), and a reliable back
gear, and, also for compression springs, a variable-pitch lead screw.
Other than that, it can be as sloppy as you want.
Wood lathes, by the way, may work for light extension springs if the tooling can be
made to fit.

Grinding Equipment
You'll need a grinding wheel for several purposes. The best kind is a double wheel,

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where you can have a grinding wheel in one side and a cutoff wheel on the other. Metal
trades suppliers can sell you the wheels.
For all springs, you'll have to be able to cut away the waste wire from the ends of your
springs. You can do this with wire cutters (for wire up to about .062"), with a cutoff
wheel, or with an acetylene torch. (One note: an acetylene torch will not be effective on
large-diameter stainless steel wire.)
For compression springs, you may want to have the ends ground square with respect
to the body of the spring. You can do this with an abrasive wheel. For heavy
compression springs, you may need a bigger grinder: a small grinder will take forever.
Also for compression springs, you may want to deburr the inside and outside of the
ends after grinding. You can do this with a conical grinding stone mounted in a drill (for
the inside) and a regular abrasive wheel (for the outside).
You'll also need a grinding wheel to make some of your tooling: most of the tooling
you'll need can be made rough, and a grinding wheel will work just fine.

Finishing Equipment
After you've wound your springs and formed the ends, you'll need to get rid of the stress
that bending the wire has caused. To do this, you need an oven. How hot your oven
needs to go depends on what material you use for your spring:

Oil tempered wire, music wire, and 302 stainless 500°F 260°C
17-7 stainless and chrome silicon 650°F 340°C
Chrome vanadium 750°F 400°C
Most exotic materials 850°F 450°C

It's probably best not to use your kitchen oven for oil tempered wire, chrome silicon, or
chrome vanadium. The wire will come coated with oil, which will burn off in the oven. If
your oven won't reach the temperature you need, find a potter who has a kiln you can
use.
For stainless steel wire, you'll also need a passivating tank to remove the chemical
coating on the wire. This is a tank made out of stainless steel (an old sink is fine) and
filled with acid.
If you want your springs to be plated, send them out to a plating shop. Don't try to do
your own plating unless you're already in the plating business.

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Hand Tools
You'll need some basic hand tools:

• A vise (either floor- or bench-mounted)

• Wire cutters (6" diagonal)
• Needle-nose pliers
• Calipers (if dimensions are critical)
• Tape measure (if dimensions are rough)
• Crescent wrench
• Acetylene torch (if working with wire over about .250")
• Bolt cutters (for wire between .080-.250")
• Round nose pliers (for forming the ends of torsion springs)
• Chalk

Testing Equipment
Depending on what kind of machine your spring is going to work in, probably the best
way to test a spring is to make one and see if it does the job. Other than that, here are a
few ways to perform rough testing on springs.
To test extension springs, you can always hang the spring from the ceiling and load it
up with weights on the other end.
For medium-sized compression springs, you can made the spring act as a limited-travel
extension spring (see extension springs for how to do this) and test them the same way.
This method will not work for light or heavy compression springs -- just medium ones.
I don't know of a simple way to make a really accurate testing rig for torsion springs:
best bet is to just plug it in and see if it works.

Tooling Stock
To make the tooling you need, you should have some pieces of flat stock (mild steel)
and some bar stock. You'll get the idea of what kind of stock you'll need for your tooling
as you read the section on tooling. You can find this kind of stuff at your local scrap
dealer or junkyard: they usually sell it by the pound.
You'll also need arbor stock (an arbor is the bar or pipe you use to wrap the wire
around to make the spring). Once you know what size arbor you need, visit your local
scrap yard: it doesn't have to be pretty, but remember, it does have to be long enough.
If you're working with heavy wire, you may need a welding rig to make your tooling
safe.

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 TOOLING
The whole purpose of tooling is to keep the wire under control while you make your
springs. The important parts of the wire to keep under control are the two ends. This
section will tell you how to make the tooling you'll need to keep the ends of your wire
under control:

The important parts of the wire that you want to keep under control are the two ends:
• The front end -- the part of the wire that you use to begin coiling, and
• The back end -- the part of the wire that is last to be coiled, or that most closely
approximates that condition.

The Front (Starting) End

For wire between .003" and about .025", you'll be using

either a drill or a hand winder to make your springs. For
extension or compression springs, no special tooling is
needed for the front end of the wire. Just make a 90-degree
bend in the wire by hand and stick the bent end in between
two of the jaws of your chuck.

For heavier wire, you'll need to make a

pickup pin to keep the front end under
control. A pickup pin can be made from
a square bar, using a grinding wheel:
Notice how the pickup pin has been
ground to accommodate both the arbor and the wire.
It's better not to use a three-jaw chuck for heavier wire, but if there's no alternative, you
can control the front end of the wire be either drilling a hole in one of the jaws of the
chuck and press-fitting a pickup pin into it, or welding a pickup pin onto one of the jaws.
Again, it's much safer to use a four-jaw chuck. 'Nuff said.

The Back (Finishing) End

To control the back end of the wire, you'll need a wire guide. What kind of wire guide
you'll need depends on the type of spring you want to make and the size of the wire
you're using.

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Extension and torsion springs:
For wire up to about .125", you can make a simple wire guide that looks like this:

For larger wire, you'll need to make a wire guide that fits into the tool post of your lathe:

If the spring you want to make is longer than your lathe, you will need to make some
special tooling. Write to me ([email protected]) and I'll tell you how.

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Finishing Tooling
You'll also need to make tools to help you finish the ends of extension and torsion
springs. Again, the tooling you'll need will depend on the size of your wire.

Extension springs:

Most often, the ends of extension springs are formed like either loops or
hooks. To form these you will need two tools: the first is a set of looping
plates, which can be made out of flat steel with a grinder. To make
looping plates, first take two pieces of stock (1/4" thick, width about
11/2 times the outside diameter of your spring ) and chuck them up in a
vise, one at a time. Bend the ends to about 100 degrees. Then, cut off
all but a small amount of the end that you bent over:

Using the grinding wheel, carve out a hollow in each end. Taper it
down so that the edge is sharp enough to "grab" between two coils
of wire.
These plates work best with relatively stiff extension springs. If you
find you're having trouble keeping the body of the spring steady
between the plates, you can always cut some grooves on the inside
face of the plates to help the wire stay put.
Also note that the sloped area that's been ground away at the top of
each plate is somewhat larger than the diameter of the spring.

The second tool you'll need to form the ends of extension

springs is a hooking rod: again, you can use your grinding
wheel to make this tool.
This is a hand-held tool that you'll need a fair degree of
control over, so make it about 6-14" long (depending on
the size of the spring wire) out of stick that's about a third
again as thick as the wire you're coiling.
Notice that the end is relieved to accommodate the wire.

Extended hooks:
You may want to make an extension spring with extended hooks, like this:

The best way to do this is to coil the spring as if it were a torsion spring and then bend
the ends over to form the extended hooks (see the chapter on torsion springs).

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If you're making this kind of spring, you'll need to make a different set of
plates. The first will be a thin steel plate with one edge ground knife-
sharp.
For the other plate, take a piece of flat steel and bend it over just like you
did for the looping plates, only bend it over a little more and don't trim
quite so much off the end:
You might also want to make a bending pipe to aid in bending wire larger
than can easily be bent by hand. Start with a short section of pipe or
tubing that's a little bigger on the inside than your wire. Then, simply cut off the end on a
diagonal, like this:

See the section on extension springs for how to use the plates and the bending pipe to
form your ends.

Torsion springs:

The ends of torsion springs can be formed in a million different ways. The
key is to make the bends smooth: the sharper the bend, the more likely it'll
break:
If you're using light wire, you can probably use round-nose pliers to form
your ends. For medium wire, make a layover plate (above) and use a
length of pipe to grab the end of the wire. This will give you enough leverage to get it to
bend
For wire too big to bend by hand, just heat the bend area of the wire with your acetylene
torch. Don't get it too hot --just warm it up enough so that it will bend with the help of a
piece of pipe.

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Bending jigs

This is the simplest bending jig I know of: it uses

tooling you've already made!
In your vise, chuck up a piece of bar stock, maybe
a little smaller than your arbor, and a pickup pin
suitable for the wire you're using.
Then, when you lay the leg of your spring between
the bar stock and the pickup pin, you can use a
wire guide to made the leg bend around the bar
stock.
Keeping careful track of how much wire is used up
making the bend will allow you to make your bends
fairly precisely - with practice, within 1/10".

You can also make a more complex bending jig capable of handling virtually any light
wire bend:

You can make stops and guides mounted on top of the jig (to control your spring) out of
thin steel, and other stops mounted on the side of the jig out of thicker stock -- 1/8"
works well -- to control how far the handle should move (to control the amount of bend).

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Passivating basket
If you're working with stainless steel wire, you'll need a passivating basket. All a
passivating basket has to do is hold the springs while they're taking a bath in some nice
acid. You can make one very easily using stainless steel mesh. Just bend the edges of
the mesh up to form a basket shape large enough to hold your springs, "stitch" the
edges together with stainless steel wire, and make a handle, also out of stainless steel.
Don't use anything but stainless to make your passivating basket -- otherwise, the acid
will eat it alive.

Grinding stage
A grinding stage is simply a flat piece of material (either steel or wood will work)
attached to your grinder. The purpose of a grinding stage is to provide a flat surface that
your spring lays on while you're grinding the ends.
Make your stage so that it faces the flat side of the grinding wheel, and is at least as
wide as the grinding wheel's side surface.

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 SETTING UP FOR COILING
This is the first of five chapters that will tell you how to make springs. The information
covered on this chapter is necessary, no matter what kind of spring you want to make.

The next chapters, covering torsion springs, extension springs, compression springs,
and finishing techniques, will round out the subject.
To get the most from these pages you should have your wire, your tools, and the
design in mind for a spring you want to make.

(For info on coiling without a lead screw, see the section on compression springs.
NOTE: I'm planning to make an animated gif showing the coiling process, but it's
turning out to be a MAJOR project and I'd rather get this site on the web without it than
wait until it's done. It will be done, though, so keep checking back ;-)

The Arbor
Making springs by hand basically consists of bending wire around a rod called an arbor
or mandrel. The arbor is secured in the chuck of a winding machine (typically either a
drill, a hand winder, or a lathe). This section will tell you how to get the right diameter
arbor, but it's also important to get the right length. Correct arbor length is important
because it's difficult (not impossible, but difficult) to coil a spring on an arbor that's not
long enough. Here's how to figure out how long your arbor has to be.

1. Estimate the amount of arbor you'll need to accommodate the spring itself.

Know that spring wire wound on an arbor will take up more space than the same
spring will after it's off the arbor. How much more depends on the number of coils
and the size of the wire. Generally, the more coils in the spring, the more it will
contract after coiling. Also generally, the smaller the wire, the more space it will
take up on the arbor. And lastly, the larger the arbor, the more room you'll need
to accommodate your spring while coiling. A couple of examples might help with
all this:

• A heavy torsion spring with 5 coils will generally not uncoil more than
about 1/2 a coil after winding. Giving yourself as much slack as you can,
your arbor might be 6-8" longer than the spring, plus whatever length you
need to chuck it up.

• A similar torsion spring made from very light wire (same diameter arbor)
will lose more coils, and take up more room on the arbor when coiling.
Because it's short to begin with, though, the 6-8" addition to the arbor
length should still be okay.

• A long extension spring (like on a screen door) should be wound on an

arbor at least a foot longer than the spring itself, again plus whatever you
need for the chuck.

2. Add in the amount of arbor you'll need to secure it safely in the chuck.

3. Add in a fudge factor -- 10% will do -- just for the heck of it.

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Remember that your arbor should be at least the length you figure out here: there's no
real maximum length until your winding machine won't support the weight.

The First Coils

Once you have your arbor, make a few coils to check the diameter. How you do this
depends on what kind of machine you're using to coil your wire.

If you're using a drill:

1. First, make sure that your drill is mounted solidly. Best bet is to mount it in a vise.
DON'T TRY TO HOLD ONTO A DRILL THAT'S BEING USED TO COIL WIRE!
Mount your drill so that if you're standing with the drill in front of your left
shoulder, the top of the chuck spins away from you when you turn it on.

2. Next, chuck up your arbor. The diameter of the arbor should be a little less than
the inside diameter of the spring you want to make.

3. Get a piece of wire maybe a couple of feet long. Cut it off from the coil and make
a 90-degree bend in one end, giving you a dogleg end about an inch long.

4. Put your wire guide onto the arbor. Hold it with your right hand and position it an
inch or so away from the chuck.

5. Stick the dogleg end of your wire between the two topmost jaws of the drill chuck.
Shove it in as far as the bend in the wire.

6. Bring the wire guide near enough for the wire to catch in the groove in the pin.
Keep the wire guide away from the chuck. At this point, your setup should look
something like this:

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 7. READ THIS STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE DOING IT!

When your setup is done, go ahead and turn on the drill. Keep the speed LOW,
and keep your finger on the trigger. All you want to do is make a few coils, to
check the diameter.

As the arbor starts to turn, two things will

happen. The wire guide will "kick" upward: you
can steady it with your right hand. It will also
try to slide away to your right: let it slide for an
inch or so, and then move your right hand to
the left until the coils of wire lie flat against
each other. What you're looking for is this:
Stop the drill before the "back" end of the wire
reaches the pin in the wire guide. The gap in
the diagram, by the way, is a good thing. If you see it while the coils are laying
down, that means the coils will be tight up against each other when you're done.
(In an extension spring, how tight the coils are is called "initial tension". There's
more info on this on the extension spring chapter.)

8. Reverse the drill SLOWLY until the coils hang free on the arbor. If you can't
reverse the drill, you can grab the coils tight near the chuck and pull the dogleg
out of the chuck. Loosen your grip on the coils slowly and let them unwind
themselves until they're not under any tension. Then let go.

9. Slide the wire guide and the coils off the arbor. Check the diameter of the coils
and see how close you are to what you want. Remember, if you need an exact
diameter, the size of the coil may change when you relieve the stress in the
spring. See the chapter on finishing techniques for information on this.

10. If the diameter is not what you want, go to a different size arbor, repeating steps
2-9 until the arbor is the right size.

That's it.

If you're using a hand winder:

1. First, make sure that your hand winder is mounted solidly. Mount it in a vise, or
bolt it onto a workbench. Mount your hand winder so that the handle is to your
left and the chuck is in front of your left shoulder.

2. Next, chuck up your arbor. The diameter of the arbor should be a little less than
the inside diameter of the spring you want to make.

3. Get a piece of wire maybe a couple of feet long. Cut it off from the coil and make
a 90-degree bend in one end, giving you a dogleg end about an inch long.

4. Put your wire guide onto the arbor. Hold it with your right hand and position it an
inch or so away from the chuck.

5. Stick the dogleg end of your wire between the two topmost jaws of the drill chuck.
Shove it in as far as the bend in the wire.

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 6. Bring the wire guide near enough for the wire to catch in the groove in the pin.
Keep the wire guide away from the chuck. At this point, your setup should look
something like this:

7. When your setup is done, go ahead and start turning the handle. Turn it so that
the TOP of the chuck moves AWAY from you.

As the arbor starts to turn, two things will

happen. The wire guide will press upward: you
can steady it with your right hand. It will also
try to slide away to your right: let it slide for an
inch or so, and then move your right hand to
the left until the coils of wire lie flat against
each other. What you're looking for is this:
Stop turning the handle when you have three
or more complete coils side by side on the
arbor.
The gap in the diagram, by the way, is a good thing. If you see it while the coils
are laying down, that means the coils will be tight up against each other when
you're done. (In an extension spring, how tight the coils are is called "initial
tension". There's more info on this on the extension spring chapter.)

8. Turn the handle the other way SLOWLY until the coils hang free on the arbor.
Don't unwind so far that one of the jaws of the chuck catches the wire dogleg and
starts to unwind the spring for you!

9. Slide the wire guide and the coils off the arbor. Check the diameter of the coils
and see how close you are to what you want. Remember, if you need an exact
diameter, the size of the coil may change when you relieve the stress in the
spring. See the chapter on finishing techniques for information on this.

10. If the diameter is not what you want, change your arbor, repeating steps 2-9 until
the spring is the right size.

That's it.

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If you're using a lathe:
1. If this is the first time you're using the lathe, make sure you're familiar with it.
Know how to stop the dang thing before you turn it on! Also, make sure you have
a clear space around you (common sense).

2. Next, chuck up your arbor. The diameter of the arbor should be a little less than
the inside diameter of the spring you want to make.

3. If you're using a four-jaw chuck, you'll have to center your arbor. Do this by
turning on the lathe and holding a piece of chalk in your hand, right next to the
tool post. Move your hand slowly towards the arbor until the chalk leaves a mark.
Then, stop the lathe and adjust the jaws of the chuck so that the arbor moves
away from the mark. Tighten the jaws and do this again, until the arbor is close to
being centered (it doesn't have to be exact).

Next, back off one of the jaws of the chuck and put your pickup pin between the
jaw and the arbor. Let it stick out past the end of the jaw about twice the diameter
of the wire you'll be using (see the diagram below).

4. What type of wire guide you use depends on how heavy your wire is. For
medium and light wire, you can use the same type of guide as for a hand winder
or drill: for heavy wire (over about ¼"), use a tool post-mounted wire guide.
If you're using light wire, you can read the directions for this step as if you were
using a hand winder (above). Otherwise, complete this step as below.

Put your wire guide into the tool post. It should be positioned just a little under
the top of the arbor. With small wire, the distance between the arbor and the wire
guide should be fairly close; for medium wire, 3-6"; for heavy wire, 6-12". The
groove in your wire guide should also be fairly close to the tool post: the heavier
the wire, the closer it should be. Cinch the wire guide down TIGHT.
This is what your setup should look like edge-on from where you're standing:

Note the horizontal clearance between the right end of the pickup pin and the left
end of the wire guide.

5. Get a piece of wire a few feet long (the heavier the wire, the longer the piece:
also, the bigger the arbor, the longer the piece). Cut it off from the coil.

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 6. Position the pickup pin of the lathe at the top of the chuck and thread your wire
UNDER the wire guide, OVER the arbor, and UNDER the pickup pin. At this
point, your setup should look something like this:

7. READ THIS STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE DOING IT!

Before you start the lathe, make sure you have one hand on the motor control
and the other on the lead screw lever. (If you're coiling without a lead screw, see
the section on compression springs on how to control the motion of the tool post
as you coil.) Reach UNDER the wire with this hand, so that if the wire guide
breaks, the wire will not snap upwards and catch you in the armpit.

Start the lathe DEAD SLOW so that the

TOP of the chuck moves AWAY from you.
Keep the tool post steady and watch the
"front" end of the wire as it comes around.
It should clear the ways and the wire
guide.
As the arbor starts to turn, the wire will
close up on itself. Keep the tool post
steady until a small gap appears in the
coils, like this.

When this gap appears, let the tool post move

slowly to the right and continue coiling until
you have about three full coils side by side on
the arbor:

8. Stop the lathe and run it backwards SLOWLY

until the coils hang free on the arbor. Don't let
the "front" end of the wire catch on the jaws of
the chuck as they come around.

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 9. Slide the coils off the arbor and check the diameter to see how close you are to
what you want. Remember, if you need an exact diameter, the size of the coil
may change when you relieve the stress in the spring. See the chapter on
finishing techniques for information on this.

10. If the diameter is not what you want, change your arbor, repeating steps 2-9 until
it's the right size.

That's it.

Left-Handed Springs
There's one more little oddity you should know about: torsion springs come left-handed
and right-handed:

Depending on what you want your spring to do, you may need one or the other, or both.
The setups described above tell you how to set up for a right-handed spring. If you want
to make a left-handed spring, you'll need to make a left-handed setup because a right-
handed setup will not work for a left-handed spring!

Left-Handed Spring Setup

Everything you read about setups for right-handed springs is exactly the same for left-
handed springs, except for two things. When winding a left-handed spring:

1. The wire will travel OVER the pin on the wire guide, UNDER the arbor, and
OVER the pickup pin.

2. The top of the chuck will be going TOWARD you as you make your coils.

The basic setup for a tool post-mounted wire guide will look like this:

The only tooling modification you'll need is if you're using a hand-held wire guide: the
guide pin will need to stick out in the opposite direction from what was shown above.
The only difference this will make is that your first coil count will be somewhat of a
guess, because you won't be able to see when the gap passes bottom dead center of
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the arbor. On your second trial spring, though, you should be able to correct this exactly
with your chalk mark.

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 TORSION SPRINGS
This chapter will tell you how to make torsion springs. Before you start, read the section
on The Setup, and have your setup done (spring coil diameter correct).

Don't forget that torsion springs come left-handed and right-handed. Be sure to make
your setup for the correct hand. If you're making a left-handed spring, remember that
the setup and the motion of the chuck and arbor will be OPPOSITE to what is
described.

Wire length
When you're ready to start coiling, the first thing you need to do is figure out how much
wire you'll need to make your spring. Here's how:

1. Take the outside diameter of the spring and multiply it by 3.3.

2. Take the result of this and multiply it by the number of coils in the spring.

3. Figure out about how much wire you'll need to form each end. Allow a couple of
inches on each end to grab onto when making your bends. Add those two
numbers together.

4. Add together the results from steps 2 and 3.

5. Add in a fudge factor (about 10%, but not less than 6").

6. Write the result down. If you're WAY off, you can save yourself a lot of wire by
cutting it closer. By writing down what you think you'll need, you'll know how
much you can change this figure and still have a margin for error. When in doubt,
err on the side of safety and plan to use more wire, rather than less.

Coiling the First Trial

Now you're ready to actually start.

1. Cut yourself a piece of wire to the length you figured out above. Be sure that
anyone else in the area stays out of danger while you do the rest of this. Also,
get your oven heated up.

2. Put the wire into your setup. Let the "front" end of the wire stick out beyond the
pickup pin for as much as you need to form the SHORTER of the two ends.

3. It may be that your short end will need more wire than will clear the ways of your
lathe or (if you're using a hand winder) your workbench. If this is the case, you
can bend the wire by hand so that it will clear and then straighten it out by hand
once the coiling is done.

4. Move your wire guide to the left as close as you can to where the pickup pin is,
but not so close that the pin will hit the wire guide as it comes around on its first
pass.

Your setup should now look like this (these diagrams will show both a hand-held
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 wire guide and a tool post-mounted wire guide):

5. READ THE NEXT STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE YOU START IT.

Start your coiling. Move the chuck DEAD SLOW until you have completed your
first full coil. When you have your first coil laid down on the arbor, you'll then
need to do two things at the same time.

1. First, bring the wire guide a little to the left. You want there to be a gap
between the first two coils as the wire lays down on the arbor, but you
don't want the gap to be big. In fact, the smaller, the better, as long as it's
always there. The gap should look like this:

2. Second, start counting your coils. Count "one" each time the pickup pin
passes top dead center. Stop winding when you've wound one coil MORE
than your spring should have when finished, or when you run out of wire.
DON'T LET THE "BACK" END OF THE WIRE PASS THE PIN ON THE
WIRE GUIDE!

6. When you've stopped coiling, mark the top of the chuck with a chalk line, and
write (on the chuck) the final coil count. You can rig up a pointer out of tie wire
that will indicate when the chuck reaches the exact stopping point as marked by
the line.

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 7. Back off the chuck SLOWLY until the spring is loose on the arbor. Don't let the
pickup pin or one of the jaws of the chuck catch on the front end of the wire and
start to "unwind" your spring! When the spring is loose, slide it off the arbor and
cut the excess off the "back" end, leaving yourself what you need to form the
longer of the two ends.

8. Put your spring into the oven and relieve the stress. For this trial, you can leave it
in the oven for half an hour: all you want to do is make sure you have the right
diameter.

The process of baking out the stress in the wire may change the dimensions
of your spring. Stainless steel coils will generally expand slightly when heated:
music wire coils will generally contract slightly.

When you've finished this process, let the spring air-dry and measure it to see how
close you came to what you want. Check the diameter first. If it's not OK, don't bother
going any further: you'll need a different arbor, which will change all the rest of your
dimensions.
If the diameter is OK, count the number of coils in your spring. You should be pretty
close: if you're only making one or two springs, being an eighth of a coil off either way is
OK -- you can always strip out or add a small amount of coil by hand. If you're more
than an eighth of a coil off, figure out how much more or less you need and change the
chalk mark on your chuck so that the next time you wind a spring, you can stop coiling
at the right spot.
Lastly, look at the coils themselves. They should all lie flat against each other, all the
way out to the ends of the spring body. If you see gaps in the body of the spring, that
means that you let the wire guide go too far to the right while you were coiling. If you
see a gap at one end (usually the "front" end), that means that when you started coiling,
your wire guide was too far to the right of the pickup pin.
Finally, set this spring aside to use in setting up for bending the legs. If needed, repeat
the coiling process again until you get what you want. At this point, you're ready to begin
work on the ends.

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Torsion Spring Ends
When you coil your springs, it's a good idea to wind up a few extras so you can practice
making whatever bends you need to the legs. When you have one spring that's exactly
what you want, bends and all, stress relieve it again, doublecheck all your
measurements, and, if possible, test it where it'll be used. Then, make all the bends in
as many springs as you need.
Take the extra springs to figure out how best to form the ends the way you want them.
There are a million different ways to form the ends of torsion springs, so what this
section will tell you is general principles to follow.
Start with straight ends. If you're using light wire, the curve of the coil will probably
make the ends of your springs curved. The curve is called "cast". You can straighten it
out by running the wire over your thumbnail or by bending the wire in the direction
opposite to the cast by hand.
Heavy wire usually doesn't have this problem, unless it's stainless steel. To straighten
heavy wire, secure the spring in a vise and use a pipe for leverage, straightening the
wire by hand a little at a time.
Make your bends gradual. This is the difference between a gradual bend and a sharp
bend:

A sharp bend may cause the wire to break when a load is placed on the spring. As you
figure out how to form your ends, keep this in mind. The best tool to use for light wire is
round-nose pliers.
Always relieve the stress in your springs again after you form the ends. A second
stress relief won't likely change any dimensions, but it will allow the bends in the formed
ends to stay in the shape you put them in when they're under load.

Easy Bends:
Here's a quick way to make torsion spring ends. It's not too precise, but then again,
maybe your spring doesn't have to be, either.
Find a rod that you can use to make the bend. Try not to have it skinnier than twice the
diameter of your wire.
Mount the rod in your vise, along with a pickup pin. Put the end of the spring between
the pickup pin and the rod. Measure the distance so that when you're done, it comes out
right.

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Using a wire guide or a bending pipe, bend the end the way you want it. (With very light
wire, you can do this by hand.) If the spring slips as you bend the end around, put some
pressure on the coil body so that the pickup pin grabs it solidly.

If you're just making a few springs, you can probably get away with doing each one by
hand.
If you want to make a lot of the same kind of spring, go ahead and make a more
sophisticated bending jig -- see the section on tooling for how to do this.

Extended hooks
If you're making an extension spring with extended hooks, like this:

you'll need to treat the ends as if the spring was a torsion spring.
The first step in forming extended hooks is to make sure that the ends of the wire are
straight. Having done that, the next step is to lay the ends over. Here's how you do this:

1. Take the narrow plate with the knife edge that you made when you were making
tooling and shove it in between the coils of your spring, like this:

2. Put a spacer plate the same size as your wire across the bottom of your spring.

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 3. Put the layover plate you made across the end of the spring, a little below the
center of the coil. At this point, the spring and the three plates should look like
this:

4. Chuck the three plates - with the spring, if possible - up in a vise.

5. Using your hand (for light wire) or a pipe (for medium wire), bend the end of the
spring down over the bending plate. While you do this, hold the spring down with
your other hand so that it doesn't pop off the knife plate. You'll need to bend the
wire MORE than 90 degrees to get a 90-degree bend.

The two most common bugs that happen when doing this are A) the end comes up
outside the coil and B) the end hooks in toward the center of the spring.
To fix these errors, A) raise or B) lower the spacer plate.
This procedure will give you ends that come straight off the ends of the coil, and from
here you should be able to form hooks or loops, as you wish.

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 EXTENSION SPRINGS
This section will tell you how to make extension springs.

(For how to make extended hooks, see the torsion spring chapter.)

Once you have your setup done, the first thing you should do is make sure you have
enough wire.

Wire Length
If you're using light wire, or if you're making short extension springs with wire up to
about .250", you really don't need to know how much wire you need for each spring --
just be sure you have more than enough. You can figure a rough length by taking the
length of the body of the spring, dividing by the wire size (which gives you an
approximate count of the number of coils in the spring) and then multiplying that by 3.3.
It'll probably come out too long, but that's okay - you can use your first couple of springs
to set up for making your loops.
If you want to make long extension springs out of wire over about .250" or if you want
more than 50 of one design, I recommend that you go to a spring shop and have them
make your springs for you.

Coiling the First Trial

Now let's make a spring.

1. Cut yourself a piece of wire that's the right length. If you're using light wire, you
can just undo the wire and let it sit on the floor in front of the lathe or winding
machine. Take the end of the wire on the inside of the coil for your starting end --
that way it won't tangle. If you're coiling short springs, cut yourself off a LONG
length of wire, so you can coil several springs at the same time. Be sure that
anyone else in the area stays out of danger while you do the rest of this. Also,
get your oven fired up.

2. Put the wire into your setup and move your wire guide to the left, close to where
the pickup pin is. As you look down at your setup, it should look like this (these
diagrams will show both a hand-held wire guide and a tool post-mounted wire
guide):

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 3. Start your coiling. Move the chuck DEAD SLOW until you're sure that the wire is
seated on the pickup pin and the pin on your wire guide. Let a couple of coils lay
down on the arbor.

4. READ THE NEXT STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE YOU START IT.

When you have your first coils laid down on the arbor, you'll then need to do two
things at the same time.

1. First, bring the wire guide a little to the left. You want there to be a gap
between the first two coils as the wire lays down on the arbor, but you
don't want the wire to run over itself as the arbor turns. The gap should
look something like this:

This gap controls what's called "initial tension". Initial tension is the force in
the wire that makes it necessary to apply some load to the spring in order
to break the coils apart. Garage door springs, for instance, have a LOT of
initial tension. Slinky toys (which are basically extension springs without
loops) have very little.

2. Stop winding when the first of these four things happens:

1. You reach the point beyond which you can't reach the "off" switch
on your lathe.

2. You run out of wire. DON'T LET THE "BACK" END OF THE WIRE
PASS THE PIN ON THE WIRE GUIDE!

3. Your wire guide gets close to the end of your arbor.

4. (if you're just going to make one spring) If the coils on the arbor
measure about 1-1/4 times the length of the body of the spring
you're trying to make.

5. Back off the chuck so that the spring is loose on the arbor. If you're using light
wire, you can just grip the body of the spring near the chuck and pull the dogleg
out, loosening your grip slowly so that the coils unwind slowly. Slide the wire
guide and the spring off the arbor.

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 6. Put your spring into the oven and relieve the stress. Remember, springs made of
stainless steel wire will open up a little in the heat, while springs made of music
wire will contract.

When you've finished this process, let the spring air-cool and check the diameter. If you
did your setup properly, it should be just what you want. Then, look at the coils. They
should all lie flat against each other, all the way out to the ends of the spring body. If
you see gaps in the body of the spring, that means that you let the wire guide go too far
to the right while you were coiling.
Now, another word about initial tension. It may or may not be important whether the
loops on the ends of your spring line up with each other or cross. If the spring is long
enough, you can twist the loops so that they either align or cross, and the initial tension
in the coils will hold them in that position.
The information that follows, which will tell you how to make loops, assumes that the
position of the loops IS important: if it's not, then just make the loops and let the spring's
initial tension take care of how they align.

Making Loops
This section will tell you how to make one type of loop; a basic, no-frills type of loop that
will do the trick for most springs. There are other types of loops that are stronger and
prettier but to make them, you need tooling that is specially made for making this type of
loop and nothing else. Brillisour & Moline used to make looping pliers designed for light
wire, but I'm afraid they're out of business. If anyone knows of a new source for these,
lemme know.
NEWS FLASH: "Hook-Kon" brand looping pliers are available from Advance Car
Mover! These are the same pliers mentioned above - I've got a pair and they work great
for light wire extension springs!

Simple loops:
1. Cut off the end of your spring, leaving only coils that touch each other all the way
around.

2. Mount your spring between two looping plates in a vise, like this:

3. Reach into the center of the spring coil with your looping rod, hooking the tip of
the rod under the first coil:

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 4. Bend the coil upwards by pushing down on the rod until when you let go, the top
of the coil is directly over the center of the spring:

5. With the looping rod, reach under the coil you just bent up and snag the end of
the wire with the tip of the rod:

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 6. Bend the end of the coil so that it aligns with the body of the spring itself:

Now you've made one end of the spring. The next thing to do is to figure out how much
you have to cut off the other end to make the whole thing the length you want it to be. If
it's a matter of being just a little short, you can always extend your hooks by
straightening out the wire after if comes off the body of the spring.
If it's a short spring and you're just making one from the coil you have, count the coils
and add enough to make the loop -- just shy of a full coil.
If it's a short spring and you've wound a long coil, do the same thing and separate the
first spring from the main body with wire cutters (or with your cutoff wheel, if you're
working with heavier wire). You can cut the whole coil to about the right length, but
remember, you have to add "just shy of a full coil" to each end of the spring to make it
come out right.
If it's a long spring (or you just don't want to bother counting coils), measure the body of
the coil and then add about 1-3/4 coils.
Once you've trimmed the body to size, go ahead and make the second loop, exactly
the same way that you made the first. Then, doublecheck the length of the spring --
usually, inside one hook to inside the other will give you the best check on this -- and
see if it's what you want.
If it's too short, you have a couple of options. You can make the next spring with more
coils in the body, or you can make the next spring with the fancier type of loop.

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Loops and Hooks
Loops will work best for most extension springs. Sometimes, though, you'll want hooks -
- like when you'll want to slip the spring onto a pin, for instance.
Making hooks is very simple, once you've made loops: all you have to do is cut the end
of the wire off so that it doesn't come all the way around to the body of the spring:

Swivel Hooks
Extension springs are sometimes made with hooks that swivel:

Doing this without kickpress tooling is abysmally difficult, so your best bet, if you have to
have this type of spring, is to have it made commercially.

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 COMPRESSION SPRINGS
This chapter will tell you how to make compression springs. Making compression
springs is a lot more fun than making either extension or torsion springs, but it's also a
lot more complicated.

Before we start, let's have a word about equipment. Compression springs have pitch --
that's the distance between the open coils in the spring -- and to make a spring with
pitch means that you have to be able to control how fast your wire guide travels from left
to right as the arbor turns around.
With a lathe, it's easy. You just engage the lead screw and away you go.
But with a drill or a hand winder, it's more difficult. Not impossible, just more difficult.
Spring shops get around the difficulty by buying a hand-winding machine designed for
making light compression springs. These are designed so that once you set it up, you
can make any number of springs and they will all be exactly the same. Carlson
Company, Inc. (http://www.carlsoncoinc.com) is one manufacturer of hand-winders:
they can be contacted at 605 Bain St., Springdale AR 72764 or by phone at (501) 756-
2169.
Using a lathe, especially for light wire, you're likely to get a lot of different springs, even
though you think you're doing the same thing each time you wind one. That's the
difference between doing the job "by eye" and having professional equipment.

Wire Length
The first thing to do is figure out how much wire you'll need to make a spring. To do this:

1. Take the outside diameter of the spring and multiply it by 3.3.

2. Take the number of active coils and add 9.

3. Multiply the results of steps 1 and 2 together.

4. Add in a fudge factor. With light wire, make the fudge factor about 6"; with
medium wire, about 3'; with heavy wire, about 6'.

5. Write the result down. If you're WAY off, you can save yourself a lot of wire by
cutting it closer. By writing down what you think you'll need, you'll know how
much you can change this figure and still have a margin for safety.

Coiling the First Trial

BEFORE YOU START, set your lead screw to the right setting and make sure your
back gear is engaged. Remember that the heavier the wire you're using, the slower your
lathe speed should be. Here's how to set your lead screw speed:

1. First make sure that the lead screw will go in the right direction -- left to right --
when you engage it.

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 2. The second step is to set the speed of the lead screw so that the coils will be
properly spaced along the arbor. To do this, measure (or figure out by math, or
guess) how far apart the coils should be.

The quick way to ballpark the pitch is:

1. Take the free length of the spring and subtract 11/2 times the diameter of
the wire.

2. Divide the result by the number of active coils.

3. Then turn on your lathe and engage the lead screw. Hold a piece of chalk tight
against the tool post and move the post toward the arbor until the chalk just
touches it. Let the chalk mark the arbor for a couple of turns, and then stop the
lathe.

4. Measure the distance between your chalk marks and compare it to what you
want. Adjust the speed of your lead screw until they're about the same.

Once you've gotten your lead screw setting, you can go ahead and make your first trial
spring:

1. Cut a piece of wire to the length you figured out above. Be sure that anyone else
in the area stays out of danger while you do the rest of this. Also, get your oven
heated up.

2. Put the wire into your setup and move your wire guide to the left, close enough to
the pickup pin so that the wire catches on both.

Your setup should now look like this:

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 3. READ THE NEXT STEP ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE YOU START IT.

Start your coiling. Move the chuck DEAD SLOW until the wire has come around
for one full coil. Lay down at least two full coils touching each other. The way you
do this is to have your wire guide a little to the LEFT of where the wire lays down
on the arbor, like this:

4. When you have these first coils laid down on the arbor, you'll then need to do two
things at the same time.

1. First, engage your lead screw.

If you're winding wire over about .187", DO NOT reach over the wire to
grab the lead screw control! Instead, reach UNDER the wire. That way, if
the wire guide breaks, the wire won't take your arm off at the shoulder.

2. Second, start counting your coils. Count "one" each time the point at
which the active coils separate from the end coils passes the top of the
chuck.

Looking at the setup from the top, this is the point you use to count:

3. Keep counting until you reach the number of active coils you want in the
finished spring, and then let a couple more coils wind on, keeping your
count going. Then disengage the lead screw. The wire will close up on
itself and start to form closed coils.

4. Let a couple of closed coils form on the arbor and then turn off the lathe.
DON'T LET THE "BACK" END OF THE WIRE PASS THE PIN ON THE
WIRE GUIDE! Write down your final coil count for reference.

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 5. Reverse the chuck slowly so that the spring is loose on the arbor. Don't let
the pickup pin or the jaws of the chuck catch the front end of the wire as
the spring gets loose on the arbor!

If there's a lot of extra wire, cut it off. Then, put your spring into the oven
and relieve the stress. For this trial, you can leave it in the oven for half an
hour. Remember that stress relief will cause music wire springs to close
up slightly, while stainless steel will expand.

When you've finished this process, let the spring air-cool and measure it to see how
close you came to what you want. Check the diameter first. If it's not OK, don't bother
going any further: you'll need a different arbor, which will change all the rest of your
dimensions.
If the diameter is OK, count the number of active coils in your spring. You should be
pretty close: for a small number of springs, being a quarter coil off either way is OK. If
you're more than a quarter coil off, figure out how much more or less you need and
change your coil count for the next trial.

Coiling without a lead screw

It's possible to coil compression springs without a lead screw on your lathe. The
difficulty you'll run into is making more than one spring alike. Here's how you do it:

1. Calculate the pitch of the spring. Take the free length, subtract 11/2 wire
diameters, and divide the result by the number of active coils you want.

2. Hold your chalk up against the tool post and move the tool post toward the arbor
until the chalk leaves a mark an inch or two to the right of the chuck.

3. Turn on the lathe, letting the chalk ride on the arbor, making a complete circle
around the arbor.

4. With the handwheel, move the tool post to the right at a steady pace, keeping the
chalk in contact with the arbor. The chalk will mark a path approximating the
spring you want to make.

5. Count the number of coils you mark with the chalk and stop the rightward motion
of the tool post when you reach your trial coil count.

6. Let the lathe continue to run until the chalk has marked the arbor all the way
around.

7. Wind a trial spring, making the wire follow your chalk line as closely as possible.

8. If your spring is not right, wash the chalk off the arbor, recalculate the pitch as
needed, and try again.

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Finishing the Ends
The next step is to cut off the excess coils from both ends. Find the
point where the active coils first close up and cut off anything past that
point. Each end of your spring should look like this when you're done:
This type of end is called a "closed end". For a lot of applications, you
can leave your springs exactly like this: if this is the case with your
spring, you can skip down to "Free Length". If your spring has to be
ground square, read on.

Grinding
BEFORE YOU START, PUT ON A PAIR OF GLOVES. There's nothing quite so much
fun as accidentally touching your hand to a moving grinding wheel! Then, make sure
that there's nothing flammable nearby: grinding will give off sparks!
Take your spring over to your grinding wheel and grind it square. Some tips:

• Hold the spring lightly, so that if it catches on the grinding wheel it won't drag
your hand along with it.

• A standard bench grinder will work for light wire, but whatever size grinder you're
using, grind on the side of the wheel -- not the front.

• Start grinding with the free end up, rotating the spring about 1/8 of a turn every
so often.

• Keep the spring square with the grinding wheel. With light wire, it's easy. Heavy
wire takes some practice. Spring shops have jigs that they use for keeping the
springs square while grinding.

• Move the spring from side to side across the surface of the grinding wheel (which
prevents the spring from digging a groove in it). Keep the body of the spring
perpendicular to the flat side of the wheel, and don't forget to dress the wheel
from time to time, especially if you're grinding stainless steel or other softer
material.

• Every few seconds, dip the end of the spring into some water to keep it cool. If it
starts to glow red, it's WAY too hot. Stainless steel has to be kept cooler than
other types of wire.

• When you've ground the top surface, start to rotate the spring so that the grinding
wheel ends up hitting 3/4 of the first coil.

• Grind until the tip of the first coil is about 3/4 ground away. If you've kept the
spring square to your wheel, that'll give you a good grind.

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If you're looking at the end of the spring, the ground surface should look like this:

The other thing to check is how square your ground ends are. You can do this by setting
your spring down next to a carpenter's square, a machinist's square, a book, or anything
else that stands up straight. Then, holding the bottom end of the spring next to your
square, turn the spring around and watch the gap between the square and the top end.
If your spring is perfectly square, there will be no gap as you turn the spring around. A
small gap is OK, since the ends of the spring will flatten out under load. If there's a big
gap, then you need to grind the end some more. (Commercial squareness in spring
shops is +3 degrees.)
When you're finished grinding the end surfaces, use a file or a pointed grinding stone to
get rid of any burrs on both the outside and the inside of the ends.

Free Length
Once you've ground your ends, measure the length of the spring from end to end ("free
length"). If it's not what you want, you may have to adjust your lead screw speed. Here's
how to tell what adjustments to make:

• If the number of active coils is right but the spring is too short, keep the coil count
the same and increase the speed of the lead screw.

• If the number of active coils is right but the spring is too long, keep the coil count
the same and decrease the speed of the lead screw.

• If the number of active coils is too low and the spring is too short, increase your
coil count.

• If the number of active coils is too low and the spring is too long, increase your
coil count and decrease the speed of your lead screw.

• If the number of active coils is too high and the spring is too short, decrease your
coil count and increase the speed of your lead screw.

• If the number of active coils is too high and the spring is too long, decrease your
coil count.

One last thing. If your spring is good except that it's just a little long, you may be able to
shorten it without any more grinding. There are two ways to do this:

Setting solid:
Take the spring and put enough load on it to make all the open coils touch each other
all the way around. This is called setting the spring solid, and it might shorten your

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spring up a little bit.
Remember that when you put a load on a compression spring, it'll want to spring back
to its free length. If you hold it unevenly, it might fly out sideways. Best bet, if you're
going to set your springs solid, is to mount your arbor in a vise, slip your spring(s) onto
the arbor, and set them solid using a piece of flat steel, drilled to accommodate the
arbor. This will prevent your springs from flying away and hurting someone.

Heat setting:
Heat setting your springs will make them shorter than setting them solid will. You MUST
heat set springs that will be used somewhere hot -- like inside an engine, for instance.
Here's how to do it:

1. Find a rod that's longer than your spring and just a little bit narrower than the
inside diameter of the spring. The arbor you used to coil the spring should work
nicely.

2. Grind a flat spot near one end and make two collet clamps. Mount one so that
the set screw fits into the flat spot on the rod.

3. Slide your spring onto the rod up against the collet clamp and slide the other
collet clamp on after it.

4. Set the spring solid ON THE BAR, using a vise as in "setting solid" above, and
tighten the set screw on the second collet clamp so that it holds the spring in that
position.

AFTER THIS POINT, BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO POINT EITHER END OF

THE ROD AT ANYONE, INCLUDING YOURSELF!

5. Stick the rod, with the spring and collet clamps, into your oven. The longer you let
it cook, or the higher the temperature, the shorter the spring will get.

6. Take the rod out of the oven and let it air-cool.

7. MAKING SURE THAT THE ENDS OF THE ROD POINT AWAY FROM YOU,
loosen the second collet clamp. If you're working with heavy wire, mount the "tail"
end of the rod in a vise, so that when the collet clamp breaks loose, it won't go
anywhere.

The spring will bounce back to near its free length, and you can check it against what
you want.

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 FINISHING
This section will tell you about a few of the finishing touches you can put on your
springs. Some of these are necessary, while others may be called for by the design you
have in mind.

Tweaking
Sad to say, your spring may not be exactly what you want. Sometimes not all is lost
though -- you should know, first, how to correct what's wrong and second, what you can
do to "tweak" your springs into shape.
First, how to correct what's wrong:

Increasing the Will give you

A weaker spring: it will take less force to deflect
Number of coils
the spring a certain amount.
A weaker spring: it will take less force to deflect
Diameter of the spring
the spring a certain amount.
A stronger spring: it will take more force to
Diameter of the wire
deflect the spring a certain amount.

(You'll note that this is the same data you read about in the section on spring design.)
Sometimes you'll be able to "tweak" your springs into shape, especially when they're
not too far off, and also especially before you've relieved the stress. Here are some
techniques you can use:
You can open up the diameter a notch or two by grabbing the ends of the wire in your
hands and twisting the coil gently in the opposite direction. This works best on short
springs with few coils. On longer springs with many coils, you can open the diameter up
by simply dropping the spring onto a hard surface (like maybe the floor).
Compression springs can be shortened by setting them solid or heat setting them (see
the section on compression springs). You can lengthen a compression spring by driving
a wedge in between each pair of coils. Be careful to use the same amount of force each
time you do this, and also be sure you do it evenly all the way up and down the spring
body. Note that when you do this, the diameter of the spring will also open up.

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Necessary Steps
Stress relief
Spring wire that gets bent has to have the bending stress relieved. Here are the stress
relief guidelines for all common spring wire materials.

Material Movement Temperature Time (hrs)

Aluminum (none) 400°F 200°C 1/2
Basic (none) (none) (none)
Brass (none) (just warm) --
Beryllium copper close slightly 600°F 315°C 1 1/2
Bronze (none) 350°F 180°C 1/2
Chrome Silicon close 800°F 430°C 1/2
Chrome Vanadium close 800°F 430°C 1/2
Elgiloy open 900°F 480°C 5
Hard drawn (none) 500°F 260°C 1/3
Inconel (none) 800°F 430°C 1
Inocnel 718 (none) 1375°F 750°C 16
1375 °F 750°C 16
Inconel X #1 temper (none)
then 700°F then 370°C 1
Inconel X spring temper (none) 1250°F 680°C 4
K Monel (none) 1000°F 540°C 4
Maraging flat stock (none) 950°F 510°C 4+
Maraging wire (none) 850°F 450°C 1/2
Monel (none) 600°F 315°C 1
Music wire close 500°F 260°C 1
Ni-span C (open) 1250°F 680°C 3
Oil Tempered close slightly 500°F 260°C 1/2
Premier (none) 625°F 330°C 1/2
Rene' 41 (none) 1400°F 760°C 16
Stainless steel (302) open 600°F 315°C 1
Stainless steel 480°C
open 900°F 1
(17-4 or 17-7)
Titanium open 800°F 430°C 10

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Passivating
Working with stainless steel creates "free iron" contamination on the surface that can
later rust and create problems with the part and its working environment. The process of
removing this free iron is called passivation: here's how you do it.
BEFORE YOU START, find a safe spot to do this. You should do it outdoors, and away
from anyplace where animals or other people can get into it.

1. Put your springs into a stainless steel basket, which you made on the tooling
chapter.

2. Fill your passivating tank with acid. The tank itself can be anything large enough
that doesn't leak and is made out of stainless steel. An old sink, fitted with a
stainless steel plug in the drain hole, works great. Muriatic acid -- the same kind
they use for swimming pools -- is a good acid to use. Pour the acid into the tank,
being careful not to get ANY on your body or your clothes.

3. Lower the basket with the springs into the tank and let it sit there for an hour.

4. After an hour, lift the basket out of the tank and wash the springs with plain
water. If you want to save the acid for later use, put it back into its original
container and WASH OUT THE TANK so that no animals or people can get into
it accidentally.

Don't passivate anything but stainless, by the way: the acid will eat non-stainless steel
and ruin the springs.

Optional Steps
Depending on where you want your springs to go, you may want them to look shiny. If
you do, you can have them plated after you're finished making them. Plating will not
change their dimensions. You can have springs plated with chrome, silver, gold, or any
other metal. Springs that are used to make electrical connections are usually plated with
silver or gold. If you're not in the plating business yourself, your best bet is to get your
springs plated commercially, rather than try to do it yourself.
Also depending on the use of the springs you make, you may want to have them
painted or dipped in rubber (like if you want to hang something from an extension spring
and not let the spring scratch whatever it is that's hanging from it).
I personally think that small-wire springs can be beautiful, and although I've never done
it myself, there's no reason why someone couldn't make jewelry using them as a
starting point. Earrings, for instance. If you want to try this out, go right ahead.

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 OTHER TYPES OF SPRINGS
This section will tell you about other types of springs that can be made. Where it's
possible for you to make them easily, I'll tell you how. Otherwise, your best bet is to
have these types of springs made commercially.

Made from Round Wire

Buckling columns: Get the idea of a plain coil of very
fine wire with no loops or hooks on the ends. Get the idea
of one end of this coil being held in place, while the other
end is approached by something. When the "something"
hits the other end of the coil, the coil will support it until
the load passes a certain point, and the the coil will
buckle. Here's what it looks like:
Buckling columns are also used as sensors that send an
electrical signal when something gets close to it. You can
make buckling columns very easily with a drill: just follow the procedure for making fine-
wire extension springs.

Nested compression springs: Sometimes, you'll need a compression spring that's

stronger than any single spring can be. In that case, you can make nested compression
springs -- one spring inside the other -- that will be a lot stronger than a single spring.
Some automobile valve spring assemblies are actually nested springs: so are the
suspension springs on railroad cars.
You can make nested compression springs easily: just remember two things:

1. Nested compression springs must be different-handed. If the outer spring is right-

handed, then the inner spring must be left-handed, or vice-versa.

2. The outside diameter of the inside spring CANNOT be larger than the inside
diameter of the outside spring. If it is, the springs will not nest.

Conical springs: You may want to make a compression spring that's smaller at one
end than the other. This is called a conical, or tapered, spring. You can make these just
like any other compression spring: the only difference is the arbor, which must also be
cone-shaped.
The best way to make a cone-shaped arbor for light wire is to
turn one out of wood. Get your arbor diameters for both ends
by using the steps in the section on The Setup and turn your
arbor like this:
Use good, hard wood -- ash, for instance -- and remember:
wood is a lot weaker than steel. Don't try to coil long springs
on a wooden arbor, and don't try to make a conical spring with wire heavier than about
.125". It can be done, but with heavier wire, the wire will start to cut a groove in the
wood. More important, the arbor may snap, which would NOT be fun.
The other thing to watch out for is that when you grind the ends of a conical spring, you
have to hold the spring in your hands to get it ground square. Because the sides of the
coil are sloped, using a grinding stage would not give you a square end.

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Variable-pitch springs: Sometimes you'll want a compression spring that starts out
"soft" and after a certain load is placed on it, becomes stiffer. This is called a variable-
pitch spring, and you can see springs like this in some motorcycle shock absorbers:

These are pretty tricky to make, but you can do it. Here's how:

1. Make your setup as you would for any other compression spring.

2. Find the right settings for your lead screw for each of the segments of the coil.

3. Start to wind the spring. When you've wound what you want at the first pitch,
STOP THE LATHE and change the lead screw speed setting to the second
position.

4. Continue winding at the second pitch until you've finished the spring.

The key is to have some way to remember TWO coil counts: one for the first section,
and one for the second. Once you can do this, then you can change where you switch
from one lead-screw speed to another and come out with the exact spring that you
want.

Snap-rings: Snap rings are easy. Just coil an extension spring with the right diameter
and cut off single rings, one at a time, with wire cutters.

Double torsion springs: You recall how torsion

springs can be either left-handed or right-handed?
Well, sometimes you'll want to make a torsion spring
that's both. Such springs are sometimes found on
clipboards, and they might look like this:
Making double torsion springs means making some
pretty specialized tooling, and the best way to actually
wind them is with a hand-winder. Here's how:

1. First, find the right size of arbor for making the

coils. The arbor will have to be at least a few
inches longer than the widest part of the coils.

2. Grind a flat spot on the arbor, narrower than the distance between the insides of
the two coils.

3. Drill a hole through the arbor at the flat spot.

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 At this point, your arbor should look like this:

4. Make a short pin that'll fit into the hole in your arbor. The pin should be
an inch or so longer that the arbor is thick, and have a bend in one end.
The other end should be slightly rounded, like this:

5. Now, get a piece of flat stock as thick as the inside gap between the two
coils of the spring. Grind it like this:

6. Drill a hole in this piece (the tongue piece) so that when you put the arbor,
tongue piece, and pin together, they look like this:

7. Make TWO wire guides, one for each side of the spring. Make sure that the pins
on the wire guides come out one to the left and one to the right.

Whew! You're about half done!

8. The next step is to prepare your wire:

1. The first step is to figure out how much wire you'll need to make a spring.
Do this the same way you did for a single torsion spring, figuring out how
much you'll need for ONE SIDE of the double torsion spring.

Don't forget the fudge factor. When you're done, then just double your
answer: that'll do for a start.

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 2. Take a length of wire and form a U in the center. (Your design may call for
other bends in the center piece -- I call it a "U" just for simplicity's sake.)
This will be the tongue of your spring, so make sure you get the inside
dimension of the bend the right size. You can form the U using any of the
bending jigs we've discussed.

3. Save this setup. After you make your first spring all the way through, you'll
use it again to make as many springs of this design as you need.

9. Now it's time to actually coil the springs.

Chuck up your arbor in your hand winder. Leave enough room between the
chuck and the flat spot to fit one side of the completed coil, the width of one wire
guide, plus at least half an inch.

10. Slide the left-hand wire guide onto the arbor. That's the one with the pin coming
out the RIGHT side.

11. Slide the tongue piece onto the flat spot on the arbor and put the pin through
both to hold them together.

12. Slide the right-hand wire guide onto the arbor.

13. Hook your prepared wire onto the tongue piece and over the arbor. Hold it tight
against the tongue piece as you catch each free end of the wire with the wire
guides. Your setup should look like this:

14. With your left hand, put a little tension on the arbor -- enough to be sure that your
wire guides have both caught the wire securely.

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 15. Then start to wind, holding both wire guides with your right hand. Keep a little
pressure toward the center of the spring from each side. Spring coils should start
to form on either side of the tongue piece. You can let them "push" your wire
guides outwards as you continue.

16. Stop winding when you have a little more coils down on each side than the
finished spring will need. Back the winder off until the spring hangs free on the
arbor.

17. Now, take the spring off the arbor:

1. Slide the right-hand wire guide off the arbor.

2. Use a finger to pull the tongue of the spring off the tongue piece.

3. Pull the pin out of the tongue piece.

4. Pull the tongue piece off the arbor.

5. Slide the spring free.

Then, check your dimensions and change the number of coils you lay down until you've
got the right number.
Stress-relieve the coils and finish the ends like any other torsion spring. Note that
because the two coils are mirror-images of each other, you'll probably need to make two
setups to do any bending on the legs of the spring -- one for the right-hand coil and one
for the left-hand coil.

Wire forms: Wire forms are any shape made out of wire -- not just a coil. There are a
jillion different kinds of wire forms: here's a common one.

You can make wire forms easily with round-nose pliers, or with a bending jig.

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Bedsprings: These are basically hourglass-shaped compression springs in which the
ends wrap around themselves. They're made on special automatic machinery -- I hope
you don't need one bad enough to try making it yourself --they can probably be made by
hand, but it would not be easy.

Limited-travel extension springs: Sometimes you'll want to make an extension spring

that only extends so far and then stops. You'll see these sometimes on screen doors:

As you can see, they're basically compression springs with a little extra added
hardware. Here's how to make them:

1. Make the compression springs and don't grind the ends.

2. For each spring, make two wire forms that look like this:

3. Stick one of the wire forms through the center of the spring coil until the wire form
sticks out the other end.

4. Slide one of the legs of the other wire form through the center part of the first
one.

5. Flip the second wire form around so that the center part is aimed down the
middle of the spring, and push it through.

There you go!

Braided wire springs: Howitzers and other military hardware use springs that have to
handle sudden significant loads. Ordinary solid-wire springs would shatter under the
stress of artillery recoil, so for these situations springs are made out of braided wire. I
haven't seen any of these myself but I imagine that coiling such material would be
similar to coiling solid wire.

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Very heavy wire: What's the heaviest wire that can be made into a spring? Well, coiling
cold, the heaviest is about 5/8". Most spring shops won't coil 5/8" wire cold, though,
because it's too dangerous.
Springs made from larger material start as straight bars of steel with the ends tapered
down. The bars are heated red-hot and then coiled on special machinery. I've seen 2-
1/2" bars made into railroad suspension springs, and I've heard of 6" bars being made
into compression springs that are used as shock absorbers for underground military
command sites.
If you need a spring made with wire thicker than .375", I'd recommend going to a spring
shop and having them make your springs for you. With a big enough lathe and a
thorough awareness of wire safety, you can coil up to .625", but frankly, most
springmakers you talk to will think you're crazy.

Very light wire: Common commercial coiling machines typically handle wire as fine as
.010", but springs have been made with wire as fine as .002" using custom-made micro
coilers. Winding extremely fine wire by hand is difficult because the wire tangles easily
and cuts flesh even easier. Leave these to the pros, OK?

Springs Made from Other Materials

Many springs are made from material other than round wire. Again, if you can make
some of these with simple setups, this section will tell you how.

Square and flat wire: All types of coil springs can be made from either square or flat
wire. Using these materials gives you a stronger spring than if you use round wire for
the same design.
You can use these materials to make your springs: the only change to your setup is the
wire guide. Besides the wire guide that fits in the tool post of your lathe, hold the wire in
a crescent wrench, in front of the tool post.
As the wire coils onto the arbor, it'll try to "roll" in a clockwise direction. To prevent this,
keep a counterclockwise pressure on the wire with the crescent wrench. Then, the wire
will lay down flat on the arbor.

Tubular stock: You can also coil tubing into spring shapes for cooling coils and so
forth. Tubular stock is very soft, though, compared with solid wire, so a couple of extra
steps are needed:

• All tooling parts which come in contact with the stock should be "dished" to
accommodate the stock. That means the arbor should be made with a shallow
groove:

• And the wire guide, ideally, should be a roller with a groove in it, gimballed to allow it
to swing:

• To prevent the stock from collapsing during bending, fill it with fine sand before you
start. Be sure the sand is packed tight -- the tighter the sand, the less the stock will
deform.

Leaf springs: Leaf springs start out as bars of flat stock, which are then heated red-hot
and formed, either by machine or by hand. If you need leaf springs, best bet is to go to a
spring shop that specializes in making them.

Belleville washers: These are just like regular washers -- flat metal donuts -- except

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that the inside of the washer is higher than the outside. Belleville washers are mounted
in a pack and with a bunch of them together, make a very strong spring:
Belleville washers are made by a stamping process that's best done in a spring shop.

Clock springs: Some springs are made from wide, flat stock and coiled up like the shell
of a snail. These are called clock springs, and the material they're made from is called
"blue clock", because the color of the steel is blue.
Springs like this are found inside clocks, retractor reels, and other machinery. Take
apart an old thermostat and you'll see that the sensor element is basically a clock
spring. You can make them on a lathe, but you'll need special tooling that's not easy to
make. Your best bet, again, is to go to a spring shop and get them made for you.

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 HOW SPRING SHOPS WORK
This section will tell you about spring shops and how they work, so that if you need to
contact one, you'll know how to talk to the people there intelligently.

Spring Shops
In almost every major city you will find spring factories. Some specialize in certain kinds
of springs, while others can make anything you can dream up. The major springmaking
centers in the United States are the area around Detroit (which serves the automobile
industry) and the area around Los Angeles.
Most spring shops are divided into two parts: the office and the shop itself. Inside the
shop, there are often four departments:

Coiling This is the area where the automatic coiling machinery operates.
Automatic coilers can handle wire from .010" to .500", and once they're
set up, can pretty much run all day long.
Grinding This is the department where the ends of compression springs are
ground. A lot of the work is done with automatic machines, which pass
the springs between two grinding wheels that can be four feet across.
Secondary The secondary department is where wire is bent by hand. This is where
the ends of torsion springs are formed, where loops are put onto the
ends of extension springs, and where wire forms are made.
Short This is where small quantities of springs are made by hand. If a
Order customer wants less than 50 of a spring, the job is given to the short
order department, since they can generally make the springs faster and
their work doesn't tie up the automatic coilers.
Most of the information on this site would be used in the short order part of the shop.
Depending on the size of the shop and what it's equipped to make, there can also be
machinists to make tooling, a shipping and receiving department, a quality control
department, and a "hot shop", where larger sizes of wire are made into really big
springs.

How Spring Shops Make Money

Springs are sold by the piece. When you call a spring shop and ask for a quote, here's
how they'll figure out how much to charge you:

$ _____ Cost of material, plus

$ _____ How long it will take to set the job up, times an hourly rate, plus
$ _____ How long it will take to run the job, times an hourly rate, plus
$ _____ How long it will take to do any secondary work, times an hourly rate, plus
$ _____ How much it will cost to get any outside finishing work (like plating) done, plus
$ _____ A margin for profit, plus
$ _____ Sales tax
$ _____ = TOTAL COST

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The hourly rates will vary from shop to shop. Generally, they'll figure an hour to set up
an automatic machine, and they'll estimate the time it takes to do the coiling, grinding,
looping, etc., based on what they know the machines and people can do. They'll have a
minimum charge to cover their expenses, even for small orders.
There are also catalog stores, which stock a variety of more-or-less common spring
designs. Some have catalogs, and you can call them and place an order just like you
would with any other retailer.

Careers in Springmaking
Someone applying for work in a spring shop will generally start out either in grinding
(the dirtiest, most boring part of the work) or in secondary. Experienced springmakers
will tend to make a home for themselves either in coiling or in short order.
Springmaking is a good field, especially if you're into machinery. But once you're
working in a spring shop, it's hard to transfer from the shop into the front office. Also, if
you've spent a few years in springmaking, it's next to impossible to find work in any
other trade.
Beats selling pencils on the corner tho ... :-)

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 GLOSSARY
These are many of the common words that have definitions in the springmaking field.
The definitions are my own (caveat) and are admittedly not complete. This is not a
dictionary -- it's just another tool you can use to do a better job.

Active coil A coil of wire which contributes to the motive force of a

spring. In extension and torsion springs, all the coils are
active coils. In compression springs, only the coils which
show daylight between them are active coils.
Arbor A bar or pipe around which wire is wound to form a
spring.
Back gear A mechanism in a lathe that allows the chuck to turn very
slowly.
Beryllium copper (wire) An exotic material that can be made into springs.
Bundle A roll or coil of wire as it is shipped from the
manufacturer.
Cast The curvature in wire that results from its being bundled
into coils at the factory.
Chrome Silicon (wire) An alloy of steel, stronger than Oil Tempered wire.
Chrome Vanadium (wire) An alloy of steel, stronger than Oil Tempered wire.
Closed and ground end Referring to the end of a compression spring where the
wire forms one dead coil and is ground square.
Closed end Referring to the end of a compression spring where the
wire forms one dead coil and is not ground square.
Coil 1) (noun) The wire of a spring going completely around
once (see active coil, dead coil).
2) (noun) A bundle of wire as it is shipped from the
factory.
3) (verb) To form (wire) into a spring.
Compression Making smaller.
Compression spring A spring which derives its usefulness because it pushes
against a load which makes it smaller.
Dead coil A coil of wire which does not contribute to the motive
force of a spring. In extension and torsion springs, there
are no dead coils. In compression springs, the coils at
each end that lay against each other are dead coils: all
the rest are active coils.
Double torsion A form of torsion spring that has two coils; one left-
handed and one right-handed, connected by a central
tongue.
Extension Making longer.
Extension spring A spring which derives its usefulness because it pulls
against a load which makes it longer.
Free length The length of a spring with no load applied.
Grinding stage A flat (usually) steel platform used to ensure that the
ends of compression springs orient correctly to a
grinding wheel.
Heat treat(ing) 1) The process of tempering metal.
2) (colloquially) The process of stress relief.
Lathe A machine which derives its usefulness by rotating stock

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 against which tooling may be brought to bear. Springs
are often wound on a lathe.
Lead screw A mechanism in a lathe that allows the tool post to move
from side to side at a precise rate.
Mandrel An arbor.
Music wire A high-carbon steel alloy used in making springs.
Open end Referring to the end of a compression spring where the
pitch of the spring extends all the way to the end of the
wire, and does not form any dead coils.
OT (Oil Tempered wire) A lower-carbon steel alloy used in making springs.
Passivate (-ation) The process of removing chemical coatings from
stainless steel by immersion in an acid bath.
Phosphor bronze (wire) An exotic alloy sometimes used in making springs.
Pigtail A form taken by tie wire when used to secure a bundle of
heavy spring wire.
Pitch The distance, center to center, between two active coils
of a compression spring.
Spring [dia] A helically formed piece of (usually) wire which derives
its usefulness because it tries to regain its original shape
when subjected to a load. See Compression Spring,
Extension Spring, Torsion Spring.
Stainless Steel (wire) An alloy used in making springs that will not rust. The
most common stainless steels are called 302 and 17-7.
Stress Misalignment of the molecules in wire due to bending.
Titanium A strong, lightweight metal sometimes used in making
springs.
Tool post The part of a lathe that allows tooling to be mounted and
used on stock.
Torsion Twisting.
Torsion spring A spring which derives its usefulness by trying to return
to its original shape when subjected to a load traveling
around its axis.
Variable pitch A form of compression spring that has more than one
pitch.
Wind To coil (a spring).
Wire Metal, usually round and solid in section, used in making
springs.

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Compression Spring:

Extension Spring

Torsion Spring

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