artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I wanna build some leaf spring up for the car I'm building and I wondering what's involved in cutting spring steel, as in pre tempered working... and even that as I suppose it's a carbon steel with one or two other stuff added to make it springy but only after tempering, so cold working... maybe what I wants better than discussing what I might have to do. I'm wondering if I can get away with flat springs and just cut to length, drill for mounting, heat bend some smaller size around them them take them to the local blacksmith for heat setting? All this means buying spring steel in maybe 40 x 7-8mm. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ja1lb8 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Have had several sets of springs modded and made. Snells springs I think did them. Got some retempered so sits more flat. Drilled holes in some also for diff locating dowels which was pretty hard going. The spring guy reconed this fucks ths the surface tension of the spring and increases the risk of it failing but 10 years on still holding strong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Snells are no longer. Were in Onehunga but went under and some other crew bought up all their kit... so I was told today when I went looking by an old mild steel worker of artistic inclination I once met many years ago. Did a little reading and the steel needs to come annealed to be able to work it. Trouble with reading stuff it always seems so hard to do with all the design principles but when you look at leaf springs it's like... that can't be too hard. I want traverse springs and if I look at the springs in the back of the Suzuki carry I could easily use one set to make two new sets, not in the sense of the spring themselves, but the amount of steel, as the car would be a quarter of the weight... oh, and it's seems to be it's plain old high carbon... no vanadium or chromium or tungsten... just carbon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bling Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Any ideas? Get some made by a professional outfit to suit your requirements. Trying to make some yourself doesn't sound like a good idea to me. There will be a lot of knowledge that goes into making a suitable set of leaf springs to suit a given vehicle and situation. It wouldn't surprise me if it cost you less to just get them done by a pro. I don't know who does them in Auckland, but someone will. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZford Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I vote professional too we got a new leaf spring made for a trailer and Beamaley and East in chch and it only cost like 60$ a few years back. Those guys were really helpful to. No doubt most spring places are the same? On a side note I have a heap of 50x10 spring steel at work. We use it for building up cultivation points. But its hard to buy because the steel company brings it in for one customer so they have to check with that customer before they sell it. May be different up there though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pusherman Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 How would you go about curling the ends to suit the bush/hang mounts. Working that steel to that shape cane be easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Local blacksmith would do it (if any exist still, apparently the amish are great at it) Failing that a spring shop, or even better pull some out of a wrecker car. i would imagine you could build your own springpack to whatever you like if you get enough especially as this project wasnt going on the road was it, more of a rolling installation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I do alot of artist blacksmith work, I have made springs but allways had them hardened professionally,I reversed the eyes on a set of leafs recently, you can cut hard spring steel with a grinder, drilling it is quite hard but you can use a masonry drill bit if you sharpen it. If you get the spring steel too hot it cracks when you bend it and it burns realy easly, using a forge to heat. not a gas torch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I do alot of artist blacksmith work, I have made springs but allways had them hardened professionally,I reversed the eyes on a set of leafs recently, you can cut hard spring steel with a grinder, drilling it is quite hard but you can use a masonry drill bit if you sharpen it. If you get the spring steel too hot it cracks when you bend it and it burns realy easly, using a forge to heat. not a gas torch Keen to see some of your artist blacksmith work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Seems the biker guys are quite keen on this kinda stuff. There is a blacksmith over in Penrose who has a huge shop I've wandered through once or twice and the last time I was there there were doing a run of those massive 5 - 6 foot crowbars, which is in the same ball park, so I'm sure they'd be able to anneal and do any tempering hardening I'd need. I tried a little smithing using gas and for sure you can't get the heat right through the piece evenly so any hammering I did afterwards ended up cracking so I'd definitely avoid trying to bend eyes. One idea is to just use flats and drill them annealed and then on the ends, instead of rolling, bolt on a bracket for a bush... then I'm thinking of cutting wood into a curve and covering with regular flat bar and maybe making a big long fire and forming the springs on those, but that's kinda how I work, Occams razor, get up to a hugely complicated rigmarole then backtrack to the simplest option which would be to have sets from cars or trailers cut down... but I still kinda enjoy figuring stuff out. Oh, and the car would definitely be made to run, and work well, as I couldn't live with myself if it was just a show piece. It might not get used often and be illegal when it was... but it'd definitely be about being machinery that actually worked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Good golly, this is a bit interesting. http://www.carbibles.com/images/fibreglass_spring.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 http://www.ripublication.com/ijmer_spl/ijmerv3n6spl_02.pdf Seemed to have lost the last link (post) but it was a search under composite leaf springs. What I see in my head though is a central sculpted piece of Ash (wood) which is the wound with glass fibre and some carbon fibre then Epoxied in a vacuum bag. Easy as! and I'll be able to make the blue! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 http://heathcotes.com/compositesprings.html This is becoming so appealing! I played around with fibreglass a few years ago and one of my nephews see's himself as a real expert. I've just imagined what they might look like and with me that's always a sure sign somethings worth looking into and I'd be able to tip my hat to Mr Britten who did amazing things with Carbon Fibre... now I'm off to look at Archery Bows. ( I couldn't find the post because I hadn't posted it yet... I'll stop now) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllTorque Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Just a sideways thought. What bout a transverse leaf spring like a corvette? For your little car you could use one leaf spring from a larger car. C3 Corvettes used steel springs, C4 on used a fibreglass spring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 http://www.forger.co.nz/ Kim and Ian neilson can probley make a sprind but they won't harden it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 That's the one I mentioned 'cause if the do the big crowbars they can do leaf springs. Same basic requirements except the crowbars will be harder on the ends and springier in the middle. But whether the costs of a small run heating and tempering would be the clincher... but if glass don't work, steel would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Styles Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 The Nissan Serena has a composite transverse leaf spring, you might want to have a look at them for some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artyone Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Cheers Mr Styles... I will, once I know what they look like! (The Car that is) Found a trailer guy today next to the place where I got a motorcycle and he said he get springs made, if he needs them at Archer springs in Takanini. I'm just going out to Weymouth now and I'll touch base and see if they're open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 They are good frinds of mine, they can forge anything you want, don't mention that crow bars and springs are the same to them tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raizer Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Cheers Mr Styles... I will, once I know what they look like! (The Car that is) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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