Spring making

[FlinterNick]

OK- if he was color blind how did he see the color red?

You Don’t know much about color blindness apparently

 

[45man]

I have made mainsprings and frizzen springs that are still working after 35 years. I tempered in my lead pot at 600 degrees and put on edge of pot after fishing it from the lead and let it cool after unplugging the pot.

 

[ZUG]

You Don’t know much about color blindness apparently

No - I don't that's why I asked the question -- I was not being a wiseaxx like you. Have a nice day ********

 

[LRB]

In my early years of spring making, I've used O-1, 1095, 1075 and 1084 and for me 1075 and 1084 worked the best for me. I also tried Kit Ravenshear's method of heat treating and I found it gave me the most broken springs. I've used the "torch-it by eye" method and found that gave me a 75% to 90% success ratio when I use a lead bath to do the tempering. Your shop lighting will have an effect on what colors you see on the

In my early years of spring making, I've used O-1, 1095, 1075 and 1084 and for me 1075 and 1084 worked the best for me. I also tried Kit Ravenshear's method of heat treating and I found it gave me the most broken springs. I've used the "torch-it by eye" method and found that gave me a 75% to 90% success ratio when I use a lead bath to do the tempering. Your shop lighting will have an effect on what colors you see on the steel.

A lead bath is great if you use a lead thermometer to keep at around 750°F. The full even contact of the steel in molten lead or salts gives the steel a heat that is evenly distributed. Nearly all warp, cracking, and breakage in heat treating steel is due to uneven heat distribution. In the case of 1095, if not tempered very soon after quenching, there is a good chance of it cracking or breaking from the stress of hardening. A quick temper of around 350°F usually lets off enough stress to keep it from breaking and allows you time to do other things if you need or want.

 

[LRB]

I have made mainsprings and frizzen springs that are still working after 35 years. I tempered in my lead pot at 600 degrees and put on edge of pot after fishing it from the lead and let it cool after unplugging the pot.

Have you calibrated your pot with an accurate thermometer? I did my first spring the same as you, then found later the setting was off a hundred degrees. 600°f may work for you but I would never trust it to be ideal. Jim Kibler and John Bivins did extensive testing of lock spring making and came up with 750°F as the ideal all around spring temper combining dependability and durability. I do not recall all the steels they used in testing.

 

[FlinterNick]

Have you calibrated your pot with an accurate thermometer? I did my first spring the same as you, then found later the setting was off a hundred degrees. 600°f may work for you but I would never trust it to be ideal. Jim Kibler and John Bivins did extensive testing of lock spring making and came up with 750°F as the ideal all around spring temper combining dependability and durability. I do not recall all the steels they used in testing.

I found tempering in bluing salts to work well

 

[Sam squanch]

I tempered one homemade lock spring by boiling in oil. It was spring stock from Dixie gun works. It did work. There is a post here somewhere about frying a spring in a 50/50 mix of clean oil and kerosene. The poster said it works.

 

[PhDBrewer]

Are anyone using a lab furnace or similar?
Setting the proper temp, allowing time for the part to achieve that consistent temp, and then quenching in appropriate solution seems simple.
Temper same way using proper temp for material.
Always pack in carbon to reduce scaling.
Tying to learn here...
William