Steel spring

In 1951 I made an electric repair work for a man called Lind, 
who was a blacksmith in Istaby, a hamlet in Blekinge, 
a province in the south of Sweden.
I needed a steel spring, 
and asked the seventyfive years old blacksmith for advice.
- Come here lad, I'll show you how to make a steel spring 
using very simple means of assistance, he said.

Below you can see how the blacksmith made it.

Vice, spring wire, pieces of wood, round iron bar


Place the pieces of wood in the vice, Shape the iron bar to a crank.
Saw a cut in the end of the bar. Place the spring wire in the cut.

Squeeze the end of the crank between the pieces of wood and 
turn the crank until the spring is long enough ( + a bit for cutting)

6mm iron bar and 1.25 mm diameter wire gave a spring 
with 6.5 mm internal and 9.0mm external diameter.

The finished steel spring ought to be tempered.
For that reason you heat it up in an oven to 260-300°C during 0.5-1 hour.

E-mail bertil@mvvf.net if you have or want more information or 
if you notice any technical problems with this site.

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