Have made a mechanism that needs a long spring. Got in touch with a manufacturer and they sent me a 600mm length and told me to cut it to length, fold up a loop at each end and see if it was about right.
Anyway, that went fine, and I've just had the quote back to make proper springs to my required length. The price is far too high for me to justify, so I will be buying more of the continuous lengths and bending the ends up to make my own springs.
Question is, should this be done hot or cold? Will bending them cold make them brittle and shorten their lives or should I just crack on? The prototype one I did cold but it hasn't seen much use yet. I'm hoping they will provide years of service.
Anyway, that went fine, and I've just had the quote back to make proper springs to my required length. The price is far too high for me to justify, so I will be buying more of the continuous lengths and bending the ends up to make my own springs.
Question is, should this be done hot or cold? Will bending them cold make them brittle and shorten their lives or should I just crack on? The prototype one I did cold but it hasn't seen much use yet. I'm hoping they will provide years of service.