spring steel

[jimmy shoes]

hi,

does anyone know of any metal suppliers that can supply me with spring steel strips?

just for hobby work.

thanks,

jimmy

 

[Paul.]

You could try here, but they do have a minimum order charge, if your looking to make lockpicks I make mine out of steel banding material, free from anywhere that has stuff delivered banded to pallets.

 

[jimmy shoes]

what category would spring steel come under, high carbon steels or alloys?

 

[Paul.]

High carbon I reckon, best to ring them, they have a very good technical sales team, and can advise you on applications and heat treatments etc,

 

[jimmy shoes]

might have found a good site for spring steel here

hopefully the shipping would cost that much

 

[Robert]

If that is what you are looking (3/8 + wide X ? Long) for then go and find someone who repairs old clocks they use a mainspring that might be what you are looking for. I get the broken ones for cheep to make small leaf spring assemblys.

Good luck
Robert

 

[hareng]

When you say spring steel strips i assume you mean flat hardened and tempered to a size.

Intricate bending of hardened coil or flat should be avoided. Prefer out of a big piece, file in then harden and temper.
Depends what you want to do with it, i am a specialised spring maker one of two left in the world, gaffer and me.

 

[jimmy shoes]

just a quick question, is there a difference between spring and sprung steel? or is it just general terminology

 

[hareng]

Spring could be referred to as the finished product or the steel.
Sprung can be referred to as a finished or working unfinished 'in the white' assembly 'its sprung' just terminology.

What do you intend doing with it?
As before supplied hardened and tempered will be awkward if its got to be shaped and cut etc. Also various grades of spring steel plus stainless spring steels.
Must say we use very old 40 years+ steels the modern so called equivalents dont work the same way, as though theres impurities regardless of British Standards.
Had to use some new stuff yesterday, more than a days work then find out its weak comparitively.

 

[jimmy shoes]

im going to be making lock picks out of them.

spring steel is the best type of metal for picks because of the flexibility, the next alternative to spring steel is hacksaw blades, but it takes a long time to clean and sand all ridges out of it, hence my search for spring steel

 

[hareng]

Rough idea of size(s)

 

[jimmy shoes]

no real size limitations as its all cut to custom, but the thickness around 0.06mm

 

[jimmy shoes]

if for some reason i cant find any spring steel, what would you suggest as the next best thing (other than hacksaw blades)

 

[Drains]

if for some reason i cant find any spring steel, what would you suggest as the next best thing (other than hacksaw blades)

See paul's post above... Steel banding might be just the thing. Nice and thin, strong, springy. Cut it with an ultra thin cutting disc.

 

[Robotstar5]

im going to be making lock picks out of them.

Have you tried Devon Locks ? got a good selection.

 

[jimmy shoes]

yeah i know about that site, but to be honest most homemade tools are of better quality than the commercially made ones, plus its cheaper to make them

 

[burrowss410]

i used the back part of a normal saw blade (not a hacksaw) and its worked really well.

 

[Woody.v8]

no real size limitations as its all cut to custom, but the thickness around 0.06mm

I have some 0.5mm spring steel, Give me a PM if your intersted

 

[jimmy shoes]

PM sent

 

[londonsean69]

no real size limitations as its all cut to custom, but the thickness around 0.06mm

0.06mm??? that's bloody thin!!