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Spring steel

General discussion on any topic which doesn't have a natural home on any of the other boards.
StephenB
Posts: 187
Joined: 26 Dec 2018, 08:45
Location: Hungary

Spring steel

Post by StephenB »

I need to fashion a tailskid from 18swg spring steel, any idea of a source for such material and how does one go about cutting/shaping it? Or maybe there is a more practical elternative??
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Spring steel

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Stephen,
When I made up the multi-leaf tailskid for a 1/3 scale Slingsby T21 a year or so back, I recall that I may have needed to anneal thigh carbon steel in order to be able to cut/form it, but then certainly had to re-temper it to get the required spring (to a light blue colour.)
I remember having to have 2 goes at getting enough spring without it being brittle. First attempt was a little too soft.
I cannot now remember where I got the spring steel from, although I think I bought a length of suitable width/thickness carbon steel strip on Ebay & cut that up into lengths, drilled, curved the ends as required.
There may be some additional info. in my Jilles Smits 1/3 scale T21 build thread.
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Spring steel

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Stephen,
T21 build thread is here viewtopic.php?f=12&t=755&start=40#p9910.
Mention of the tail skid in on page 5 & it definitely appears that I started with annealed carbon steel strip, cut this as required, then tempered the resultant pieces.
I will see if I can find any reference to the material I bought.
Peter
StephenB
Posts: 187
Joined: 26 Dec 2018, 08:45
Location: Hungary

Re: Spring steel

Post by StephenB »

Thanks for that Peter, I'll take a look at your T21 thread for further detail.
Barry_Cole

Re: Spring steel

Post by Barry_Cole »

Sold by Reeves2000. This is the sort of thing. They do other sizes, search for spring steel.

https://www.ajreeves.com/search/for/spring+steel/

:D :D :D :D

BC
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chris williams
Posts: 1549
Joined: 10 Mar 2015, 10:50
Location: Blandford Dorset

Re: Spring steel

Post by chris williams »

I seem to recall I used a short length of wing joiner bar on mine...
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StephenB
Posts: 187
Joined: 26 Dec 2018, 08:45
Location: Hungary

Re: Spring steel

Post by StephenB »

Barry, thanks for the link, it looks very similar to wing joiners as alluded to by Chris.
Barry_Cole

Re: Spring steel

Post by Barry_Cole »

chris williams wrote: 04 Dec 2019, 21:34 I seem to recall I used a short length of wing joiner bar on mine...
No you didn't, I made it for you. (or maybe that was another one....)

:D :D :D :D
StephenB
Posts: 187
Joined: 26 Dec 2018, 08:45
Location: Hungary

Re: Spring steel

Post by StephenB »

Well I found another option, an old saw:

IMG_0068.jpeg

A stroke of luck, at 1.2mm the blade was the correct thickness so a few minutes work with the Dremel and I had the blank made:

IMG_0070.jpeg
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Peter Balcombe
Posts: 1399
Joined: 18 Mar 2015, 10:13
Location: Clevedon, North Somerset, U.K.

Re: Spring steel

Post by Peter Balcombe »

Well done Stephen.
There is often a solution to hand if you use the grey cells :)
Not sure how much carbon is in your material, but you may be able to re-temper if necessary to alter springiness.
(Note that local heat from your Dremel cutting may have altered the saw material hardness).
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