Garden Railway Forum

I built a "spring winder upper" out of some parts in the pump house/tool shed. Think I'll add an 8-32 and a 10-32. The springs are for my sprung trucks.
Pretty stupid simple, took about 20 minutes to build.
It has a crank handle, a spring to make sure you don't hit the uppy downey part, and I drilled a hole in the thread to hold the wire. The wire is from my mig welder. I have simple wire for sheet metal, and stainless. The basic wire is best but either will do...

Sorry, that 1st pic was horrible (now deleted) in showing the apparatus.
Maybe this is a bit better. Still waiting for my new phone.....

I find if you just hold the end of the spring against the grinding wheel till it turns red you can then flatten enough of the last turn to square up the spring.
Grant.

Very clever, especially the use of threaded rod - though does that make it tricky to get the spring off?

Rik

ge_rik wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2024 7:23 am Very clever, especially the use of threaded rod - though does that make it tricky to get the spring off?

Rik

No, you just clip the part that goes through the rod and then un-thread the whole works.

LNR wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2024 12:28 am I find if you just hold the end of the spring against the grinding wheel till it turns red you can then flatten enough of the last turn to square up the spring.
Grant.

Good to know, thanks!

I went from a 1/4 × 20 to a 10-24 all-thread for the springy maker machine. Much better! Still figuring out how long to cut the springs and how much to stretch them out, but they're working out great, between the printer and some scratchbuilt stuff...fully sprung, 100% DIY trucks!
I'm working on some modified 4' passenger trucks as well for a not too distant build. But in those, even though the leaf springs turn out amazing, the printed coils springs are a little goofy. I plan on cutting those out, spinning up my own coils on the 1/4 x 20 thread and going from there. Although the passenger trucks are not fully sprung, they look awesome.
More to come....

This is great, now I can stop "borrowing" all those retractable pens from the office!

Ha! Ha! my source for many springs also.
Grant.

drewzero1 wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 3:20 am This is great, now I can stop "borrowing" all those retractable pens from the office!

That's what I'm talkin' about!

Quick, cheap and a tidy result. Can't go wrong.