leaf spring straightening

[gerald]

Yep, brushing that scale like that could leave him picking his nose with a hook. Good use for an air hose w/blow gun.

[irnsrgn]

I used to rearch and/or straighten vehicle springs all the time, even those real thick ones for semi trailers and trucks. Did it cold in my hydraulic press, the only rule is don't do any pushing cold at the center hole or within a couple of inches of it. Bang.

[R Funk]

I see no real reason why the leaf spring helv must be straight. It may take some tweaking of the design to use an arched spring. Using a forge to straighten a spring would be relatively easy but getting a quaility heat treat over such a long item is beyond the capability of many blacksmiths. A spring shop with heatreating facilities would appear to be a desirable option

I would be scared to take a leaf spring and cold straighten it and use it in this type of application where a spring failure could be fatal without a subtantial guard.

I would plan on using used springs, if I were building one, but we must keep in mind spring failures on trucks are very commom and a used spring may fail due to fatigue at any point. (speaking as a former tractor trailer driver and a road side scrounger who picks up broken springs for forging stock)

Use a multileaf spring pack should be used to reduce the negative results of a spring failure as a single leaf failure will not be catistrophic. Also add enough clips on the spring pack so the a broken spring leaf will remain in place if it breaks.

The good news is that leaf springs usually fail a leaf at time so inspect the spring pack daily for cracks near the center of the spring. If broken leaves are ignored then the pack can fail catastrophically and wack our vulnerable heads or other anatomy.

This is a cool design and as an mechanical engineer it appears to be one of the best options for a shop built mechanical hammer.

[Ice Czar]

Originally Posted by R Funk

fatal without a subtantial guard.

a good idea for any hammer
one that is second nature to anyone using a little giant
we have some impressive holes in a few of our guards

[ApprenticeMan]

What's with the double post Glenn?

[metalmangeler]

Looks to me like Mats has at least 3, there is an air hammer in the tong demo. that he is brushing the scale off of the die.
As long as you are setting up to make a hammer might as well make several.

[ApprenticeMan]

Originally Posted by metalmangeler

Looks to me like Mats has at least 3, there is an air hammer in the tong demo. that he is brushing the scale off of the die.
As long as you are setting up to make a hammer might as well make several.

Sell the others a reqoup the cost of them and yours.

[iron766]

Straightening the spring using the weight of a cement mixer truck for three days failed to even make the slightest difference. thank you for all your help guys. ile revise my plans and accommodate the curve in the spring.

[stretch]

Springs used to be recurved and a lot of old blacksmith shops had a form to see when the spring was back to its original bend. When you hammer a piece of metal on 1 side all the time it will curve in that direction. They used to take the springs off a car, take them apart and hammer them on one side until the proper curve was attained according to the form. That is why when you are forging a knife you hammer the same amount on both sides of the blade so when you harden it, it won't get a curve to it. If you take any piece of flat bar you can curve or straighten it this way. Make sure where you are hitting with the hammer is on the anvil so it is a nice solid hit and it will curve into your hammer.

[tecnovist]

I have straighten a lot of leaf springs some 60mm wide by 6 or 8 mm by useing a BIG hammer 13 pound and a real large Block of hard wool 700mm high 600mm wide--- have some cord to stop the spring from going onto orbit. if you hit it worng or it brakes in 2 -----i then sharpen about 6 inches of the side of the spring steel tool that is 600mm long to make a hammer slasher for cutting cars up ---I hit them with a 4 pound hammer to cut panal steel and the like ---I tip water from a plastic coke Bottle onto the hot part to stop up setting the temper..as i sharpen them with a 7 inch grinder.. I have the gringer in one hand and the water Bottle in the other.... I have a Roveing Vice on one 44 gallon drum and another 44 gall drum to put the grinder on.. I have Holes slashed in the top of the drums , some were for the water to go stops me getting wet----to add ,,Make shore evey one has a hard hat on ---

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