Is spring steel always spring steel ?

[Countryforge]

I was wondering if anyone can tell me if spring steel retains its springability if heated and worked on the forge. I have an old rifle which needs a hammer spring. And getting parts to Canada is very difficult. I have springs in the shop will they be of any use if I form them to what I need ?

[David Einhorn]

I highly recommend a gun parts supplier such as BROWNELLS. While springs are springs, old springs can develop stress cracks and break, especially if not given the proper heat treatment.
I would imagine that a shipment of unshaped spring stock from Brownells to Canada as possible since the part is not shaped and could be used to make a spring for just about anything mechanical. The key is that some of what they sell is unshaped spring stock, flat springs, coil springs, piano wire, etc that could be made into springs for just about anything that is or is not a gun.

Edited November 25, 2009 by UnicornForge

[Countryforge]

Thanks for the reply. WisnersInc. Supplies the the part I need but will not ship up here. I will try the place you recommended but it is still hard to get stuff to Canada. Too bad, with the so called recession, some business is better than no business.

[781]

If you heat the spring above a blue oxide (heat treat color) it is no longer a spring it would need to be heated above critical temp and then quenched in oil. It would now be hard and brittle and need to be polished and tempered to light blue color.
If yolu can reshape it without heat it would be a spring

[ThomasPowers]

UNLESS is is a strain hardened low carbon spring in which case the heat treat 781 mentions won't work. And reshaping it cold may push it's past it's work hardening envelope and make it prone to cracking.

So the basic answer is that it depends on the material.

[pete46]

I thought ,you could take high carbon steel & give it a spring temper?

[bigfootnampa]

Pete you can do that. Most of the springs I recycle are more like a medium carbon I believe. The key is to temper them to a pretty flexible state. The medium carbon to low end high carbon steels tend to be a little more forgiving to heat treat than the high carbon steels which is (I think) why they are more often used (it tends to be too easy to get high carbon steels overhard for spring purposes).

For the original poster this seems a fairly easy project to me but the question and the way you ask it makes me think that you need some skilled help to do this successfully. It is perhaps a bit more complex than can be easily covered here unless you already have a pretty good background of knowledge.

[781]

Also it could be quite bad to replace a broken spring in a firearm and then have it fail again at some realy critical time.

[superflux]

For higher carbon steels (over 0.8%) use a plum colored draw temp

[forgemaster]

For a spring temper (if using alloy spring steel) we will normally temper to 480 to 500 deg C ( which is way over a light blue). Basically you can reheat a spring to its tempering temper as many times as you like (within reason) and not have it suffer any loss of temper, (as you are not going higher than the original temper temperature, you are not effecting a change in the condition of the steel), this is how we can reset leaf springs to a higher or lower camber without fear of them snapping or cracking, (by heating them to their tempering temperature, which makes them easier to set but does'nt affect their spring qualities). Even though your nice little temper colour charts show blue is the right temperature for springs, if you source marterial specs from spring steel manufacturer they will specify the correct temperature is nearer to a very dull just disenable black red or approx 500 deg C. Spring steels are usually 5160, 6150, 9258, 8660, 1070, 1060,

Phil

Edited November 27, 2009 by forgemaster

[bigfootnampa]

Thank You Phil! That's very interesting as 500 degrees centigrade is over 900 degrees fahrenheit! I know that I have been tempering my springs harder than that. I will try this with my next ones. I don't have an oven that will go that high but I can bake on top of the forge to do it.

[forgemaster]

hey Big foot
No need to use the oven, just sit the spring on top of the fire, and with the fire just going, run the spring back and forwards over it, use an old hickory hammer handle to rub on it, when it is at about the right temperature the hammer handle will feel greasy to rub back and for. Try it with a piece of mild steel first to judge it for your self. This is what we call the greasy stick method. you want to judge the heat so the stick just feels as if the steel is slippery, if the stick starts to flame its a little too hot, not slippery too cold.

Cheers
Phil

[bigfootnampa]

Gee thanks Phil. Nice info! I will try that.

[pete46]

Thank you Bigfoot!
I read in one of my books[i forgot the title]
1.Harden at a cherry red,inthe dark
2.Quench in oil , then burn the oil off 3 times;because oil flashes at 600F
THis should give a spring temper

[pkrankow]

Be careful as different oils flash at different temperatures, especially if you are using vegetable oil.
Phil