PJames Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I have seen many posts here extolling the virtue of coil spring steel as a pretty decent (quality-wise) steel.What I NEVER saw was the amount of metal in a spring. I just cut up one of springs into manageable lengths (15") and discovered I had 11.5 ft of 1/2 round steel in it. I paid $10 for the 2 springs and then the guy left me have several other small pieces of metal after I BS'd with him a little bit. I'm thinking I need to make something and take it to him and see what I can get out of him, maybe a knife or something he might think is 'cool and unusual' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 The math is simple 3.14 times the diameter minus the thickness of the stock times the number of coils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 It's as easy as pi I realized this when I made my first courting candle. Lots of material goes into a coil. You will need the formula Timothy mentioned whenever you have to figure material length for an item that has a coil, circle, twist etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJames Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 I understand the math.... I do it when I figure what I need.. My point with the original post was just how much material is in a single coil spring. A "lotta bang for your buck" . as you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 As far as price you paid $1.30 a pound that is 11.5 feet of 1/2" for $10.00. 1/2" steel is .668 pounds a foot. prime steel sells for $1.45 a pound and drops sell for $.80 a pound the real question is do you feel you got a good deal. I have a good friend that is a mechanic he saves me his springs for free. The other factor to figure in is how much time you spent processing and the fuel used to make the spring workable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 He said he got 2 springs for $10 ... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I missed the part that he only straightened one spring. So thats $.65 a pound. So how much time and fuel did you spend straighting it out that has to be added to the price to estimate its real cost ? And I due straighten springs out myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I think about those things, too. For me, picking up scrap is part of my day to day routine, ... and I seldom go out of my way to acquire it, ... unless it's for a specific project.Sort of a "targets of opportunity" thing. Further, ... I'm always surprised at how inexpensive it actually is, to burn my coal forge.Certainly less than $1.00 an hour ..... And finally, the time and money spent in working with "irregular" material, is surely Educational, as well as Satisfying. I don't try to make any money from puttering in my shop, ( and it's a good thing that I don't ) ... and the pace there, is as far from a "production environment" as possible. Obviously, if time and productivity were an issue, then using scrap material would quickly become an unacceptable constraint on the business, ... but if that ever happened, I'd quit anyway. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJames Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 This afternoon/evening I straightened out one of those coils. I viewed it as an exercise in hammer control, seeing how metal should go, etc. As inexperienced as I am it is good practice. I also walked some RR tracks today and picked up some plates and some other metal , like big bolts etc that I can make use of. I have to work tomorrow at the hospital but when I get home I will try to get busy and do something some of this steel. I have pretty much decided that unless I REALLY need a specific piece of metal for a certain project, I will use scrounged stuff. ie I am not into this to make a profit much less a living, I find the idea very satisfying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Watch yourself on the tracks- it's against the law these days to do what we've done for years! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I would not worry too much about "Straightening" coil spring too straight. Unless you have a plan for it just get it uncoiled and straight enough to be hammered into what you need later. The bending fork is you friend or light bending hammer strokes on the anvil. NO need for STRAIGHTness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmless Dave Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I made friends with a local speed shop owner. They called and asked if I wanted some coil springs - of course I said yes, and hopped into the truck and headed up. He ended up giving me 70, new, coil springs of many diameters and number of coils. They are even painted so they can be stored outside. Free is my favorite price. Harmless Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 And those are the bestest kind! *Unfatigued* springs. Surprising how many folks take a brand new vehicle out and have the suspension changed. Also look for places that raise or lower vehicles; or I had one student who's employer converted trucks into EMS vehicles and so scrapped brand new springs every day of the week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJames Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I was not about to try to get the pieces perfectly straight. I wanted to just have usable pieces. I did measure wrong (but at least I was consistent) makeing the pieces 14 inches long instead of 15 like I had thought..I was back on the tracks yesterday looking to see what I could find. I wasn't interested in spikes as I have enough but found a couple of those plates they use to hold the ties down, a really big bolt and something that looks like a tow bar with a U piece on the end.. That piece is going to be a bending fork. I cut it off this afternoon and squared the shaft to fit a hardy hole... I started making another set of tongs, but got run inside by the rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Surprising how many folks take a brand new vehicle out and have the suspension changed. When I was a kid, ( And yes, they did have cars back then. ) ... all my friends wanted to jack up their cars, ... or install "traction bars". Now I wasn't any smarter than they were, ... but even then, I couldn't understand how a 16 year old kid, could think he knew more about his suspension system, than the Team of Automotive Engineers, who designed it in the first place.People are funny ..... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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