Jump to content
I Forge Iron

How the heck am I to strighten this thing?


lukebailey

Recommended Posts

Ive hit it with a hammer. Ive tried bending it. Now this is the current strategy:

I am starting to think the junkyard gave the leaf springs from an armoured personell carrier. I would like to turn it into a sword, the steel is amazing. However, I simply cant find a way to bend it. And something tells me that a few hundred pounds of prolonged force on something used to holding up a car isnt going to do the trick. Has anyone else ever straightnened out one of these before? It has proven more resilient than anything ive seen.

4840.attach

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read the same stuff about straightening auto springs by parking a tractor or heavy vehicle on the reverse side of it bending it backwards---no luck!! My buddy Scott sez "why do you think they call them springs dude??" Anyway I bought some flat stock and am leaving the heavy straightening to the fellows with the tools to do it without risking damage to my parts or whatever is parked on the spring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when you cut and shape the steel your more than likely to loose the temper any way, if you cut it with a torch then the temper is gone, use a plasma the temper is gone, cut it with a cutting wheel and it will heat up, unless you cut really really slow, then yo would have to grind the edge, and unless you ground really slow you would loose the temper, and since you said that you have already been beating it with a hammer there is probably micro fractures in the steel,(most springs don't like hard impact) springs do make great knives , but not at a spring temper(blue), they have to be re temped to a straw color at the edge

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No way you are going to bend that without a multi-ton press. It is made to hold a car, it is a spring, and would probably snap before you are able to get it straight.

Re: that bender.. would be easier paying for a straight piece the dimensions you need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a website out there that advocates cold straightening leaf springs for a sword. DON'T DO IT! It's pretty much guarenteed to up the likelyhood of catastrophic failure by orders of magnatude. (Read this as in "I just killed someone by being dumb")

The swords made that way tend to weigh several times what a real medieval europen sword did as the lack of fullers, appropriate distal tapers, etc.

If you want to cold work a piece of leaf spring for a sword; go to a leaf spring company and have them make you a straight one. OTOH if it's a Mom&Pop business talk with them about buying a straight piece un tempered and then having them heat treat it when you are done. *Lots* easier to do the work right on a softer piece of steel.

For pretty much the same viewpoint reiterated by lots more people check over at the swordforum.com bladesmithscafe forum and do a search on the topic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 / rope 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 eveyone has a hard hat on ---

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to cold work a leaf spring to either re arch or de arch takes a press capable of overbending past center over a narrow block made special for that purpose with emphasis on using a spacer under the center to control the amount of overbending. Over the years I have re arched and de arched thousands of springs for car dealers, truck and trailer repair places and car builders, restorers and a lot of other applications also. I use old D-8, D-7, D-6 and D-4 caterpillar springs for press blocks to span the bottom of my hydraulic press table, with 80 tons of pressure a 1 1/8 by 6 inch D-8 spring will flex 3/16 of an inch in the 10 inch opening between the lower table channels, I just had to be careful when it was cold , altho I never did break one of the D-8 springs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
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 / rope 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 eveyone has a hard hat on ---


I have a mental picture of this that is way far out!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to a spring shop once an saw them arch a spring using a hydralic press bending a short section at a time. Maybe one could be straightened using the same method. I also remember them heating the spring to punch the hole for the center bolt. They let it air cool in front of a large squirrel cage fan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually you can staighten a spring by hammering only on one side. Make sure that when you hammer that the under side on the anvil is flat so the blow is solid with no bounce. They used to recurve springs by hammering them only on one side. Springs used to straighten out with use so they had to recurve them. A lot of the old blacksmith shops had forms that they had to be recurved to. I have done it on some planer blades and it works. Have not tried on springs because have never had to staighten them without heat. It is loud and might take a few minutes, it does work though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried my method today and here is a 1/2" X 2" hot rolled steel bar hammered on one side 50 times. A couple times it wasn't right flat on the anvil when I hit it so it jarred me a bit, so this is not all it would do with 50 hits. If I had hit square 50 times it would have been more. It is deflected 9/16" . It went faster than I thought.

5233.attach

5234.attach

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...