I guess you can do other pitches by turning your own threads. And
long ones with the aid of a dead centre. Cool.
Re sources of piano wire, I'll ask my piano tuner next time around.
You might try a musical instrument store. I assume there's a
reasonable range of diameters available.
John
--- In 7x12minilathe@..., <trainguy_347@...> wrote:
Hi, Willem! You have just described a simple method for spring
winding that I have used for many a spring! My instructors almost
considered this method a secret, it works so well. About the only
thing you did not mention was that you need to turn the chuck by
hand, or on extremely low speed, if possible. I prefer to just turn
the chuck by hand, for safety purposes. Piano wire works best; maybe
someone in the group can provide a good source for piano wire, since
I haven't bought any since I "appropriated" some years ago from GE.
You can also make circular clips for holding pieces together (the
kind that fit into grooves). That's so cool you discovered it on
your own! That's the way a machinist thinks!
Keep makin' chips! Ron.
---- Willem van Biljon <willem@...> wrote:
Hi all,
I am sure this is old news to the experienced hands out there,
but
thought I'd share a tip I "discovered" today.
I needed a small fairly weak compression spring of about 7 to
10mm in
diameter, about 10mm long. Couldn't find one, and decided to
make it.
After a bit of experimentation, I discovered that using an M6
bolt in
the chuck provides an ideal guide for the piano wire I used to
make the
spring. Wound a perfect spring that was about 8mm in diameter
after
release, with even spacing between turns. I subsequently
experimented
with other diameters, and all worked well. Could even do a
tension
spring by matching the thread to the wire diameter (in this case
M4).
The thread also gives a great way of starting the winding by
providing a
place to jam the wire between the chuck jaw and the bolt.
Willem
