Spring Steel strips

[Sebastiaan56]

I am looking for some thin strips of spring steel to make some Jews Harps. The retail sources I have found want to sell me enough to last several lifetimes. Does anyone have a piece of stash they would be willing to part with?

[rusty steel]

Hello Sebastiaan,
Could old band saw blades be ground down to do the job?

Regards,
Russell

[joe greiner]

Try salvaged leaf rakes, electrical fish tape, or (believe it or not) street sweeper bristles.

Look here: http://www.woodworkforums.com/f98/kalimba-57146/ and be amazed.:o

Cheers,
Joe

[Sebastiaan56]

Russell,

Ive tried hacksaw blades but they dont resonate for long. Where do i get an old bandsaw blade? Its a good thought,

Joe,

That Kalimba is very cool. Good thought on the rake tines,

[pipeclay]

What thickness and width would you be looking at for a band saw blade.

[Sebastiaan56]

Well anything from 4-6 inches and about 1cm wide. There is a bit of trimming to do after that.

[rusty steel]

Hello sebastiaan,
After giving your problem more thought,I don't think spring steel is the correct material. I seem to remember that the "prongs,tines" on the little comb thingy in little music boxes are very brittle so what you may need is high carbon steel which has been hardened but not tempered. Perhaps something like HSS drill material. How about grinding the webs of a twist drill away until you are only left with the flat core (which would be twisted of course) and see if this resonates as you desire. The other thing you could try is a power hacsaw blade. They are quite brittle.

Regards,
russell

[Blu_Rock]

I am looking for some thin strips of spring steel to make some Jews Harps.

How about clock spring steel?

[Sebastiaan56]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. The gap between the spring is critical to the performance of the harp so Im loathe to use a drill bit Russell. You point on carbon steel is a good one.

[pipeclay]

I understand that you are after 1/2" wide and the length 4/6" but how thick.
I have one 115"x 1" x .032".

[rusty steel]

Hello Sebastiaan,
I realised that you could not use a twisted strip for your Harp,I was just wondering if a piece of stiffer material would vibrate better than a piece of spring.
Spring steel can be filed but a file won't mark the twisted section of a quality HSS drill
Do you need to bend the strip or can you leave it straight?
I have a power hacksaw blade which appears to be very hard. It is 1.3 mm thick.If you are interested, tell me the width and length and I could cut a piece with my 1mm disc in my angle grinder and you could grind it to the shape you need.
Regards,
Russell

[RayG]

Hi Sebastian,

Bunnings sell replacement blades for floor scrapers that are spring steel. Have a look in the tool section. Sorry I can't remember the price, I think about $10-$15 each blade. They can also be used to make saw blades.

If that's not what you want, then I also have some 1095 spring steel 20 thou, 3 inches wide.

Regards
Ray

[rodm]

Recoil spring off an old lawnmower, edger or chainsaw?