Thread: Spring bit for the jumbo pegs (you know what I mean!)

From the wifes old clothes pegs?

Or purchase plastic pegs from the 1$ shops and use those.

Originally Posted by jow104

From the wifes old clothes pegs?

Or purchase plastic pegs from the 1$ shops and use those.

Nah... the pegs I have seen are huge. Ranging from a length of say 30cm, upto 1m tall. They are then also much wider to keep the dimensions relative. The steel spring is also then scaled up the same amount.

I can't find a pic of one on the net to explain, but people must have seen them around.

Nathan.

I have seen these around do they have a spring or is it just mild steel wound to look like a spring, if mild steel you could make yourself if spring steel I would ring a spring maker, I think they would be expensive

Originally Posted by China

I have seen these around do they have a spring or is it just mild steel wound to look like a spring, if mild steel you could make yourself if spring steel I would ring a spring maker, I think they would be expensive

I'm not sure exactly what they are made of, but the peg does spring close like a normal peg. If it was steel wound using a jig, then the spring action wouldn't happen, would it?

Hi Nathan,
Would it be possible for you to make them.
You just might find some reasonably Springy Stainless Steel Wire.
Wind it around a bolt or the likes, & bend the ends with Pliers or in the Vice.
Bound to stuff up the 1st. couple, so try in plain wire, it may work.
Regards,
issatree.

You can buy 'Piano wire' in lengths up to 900mm or so and up to 4.5mm (sometimes 6mm) from radio control model shops, who can also sell you a simple wire bender (also for sale at Lee Valley, Micro Mark etc).

Mild steel rod can be used as it will work harden as you bend it into a coil. Get a length of pipe about the same diameter as the inside diameter of the finished spring coil, or a little less, weld the length of pipe to a base so that the pipe is a couple of inches longer than the finished coil, weld a stubby pin (say 25mm) to the base near the pipe with a gap that you can just get the round bar into.

Fasten the base plate to your Workmate (or clone) with a bunch of bricks/sandbags on the base. Take your length of rod, allow enough straight to form the 'L' on one end, stick it in the holder, then run around the pipe like a mad thing bending the rod into the coil - watch out when you think you are finished as it will spring back smartly & give you a flogging if you aren't careful - check the length when the coil is relaxed, then allow some straight for the other 'L' shape. Measure how much rod you have used so you will know how much more you need to buy to finish the rest.

What actual size "wire" are we concerned with? Up to about 1/4" (~5mm), the "wire" can be wound to shape by a hand attached to a strong arm, with a pipe for additional grunt. The springiness derives from the multiple coils. In fact, any metal bent beyond its yield stress experiences "springback," so it must be bent beyond the final shape and allowed to recover. Mild steel will work, if there are enough coils, and not too much travel.

Cheers,
Joe

IMHO, you could make the spring only decorative and use a small everyday sized coil spring after the pivot point to close the peg.

I have seen in the cheap dollar shops like, Crazy Clarks, the Wharehouse, Dimmey's, Sam's Wharehouse, Chicken Feed etc large plastic pegs that sold for about $2.00 each.

Providing you only wanted a few for novelty value and not worried about the added cost to on sell the finished product they might fit the bill. Also you would have something to copy as to how the spring was attached to the plastic peg.

Good luck.

Peter.

High tensile fencing wire - 2.5 mm has a fair bit of spring in it and would do the job. you can also get smaller - see Elders or Landmark, rural supplies .It is probably available in smaller size for electic fences.

Cheers