Stainless steel spring?

**jhovel** · 6th October 2011, 12:02 AM

My dear wife Pam needs a stainless steel spring around 1" to 1-1/2" (25 to 40mm) diameter and about 3' (1m) long. A tension spring (coils tight at rest) would be best, but not essential. The wire size is not critical but I expect something like 0.1" (2.5mm) would work, nor is the strength important - as long as it springs back to its original shape.
If they sound like weird specifications, here's why:
She uses a spring to wrap felted clothing material (up to the spring length wide) around, then bends the spring into a circle, hooking the ends together so it stays that way. This material wrapped loop then goes into her dye pot to colour the material. The colour obviously gets to the innner and outer layers strongest and to the intermediate layers less so. That's the effect she wants.
The whole lot get heated to boiling point (100 deg C) for some length of time....
She's tried all kinds of springs, hoses and plastic coils, but the metal springs (garage tilt-door springs) work best - except they eventually stain the material when they corrode, and they are too strong for her to bend into a loop.
As you can imagine, when finished and cooled, she unhooks the ends and the whole thing should spring back into a strait line for unwrapping.
Some of my wire coil efforts and plastic coils and hoses have not straightened out after heating or the wire just stayed bent....

We have concluded that some sort of stainless spring would be best.
I have no idea where to get that from - or if it's even available.

Anyone here have any ideas or knows how to wrap SS spring wire into a coil spring or knows someone who does?

Cheers,
Joe

**kraits** · 6th October 2011, 12:12 AM

stainless tracer wire with the appropriate fittings to allow for tightening might do it? or have you considered a stainless slinky spring from a toy shop or a garter spring made to size?

http://www.bernhartsprings.com.au/garter_springs.php

**RayG** · 6th October 2011, 12:46 AM

Hi Joe,

Funny, I was looking at something similar just recently, for an irrigation job, I think 301 or 420 from memory, but I'll go grab the book and check..

Regards
Ray

**jhovel** · 6th October 2011, 12:56 AM

Originally Posted by kraits

stainless tracer wire with the appropriate fittings to allow for tightening might do it? or have you considered a stainless slinky spring from a toy shop or a garter spring made to size?

Bernhart Springs, Spring Manufacturer and Supplier. Braeside

kraits: you have me interested, John.
What is tracer wire?
Slinky springs I've seen were around 4"long relaxed - and Pam needs 36". They are also aorund 2 or 3" diameter and Pam needs 1 to 1-1/2".
Are agrter springs made form stainless and could they be made in the diameter and length needed?
Cheers,
Joe

**kraits** · 6th October 2011, 01:03 AM

tracer wire used for fishing, slinky spring stretched might acheive the desired length and diametre, if not there not hard to tangle together and make one and garter springs, one end goes into another, have a look on the link i added, give them a call, they say they make any spring and they are in melbourne.
http://www.bernhartsprings.com.au/garter_springs.php

**RayG** · 6th October 2011, 01:06 AM

Hi Joe,

Attached pdf of spring material properties. I'd suggest 302 over 420, because of fatigue resistance.

You can get 302 stainless strip in thicknesses from .002 to .031 in 50" x 6" rolls from here.. Stainless Steel Shim Stock

And 302 stainless spring steel wire from here.. http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=1216&step=2

I have more detail in a reference book, I can bring with me on the weekend if you like.

Hope that helps.
Regards
Ray

**kajzer** · 7th April 2012, 08:02 AM

Best type of material for spring that is needed for your wifes purpose, is stainless spring. You can find anything what you need on this site from this materials:
Table of best materials for spring production

**Michael G** · 7th April 2012, 10:10 AM

An off thought, but have you tried a plumbing supply place? A section of an electric drain cleaner line might work. From memory they are around 1" diameter and stainless.

Michael

**jhovel** · 7th April 2012, 12:53 PM

Hi kajzer and Michael,
thanks for the suggestions!
O'll follow both of them up.
Cheers,
Joe

**texx** · 7th April 2012, 01:21 PM

some earth moving equipment dozers and so on and some tractors have springs about those sizes over the top of the hydraulic hoses to protect them could be worth a trip to a machinery wrecker .or a hydraulic place.
or maybe even a marine supply place ( stainless )

johno

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