Thingiverse
STERLING MAIN SPRING FORMING TOOL
by TK14082
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My Sterling model included a printed spring. While the model is accurate, printing and post-processing a printed spring is difficult. Many who have built my model have foregone the printed spring in favor of a formed steel wire replica. The challenges here are (1) getting the inside diameter correct so that it mates properly with the bolt, and (2) getting the pitch between the coils uniform. Unless you have some fancy equipment, you will never get the 1" [25,4mm] inside diameter right by hand wrapping around a 1" dowel. When released, the wire will spring back to a slightly larger diameter. If through trial and error, you can find a dowel or pipe with a slightly smaller diameter that gives you the correct formed dimensions, you still have the issue of setting the pitch and angle of the coils. Even the best attempts can still look a little wonky.
Most people will use something like coat hanger wire (13 gauge) or twist wire from a big box store. Neither of these is hardened steel, sui
Most people will use something like coat hanger wire (13 gauge) or twist wire from a big box store. Neither of these is hardened steel, sui
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