Technical Dearching springs with a tubing bender

I think that's even the exact one I was looking at

 

Forgot to snap a photo of anvil. As mentioned, I snipped an inch or so off each end.

 

That will work!
But you need to modify it for springs
You need to be able to press the spring in 1-1/2" to 2" increments

Drill some holes along the lower edge [red] to get the pins closer together
Drill some holes along the upper edge [blue] so you can bolt a C channel in-between . Weld a nut to the C channel for a bolt "stopper"


Then make an "anvil" press for the bottle jack

Thanks for the endor*****t , that ^^^ is mine built from offcut steel
It works for arching and de-arching springs

And a 2-1/2 to bottle jack is enough to do the job.
These holes are needed when I flip the spring and de-arch
Also when I am pressing close to the ends I install a pin through the spring eye as a safety feature when "re-arching" [in-case the spring flies out]


Here is the whole set up [it isn't rocket science]
The block on the lower piece is to locate/ centralize the bottle jack. [you ca

 

Not really needed, there is a bit of spring-back when arching.
you only need a few pumps at each increment [to the stopper]

Nice work
The dial indicator is "high tech" compared to my bolt stopper method [but consistency on every bend is important for a nice arch]

I hope everybody notices the marks on the spring in this photo
The secret is measuring and marking AND patience.

Having a basic grasp of "linear spring loads" can save a bit of trial and error , but not too difficult to master

 

Im guessing work middle out progressively?

 

Never directly press over the center-bolt hole [having a side pin directly on it is as close as I'd go]
But with a stopper ,you can start at one end and finish at the other. AND once set, you can repeat this on the other side [and the other leaves]

 

Oh ok. I figured it'd be a center out deal like tinting gl***

 

I wanted to put some more arch into the main leaves on my Studebaker. I positioned them on my driveway on s**** blocks and drove my Suburban crossways (left front tire) over them a couple times for each. Lotta getting in and out, but it worked. No hydraulics needed.

 

Bennett Customs ( YouTube) has a recent video describing the same procedure discussed here.

 

I liked that thread. Oh yeah...It was all kinds of comments and a few questions. What I didn't get, and have been thinking about, why is everyone so afraid of heating them?
I came to the conclusion it was fear. Boc, boc, boc the sky will fall if I do. Well I'm here to dispel that myth.

The problem is in my opinion, that when it has been attempted, those attempts were based around a lack of casual understanding. Even now. The mechanical action of rerolling, hammering bending and pressing... All that does is flatten compress stretch and deform a material that is defined by properties. The basis of which, are defined by its material composition, size and profile shape, as well its heat treatment condition if any from manufacturing.
Now before I go on, take this with a grain of salt from the guy who's been accused of being a blusterer, suggested building up worn thread with JB weld, had considered a grooved steering arm useable, and with only 720 posts, I'm sure other sketchy stuff was mentioned if you dig deeper.



That behind us, this opinion is based on my experience and not to suggest you listen to it past the distracted entertainment it offers.
This is not an issue of heating by rather one of cooling. It's metal. Heating it isn't the problem, as it comes from a molten state. It's as cooled condition, that is what you're working with. That's a bit of an unknown but, as one can conclude from the hammering and rolling that's been done, it is somewhat malleable.

• Physical Property (Metallurgy): Malleable metals can withstand compressive stress—such as hammering or rolling—without fracturing. They are often distinguished from brittle materials

The elements that make up the spring material, don't differ much from regular steel other than an increase in carbon. Carbon allows for the magic of heat treatment and refinement of the materials grain structure and it's alignment in atomic bonding.



Weld or heated with a torch, you create an area that involves both the temperature obtained from heating and time exposed to the heat, both critical to what takes place or is allowed to occur. Just like with welding, you can make something brittle that normally isn't by how it's allowed to cool or is quenched.
You can take something that is ductile and malleable and make it hard and rigid as well. As the picture of the weld alludes to, heat input allows for the variance of change, but it's more by how its cooled that yields results.

We used to demo three worn files heated to red hot. One was allowed to cool in still air, another cooled gradually in a heated oven, the other quenched in water. Compared to a unheated file, when bent, the unheated would break in two maybe three chunks. The one in cooled in still air, it would bend a bit then snap in two. The one in the oven slow cooling, it would fold in half. The one quenched, shatter like gl***. Normalized, annealed and heat treated excessively hard.

So is heating leaf springs or coil springs a problem, no. Cooling them is.

In the course of reading replies a comment was mentioned about t******* a coil spring with a torch and again, if you recall the picture above, heat and the duration it's applied will impact what is affected. Some will take the torch and not create a focal point ( no punch or chisel notch to start the cut on a round or flat object) and as a result will overheat it trying to get a hot enough focal point to start a torch cut, all the while that heat is spreading and what does he do next after cutting it, he goes and cools it calling it winning. But it's how heating gets a bad rap.

Second last point to make and I'll shut up... The rerolling thing. Hammering... it's a pretty safe bet that other than comparing it to stretching dough for pizza, it's still the same ingredients so it's not going to change much. Not to say that you can't over work the dough and have a real chewy crust. But how hot the oven is when you heat it, well...change is going to occur. Running it through a roller won't cause much heat but a blacksmith can start a fire with a his hammer and anvil you can only guess what a trip hammer can do. I mention this because quite frankly, if you use an oven or a microwave it makes a difference. That's why spring shops have large ovens. temperature and time. And most at home have what, small torches? Everyone here is thinking roller because who need the noise from hammering. I get that, so rolling seems to be the answer still.

Lastly...I'd use a rose bud attachment on my torch for heat volume and fast heating, but a large cutting tip would work. Both of those do draw large volumes of Acetylene but could be used with propane and oxygen. Clamped in a vice I'd heat sections up and bend into the contour I wanted using a premade sheet metal sweep. the template needed as a guide to follow and repeatability. Once done, I then with a tiger torch and fresh propane bottle, would heat the whole thing up again to a temperature around 650F or so for a given period of time (see the pdf chart) and in a draft free area let it slow cool in still air back to normal. Done.

I should mention I haven't actually done it, nor have I had a need to do it. But I also have one of those pipe bending presses and if the time came, I'm bring out the torches.

 

In our leaf spring dirt track days, we adjusted the shape of the leaves to effect the load carried by the spring. I had a 6 inch long section of 4 inch channel iron lagged to a tree stump, that we would lay the leaf on and used a sledgehammer to either increase or decrease the arch in the leaf. Two person job, 1 to hold the leaf, one to swing the sledgehammer. Just make sure you have both legs of the channel iron in contact with the leaf when it is hit. It stings otherwise.

And yes, the stump was still in the ground… no dancing around that way.

 

Reason I don't wanna heat is I have no business using a torch lol