# Where do springs come from?



## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

I need a few springs for a project. I do not know the wire size, tension, etc. My selection will be by trial and arror. If you need a spring or a few do you just buy and keep around a box of assorted springs to have on hand and go fishing for the right spring? 

Any recomendation for a good source for a box of assorted springs if that's just how finding the right one works? 


Thanks.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

When I read your subject line my first thought was "mattresses".

Then I remembered the old joke about being trapped in a room for 30 days with nothing but a box spring bed and a calendar... how would you stay alive? You eat the dates from the calendar and drink the water from the springs in the bed.

Never mind.

I just go to the hardware store and search their drawers of springs. If I cannot find what I want there I buy some piano wire at the hobby shop and wind my own spring around a nail or some other form of the needed diameter. Sometimes have to make several before I get the proper amount of springiness, and it is always "by guess and by golly" for me as to turn spacing and wire size.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Plain stainless steel guitar strings may be another source of wire to make your own.
Available in a series of gauges from .008" to .026" (possibly thicker).
A very small spring may have to be wound around another taut steel guitar string as they are 'springy' and have to be wound around something smaller than the required size. Experimentation required. 

Andrew


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Well....papa springs get together with mama springs...and produce baby springs. Now...papa springs are big and hard and mama springs are soft and pliable. Baby springs are little. 

You can see families of them on the MicroMark website (micromark.com) by searching for "springs".


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I was about to say, depends on which type of springs. I think many people will agree that it's pretty certain truck springs come from the depths of h**l! 

;-)


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

To determine the spring rate, you might calculate the weight of the vehicle (if that's what it is), how far you wish the "static sag" to be, and the number of springs. I think that's all the figures needed. Assuming you want to buy them, you should be able to get the right spring rate.


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

when i was younger, i thought, springs come from Springfield. 

meanwhile i learned, that they come out of ballpens and toys. 
and for fake, nonfunctional springs the oldfashioned fuse-wire is a very good rawmaterial.


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Chris, 

Spring assortments are available from $10.00 or less on eBay, Harbor Freight and others. I find these provide a starting point. Lowes, OSH, Home Depot and others generally have a large cross section and or assortment of springs available too. If nothing else there are companies that specialize in spring offerings. 

Micro Mark specifically and others I suspect sale tools to roll your own springs, these are usually tapered with size/stepped graduations for repetitive rolling and experimentation. 

Michael


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't throw away those hook & loop couplers that come with everything. They contain truck springs. 

Mollusks: Many people believe springs grow on bushes pollinated by a specific kind of bee that flies in a spiral. Actually, they come from mollusks, much like pearls. Spring divers in the South Pacific risk their lives and health every day diving to the snail beds. Then, in the boat, they crack the snails open. Most yield black springs, but occasionally they find gold springs. A gold spring means a prosperous year for the happy spring diver.


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Whatever you do, never question the importance of springs! 

http://youtu.be/t2Hym_r409g


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