[Pete Dickey]

I needed to make a few new springs and was a bit short of any suitable wire. Searching around the garage/workshop my eyes fell on a MIG welder which of course has a small drum of 0.6mm steel wire coated with some metal or other which I'm not sure about. I cut a length and made a few springs out of it and they seem to be reasonably okay at a glance. However I have not tried them out yet.

Being a bit cautious I was wondering if anyone could think of any reason why this wire shouldn't be useable, at least in the short term e.g. because of the coating or the material of the wire itself?

Pete

[JimLucas]

Pete Dickey, on Jul 12 2004, 12:12 AM, said:

Being a bit cautious I was wondering if anyone could think of any reason why this wire shouldn't be useable, at least  in the short term e.g. because of the coating or the material of the wire itself?

Pete

Is the coating a flux? Then if you played a welding torch over them, the springs would likely melt together into a blob.
... However, that would likely be long after the wood and leather parts went up in flames.

[Theo]

The mig welding wire I'm familiar with is copper plated, to keep the metal free of oxide while its stored. The major disadvantage of mig wire for making springs is that it is usually mild steel, or something very similar and would probably not have enough springiness. Piano wire, available from model shops (and piano parts suppliers!) is a more suitable material, and comes in a wide range of diameters.

Does anyone know of a supplier of the brass wire used in concertina springs?

Theo

[Alan Day]

I used to make my own springs from brass wire,but honestly the cost of springs from any of the shops who concentrate on concertinas,is so small as to not make it a wothwhile excersize.I even think I have some wire still somewhere that I havn`t touched in years.My last springs came from Hobgoblin,above I see the add for Concertina Spares.If it a special you want to make, I will send you a bit by post.
Al

[hielandman]

Theo is correct, that mig wire if coated is mild steel, and would not be good for spring wire. McMaster-Carr should sell spring wire that you can do the job with. Also, in a pinch, it was pointed out to me that .035 Stainless steel tig wire will suffice for a time, though again, it is not tempered, it just acts that way! Go to your local welding supply store, and ask for one piece, as a sample, or buy a one pound spool. But you are better off going to an industrial supply store that carries spring wire. Good luck, and have fun!

[d.elliott]

The usual spec is 1/2 hard drawn brass wire, 0.025 ins dia, or use one of the phosphor bronze wires. The best suppliers are the bigger piano part stockists who sell spring wire - as opposed to piano wire. Some spares people supply steel springs for concertinas, I find them too strong for English treble/ baritones. Anglos instruments used stronger / heavier gauge brass springs and the steel spring works fine in that context.

Remember that you may need to purchase a couple of Kg of the wire, enough to make several thousands of the things, a spring only takes about 3 1/2" or so of wire (from memory)

You can always adjust, to some degree, the effective strength of the spring by moving the spring arm contact point closer to the pivot point (weaker) or closer to the key (stronger)


Dave

[hielandman]

Did I say .035 wire? I meant .030, sorry. but as the previous post says, .025 sounds more like it!

[OLDNICKILBY]

You could always ask Old Nic,Send me a stamped addressed envelope and you can have a few metres of.7mm thats about .028in old money

[JimLucas]

OLDNICKILBY, on Aug 9 2004, 05:12 PM, said:

You could always ask Old Nic,...

Sell your soul for some concertina spring wire?
... I don't know whether that means souls aren't worth what they used to be, or concertinas are finally receiving the credit they deserve.

[hielandman]

That was funny, that last one made me laugh out loud!!

[Pete Dickey]

OLDNICKILBY, on Aug 9 2004, 03:12 PM, said:

You could always ask Old Nic,Send me a stamped addressed envelope and you can have a few metres of.7mm thats about .028in old money

I returned from holiday to find the above. I would like to add that following my original posting "Old Nick" contacted me and very kindly sent me a good length of the appropriate wire, so now I'm well sorted.

I noted that he posted from the following address:- http://www.proopsbrothers.com which on inspection turned out to be a very useful source of competitively priced equipment for aspiring amateur engineers and model-makers like myself and was promptly added to my "favourites" list.

My original posting was initially prompted by thinking that the MIG wire could be useful in an emergency since it is a fairly hard, copper-coated steel, but since it appeared to make a good spring I then wondered if anyone had used this wire to make springs as a permanent replacement. The costs of my experiments were of course negligable as I have hundreds of feet of the stuff.

Pete

[Alan Day]

In an emergency a small safety pin works well.(and as a spring)
Just bend the pointy bit through ninety degrees to go into the wood,cut of the clip bit off to length bend to RH or LH and there you go.
Al

[d.elliott]

To add to the previous post, I have bought various items of tooling and the like from Proops, often items that seem impossibly cheap, generally good value, often a bit unique. I would recommend visiting thier site.

Oh, and as an after thought: Hi Nick! long time no speak, joined the computer age?

Dave E

[Captain Rick]

Hello all,
I know this is a late posting on the subject, but I just discovered Concertina.net while I was looking for Crabb Concertina. Too bad they're gone. (tells you how long its been since I talked to them!)
When I bought my C. Jeffries 38 button in 1974 in the states, it needed new reed pads and springs.
I made the springs out of tempered bronze music wire, bought fron a music school.
This has served well for the past decades, though I don't play as much as some people.
On the subject of repair, I do need to get some new bellows made (hence the call so long ago to Crabb) as playing with patches and leaks is getting too much.
I will check the Concertina Connection. If anyone has a place they feel would be the best source, a new posting would be much appreciated.

Capt Rick

[Theo]

Quote

I will check the Concertina Connection. If anyone has a place they feel would be the best source, a new posting would be much appreciated.

I ordered a new bellows from Concertina Connection a few weeks ago. I will report back here when it arrives.

Theo

This post has been edited by Theo: 14 November 2004 - 12:37 PM