DIY mech springs

[Fudgey Finger]

I recently got an AV Able in a trade. I really like the mod. It hits hard and I really like the look and feel of it. I was having some issues though with misfires. I did all of the usual stuff like cleaning all of the threads and contacts, but it continued to misfire pretty often. When I got online to find a silver spring to replace the magnets I wasn't very happy with the $50 price everyone had for a spring. So I decided to make my own.

I bought some solid copper wire from the hardware store and made some springs. I used some 20 awg and 14 awg to try out different springs. The 20 awg worked, but it wasn't very stiff. The 14 awg has enough resistance that the mod won't fire when I set it down. I also replaced the magnets in my VCM2 with a DIY spring. The VCM2 was functioning fine before, but I just wanted an excuse to make another one.

The Able is working very good now. The mod is so much more responsive than it was with magnets. I installed the spring a few hours ago and I've already gone through 2 batteries with no misfires. I found some sterling silver wire online that isn't too expensive and I'm considering getting some now.

Has anyone here ever made springs from copper wire? The only issue I'm having is that the copper doesn't want to spring. It more or less just holds it's shape anytime you move it. I did manage to make a couple springs that do actually spring back, but only because I made a bunch and just kept adjusting them and snipping more wire off until it was suitable. If someone has experience with this type of thing I would really appreciate some guidance on how to make the springiest copper spring possible. I tried heating the springs with a torch but that just made them softer. The throw isn't quite as stiff as I like, but it's not horrendous and it's better than poor performance.

 

[gadget!]

I got one in trade here as well, the one I got is a clone.
I never had any misfire issues with it but I had to lock it any time I used it, setting it down it would immediately fire.
I googled it and the first video I came across the mod had 2 of the big washer magnets in it. I borrowed a magnet from another mod I had and put it on top of the one in the mod.
The difference was like night and day!
I can comfortably strange it up now and it doesn't fire.

Sent from a Galaxy far far away!

 

[mach1ne]

i have made a few springs out of some random 'comp' wire (unknown composition, low resistance, 22 gauge). i had to temper mine with a heat/quench before it was 'springy', but it seems to be holding up pretty well (maybe 15 battery cycles through that mod now). i would like to find a better alternative though, im honestly surprised my home made springs are doing as well as they are. i have them in a chi you megan clone and an osmium parallel box, and so far so good...

 

[Fudgey Finger]

I got one in trade here as well, the one I got is a clone.
I never had any misfire issues with it but I had to lock it any time I used it, setting it down it would immediately fire.
I googled it and the first video I came across the mod had 2 of the big washer magnets in it. I borrowed a magnet from another mod I had and put it on top of the one in the mod.
The difference was like night and day!
I can comfortably strange it up now and it doesn't fire.

Sent from a Galaxy far far away!

Mine is an authentic with 3 total magnets, but I can tell it has some miles on it. I don't know exactly what was causing the misfires but they're gone now. The best explanation I have is that the threaded tube on the bottom of the contact in the switch had worn down over time, not making good contact with the switch. It doesn't look bad but that seems like the only thing that could explain it.

i have made a few springs out of some random 'comp' wire (unknown composition, low resistance, 22 gauge). i had to temper mine with a heat/quench before it was 'springy', but it seems to be holding up pretty well (maybe 15 battery cycles through that mod now). i would like to find a better alternative though, im honestly surprised my home made springs are doing as well as they are. i have them in a chi you megan clone and an osmium parallel box, and so far so good...

I know I can't temper the copper, I tried that and it just got softer. I usually build really low so I thought it would be best to stick with copper or silver. How low do you build with your comp wire springs? Do they heat up at all? Do you know how low the resistance is on it? I

'm wondering if flattening the wire would help. Then I could add more wraps.

 

[mach1ne]

I know I can't temper the copper, I tried that and it just got softer. I usually build really low so I thought it would be best to stick with copper or silver. How low do you build with your comp wire springs? Do they heat up at all? Do you know how low the resistance is on it? I
'm wondering if flattening the wire would help. Then I could add more wraps.

i am pretty easy on my batteries. the one in the chi you megan gets run at ~30amps on an ijoy 26650. the other one i made in the parallel box gets run at ~50a at most, but usually closer to ~40a (i use a quad parallel box for builds lower than .1). its been a while since i got it and did the tests, but i think it was a bit higher resistance than n80 would be. the wire colors more like 316 than n80 though, and im pretty sure the guy at the shop told me it was a mix of n80/316/ka1 (but i dont know if he even knows, and a lot of these guys just talk to sound smart so i dont put a lot of weight to what he said).

the switch in the chi you always had a tendency to get hot button at random, but i think the old spring was getting pinched between the switch/housing as it got old/soft/deformed. the new one doesnt do that. i just took it apart and its not showing signs of carrying current (i heated it to a gold color and quenched it in cold water when i made it and its still gold right now) or changing shape. the original springs in both the mods i fixed looked like 28 or 30 gauge, they were both varying colors, ranging from blue/purple to black and burnt, and both could barely even hold the button opened. the osmium actually autofired in my lap when i was in the car because it was so 'done' (scared the fuck out of me lol 'whats that crackling noise?')

flattening might be a good idea to get more wraps, but the wraps might not be as strong as unflattened wire so it might not end up being any stiffer even with more of them. all the springs in all my mechs are silver looking metals (would guess stainless is most common). i would love to hear from someone who actually knows facts on the matter and could tell us the best material to use, or a place to order 'legit' springs in various sizes (all my mods seem to require different sized springs/look custom made).

 

[strigamort]

If you're gonna get into making real springs you'll need to heat treat something like 316l. Besides determining the number of coils and dimensions you'll need to figure out the proper awg and aim for something around 4lbs for our uses. I would buy a variety of springs (made of the alloy that I planned on using) from a hardware store and use them as a quick and dirty source of inspiration. Steel alloys containing chromium for the purpose of corrosion resistance have a faaaaar more complex heat treatment than a simple steel alloy. It's only half rocket surgery though. A spring, like our mods use, has a lot more wiggle room than a knife blade or plate armor or whatever. A digital oven (versus trying to use a coal or propane forge to keep an even and exact measured temp for hours on end) would make the job quite possible, however, most likely you'd end up with the world's most expensive 50¢ spring.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[Fudgey Finger]

If you're gonna get into making real springs you'll need to heat treat something like 316l. Besides determining the number of coils and dimensions you'll need to figure out the proper awg and aim for something around 4lbs for our uses. I would buy a variety of springs (made of the alloy that I planned on using) from a hardware store and use them as a quick and dirty source of inspiration. Steel alloys containing chromium for the purpose of corrosion resistance have a faaaaar more complex heat treatment than a simple steel alloy. It's only half rocket surgery though. A spring, like our mods use, has a lot more wiggle room than a knife blade or plate armor or whatever. A digital oven (versus trying to use a coal or propane forge to keep an even and exact measured temp for hours on end) would make the job quite possible, however, most likely you'd end up with the world's most expensive 50¢ spring.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

I don't know, the thought of a stainless steel spring with the builds I use seems like working in the wrong direction. I took the magnets out and put a spring in because I wanted better conductivity. I spent some time googling and I found some ways to stiffen the copper springs up. The more you work a copper wire while it's cold the harder it gets. You can also twist it and texture it to add stiffness. I did a mixture of bending the wire back and forth and twisting it in my drill the same way you would straighten Kanthal. What I have now are some really awesome springs! They definitely have a different feel than a steel spring, but not in a bad way. All of the issues I was having with this mod totally disappeared.

I did order some sterling silver wire though. I'm pleased with these copper springs but I don't want to stop playing.

 

[BoomStick]

I heard a guy talking once about using the core wire from a piece of coax. Cable tv stuff. Said it worked well. The standard stiff black variety of course.

 

[Fudgey Finger]

I heard a guy talking once about using the core wire from a piece of coax. Cable tv stuff. Said it worked well. The standard stiff black variety of course.

That sounds like it would work well. Coaxial cable has 18g solid copper in the middle of it.

 

[strigamort]

Work hardening is definitely cool. Well unless you are doing a lot of grinding and the grinding hardens the material making it a pain to work with, but I digress. Actually I posted a thread about making sub 30g 3 core aliens. I was finding it nearly impossible with my setup because the core wires would twist together. That was until I tried stretching wire. Stretching, twisting, it stiffens the wire quite a bit. Because of the added stiffness the spinning cores could overcome the resistance put upon them by the drill and fishing spinners, which resulted in the ability (for me anyway) to build some very intricate wire. Just for fun.

Yeah, I totally forgot about work hardening the more conductive metal alloys. By all means, I fully support tinkering with our toys. I just rigged up a fully ghetto (like super fully ghetto) lathe to turn my own driptips. For now I'm only modifying driptips that I purchased already, or came with one of the rdas I've picked up.

Doubtful any of us are gonna make a million dollars coming up with a spring, or building micro-alien coils, or cutting out the perfect (for me) driptip. That shouldn't keep us from screwing with this stuff, and I figure that's where real innovation comes from anyway.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[triakis]

That sounds like it would work well. Coaxial cable has 18g solid copper in the middle of it.

The 18AWG inner conductor is actually copper cladded steel.

 

[BoomStick]

The 18AWG inner conductor is actually copper cladded steel.

Yeah, it’s too stiff to be solid copper. Would probably cause it to make a good spring.

 

[Fudgey Finger]

I just picked up some coax cable. After hearing it's cooper on steel it sounds like it will have the conductivity benefit of copper with the springiness of steel. I'll whip one up when I get home.

Sent from my LGL64VL using Tapatalk

 

[triakis]

It is steel but be careful as it's quite stiff and may break on you if bent too tightly. I have a side fire mech that needs a spring and may try it. I have plenty of RG6QS lying around.

 

[Fudgey Finger]

It worked amazingly well. I made one out of coax for my MCV Kingpin mod and it is as stiff as a magnet with no misfires or hot button bs. It seems like this is the stuff to use.

Is there a difference in the core wire between different types of coax? There were different grades of cable and some were nearly twice as expensive as others of the same length. It said extra shielding and the connectors were different, but the core wire looked the same so I got the cheap stuff.

Sent from my LGL64VL using Tapatalk