Spring steel? Needed for stool...

[tarbellb]

Hi guys, looking for some advice.

Im working on a project building stools that have a back to them.
They will be a combination of wood and steel.

My question:

Is there a specific type of steel I should be spec'ing out for the back supports?

I will be using primarily hot rolled carbon steel, but I know there is a better grade steel for the flexing back supports.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

A few examples of similar stools I will be building.

 

[Know Wosad]

Leaf springs. Golf Cart, car, lawn tractor. Go to the junk place.

 

[tarbellb]

Leaf springs. Golf Cart, car, lawn tractor. Go to the junk place.

Not a bad idea at all.

But im looking for new raw material, I need to build a lot of these.


Also, is this something I can do myself? Heat treating, tempering, etc...

I dont have access to a proper furnace or? , but I could invest in a rosebud burner/ torch/etc..?

 

[Marctrees]

Lots of info -

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=make spring steel

Nice stools, good luck ! Marc

 

[jsaw]

Maybe a spring shop?

 

[A_Pmech]

Blue tempered spring steel is what you want. It is readily available from a number of sources in strip form.

 

[yhprum]

4130 steel will work if heat treated.

 

[Know Wosad]

Not a bad idea at all.

But im looking for new raw material, I need to build a lot of these.


Also, is this something I can do myself? Heat treating, tempering, etc...

I dont have access to a proper furnace or? , but I could invest in a rosebud burner/ torch/etc..?

In that case W2(water hardening-quench). 1/8 x 1 1/2 or 2"
Aldo
CALL him. Don't email.
Tell him what you want to do. He'll tell you what you should do
http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/

 

[Ign]

Blue tempered spring steel is what you want. It is readily available from a number of sources in strip form.

This. It's just a ***** to work with. I had to do it once for saddle inserts/framework. I had to anneal it to create any holes, although I read on a model train website that the diamond "coring" tile bits can work. Others I used to know would use masonry bits to drill new holes in truck leafs. I was only working with 16ga or so (don't remember exactly), you're gonna need thicker.

 

[mike13u]

I honestly don't think you need the added expense and trouble working with the other steels.You certainly don't want be drilling holes in any leaf spring steel. It's as hard as woodpecker lips. Plain old A36 carbon steel flat bar has a nice amount of flex and is readily available. Also, unless I don't understand your design, I don't think you want something actually flexing/moving so much as just having a little 'give' when leaned against. You can achieve this with readily available A36 (hot rolled) or 1018 (cold rolled) flat bar.

 

[Ign]

If not wanting to use just A36 I think some 304SS flat bar might be a good candidate. You can still easily drill it and for a stool you can certainly weld it to mild, and it's got more "spring" than mild.

 

[tarbellb]

Yes! Thank you guys!

I will admit I dont know much about all the different grades of metals, and it leaves me asking and thinking novice questions sometimes.

I really appreciate all the responses in here, tons of knowledgeable people on this forum.
---------------

mike13u is confirming my suspicions. I think actual spring steel may be overkill for my application. I just dont want to use something that wont retain its original orientation.

I will look into some A36, see how it performs in test. SS is a good idea, but the look doesnt fit what the client wants?

 

[Danno1]

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1095 is the designation for the "blue" spring steel. 1075 is also a lesser grade of spring steel. You can get both from McMaster-Carr. There is a lot of info on various knife forums on how to anneal and harden these alloys.



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