New challange! Old problem!

[lugerholsterrepair]

I HATE digital calipers! In luger holster repair I use a dial caliper all day long. I thought..many years ago the digital would be neat. Every time I picked it up the battery was dead! I am stuck on "dial up"!

Gosh GT..I envy you the journey but it looks like you got on board and left the station at cashville and are on your way to dead broke junction? Since so very few of these springs are broken..the need is a little lean? There IS one possibility I can think of though. The Numrich repro drum has a noticeably WEAK spring! I wonder if your replacement spring would improve a Numrich drum?

God bless you my Son..I hope the creative process brings you enough joy to compensate for your expense and efforts..Just to satiate my wild curiosity if that is possible..how many US dollars is one of these springs going to cost the hapless owner of a drum wit a broken spring? Or perhaps it's too early to tell?

Just thinking out loud here..is it possible to make these and send them to a client or do they have to be expertly installed? Riveted in or?

Can they be made up and stored prior to installation? Or are they made as they are needed? I wonder as I have entered into several very rare projects where putting it together was a giant lengthy task but after several years the knowledge and effort and capability is..lost once again. It's not easy to pick it up again.

Gods speed..ONWARD! Thanks for the sitrep.

[G.T.]

Hi Jerry, yes, it undeniably appears to be an upside down investment in time and materials.. But, I am truly going to chalk it up to learning....... Most of my questions about handling spring steel have already gone from questions to answers, and the proof will be in the final product... As for cost, the material was pretty expensive all by it's self, and the extra tooling and fixtures a few hundred more? Sooo, the springs will sell for a flat cost of $100.00 each, I will let all know about installation when I get past that point, right now I'm thinking they need to be pre-wound and one shot into the drum? So I will pre-wind and place inside an undersized retainer, hopefully one can install it from there?... I also noticed the understrength repro spring? But, I have not yet got inside a repro drum spring so I'm not sure if it will supersede/fit or not?.. I will make a few, more as tokens of success rather than a profit center of some type... ... we'll know in about a week, as mini production starts next week!!!!.. Should be anti climactic!.... ..... Best to all, til...lat'r....GT.....

[Olle]

Originally Posted by lugerholsterrepair

I HATE digital calipers! In luger holster repair I use a dial caliper all day long. I thought..many years ago the digital would be neat. Every time I picked it up the battery was dead! I am stuck on "dial up"!

A little bit off topic, but... I have used Mitutoyo solar powered calipers for about ten years now, and I love them. No battery to worry about, if you have enough light to read the LCD you'll also have enough light to power it. The absolutely best feature is that you can zero at any point, makes it super easy to compare dimensions, measure how much you got left to machine, find the right piece of metal in the scrap bin etc.

[G.T.]

Hello to all! Well, yesterday and today were ""S#&@ or get off the pot days!" Sooo, we got started! I have enlisted our moderators help again for the pictures, and a slight narrative is as follows:
1) rough cutting stock to length with sheet metal shears
2) busting #3 edge with knife sharpener and 220 W/D
3) scribing radius from original, 3 different
4) grinding radius to final
5) view of strip ends
6) view of strip ends
7) drilling fixture and result
8) result
9) result
10) four ends with appropriate holes and slots
11) rivet set up prior
12) rivet set up post
13) annealing
14) result annealed anchor ends
15) spring wound to solid in fixture
16) spring loose set and relieved of tension
17) spring insertion into drum
18) spring preload while in drum
19) assembled drum and test scale...

Final thoughts? Well, when installed and preloaded, it measures approx. eight pounds at locked position, compared to ten pounds on the originals and probably six pounds on the repros? To get the extra two pounds I would have to thicken the bridal spring approx. .005" and this would cost an additional $400.00... not for now anyway..... Busted a few fingernails, ............but no blood... (cuz I broke all the sharp edges is why?!) All in all, I'm very happy with the result... The quality will improve as we make more of them?....And make some subtle changes as we go along! BTW, just got back from testing the drum, fed all 32 with out any issues! ... ... Best to all, til...lat'r....GT....