re-arching leaf springs
 

I have a couple of cars that need to have their leaf springs re-
arched. One web site mentioned that the process that they use is to
anneal, reform, quench and temper: http://www.eatonsprings.com/rearching.htm.

I have had leaf packs re-arched in the past and the leaves did not
show any signs of having been heated so I suspect that they only cold
formed them. I have looked a several web sites that mentioned
supporting the leaf between two stanchions and beating on the leaf
with a 2 lb or similar hammer. I have acquired a hydraulic press and
am thinking of doing the following: dismantle spring asm, make a
template of the current arch and what I want, gently bend each leaf,
working the entire length of the leaf till it has the desired form.
Spring would be constrained between the posts of the hydraulic press
so that the leaf could not fly away on me. Look at eh bottom of this
page at the picture of the “Mart-o-Matic (someone named Mart best as I
can tell) – I would do similar with my press.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...t=32681&page=2 I
am trying to not spend monies that I do not have to in this "near
Depression".

Your thoughts?

re-arching leaf springs
 

wrote in message
...
I have a couple of cars that need to have their leaf springs re-
arched. One web site mentioned that the process that they use is to
anneal, reform, quench and temper:
http://www.eatonsprings.com/rearching.htm.

I have had leaf packs re-arched in the past and the leaves did not
show any signs of having been heated so I suspect that they only cold
formed them. I have looked a several web sites that mentioned
supporting the leaf between two stanchions and beating on the leaf
with a 2 lb or similar hammer. I have acquired a hydraulic press and
am thinking of doing the following: dismantle spring asm, make a
template of the current arch and what I want, gently bend each leaf,
working the entire length of the leaf till it has the desired form.
Spring would be constrained between the posts of the hydraulic press
so that the leaf could not fly away on me. Look at eh bottom of this
page at the picture of the “Mart-o-Matic (someone named Mart best as I
can tell) – I would do similar with my press.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...t=32681&page=2 I
am trying to not spend monies that I do not have to in this "near
Depression".

Your thoughts?
***************************
A very long time ago my highschool friend took the rear leaf spring from his
'41 Ford coupe to be re-arched so the eye that held the shackle bolt was
'up' instead of factory down. This lowered the rear of his car about 1.5"
.. . . .He took it to the local smelter blacksmith shop and they used 3 men,
and no heat, to do this.
They made a soapstone trace of the spring on a large plate of steel. Then
they put a large Vee block on the floor, on top of a block of wood. One man
was on a sledge hammer, one had a blacksmith fuller (round nosed wooden
handled chisel type tool) and one held the spring. They started near an
eyelet on one end of the spring and they made a hit with the fuller and
hammer about every 1/2". They went the lenght of the spring and then
checked it against the soapstone trace. It did not take that many passes to
fully reverse the arc of the spring. They finally had an identical shape
that matched the 'trace, but the eyes were inverted. This should work on
just re-arching a spring.

re-arching leaf springs
 

wrote in message
...
I have a couple of cars that need to have their leaf springs re-
arched. One web site mentioned that the process that they use is to
anneal, reform, quench and temper:
http://www.eatonsprings.com/rearching.htm.

I have had leaf packs re-arched in the past and the leaves did not
show any signs of having been heated so I suspect that they only cold
formed them.

I've watched blacksmith shops re-arch leafs cold with a sledge hammer on an
anvil. One guy steadies the leaf on the anvil and the other smacks it
skillfully so as not to cause the leaf end to jolt the one holding it. The
leaf is repositioned after a few wacks.

re-arching leaf springs
 

A couple of the posts have described the "blacksmith way". That should
tell you that it can be done with your hydraulic press as you suggest.
You didn't say what the width and thickness of the leaves are, but I'm
sure you understand that big leaves take more pressure and more distance
between the two underneath supports. Go slow with the press and be
prepared to measure carfully until you get the hang of it.

Pete Stanaitis
--------------

pintlar wrote:

wrote in message
...
I have a couple of cars that need to have their leaf springs re-
arched. One web site mentioned that the process that they use is to
anneal, reform, quench and temper:
http://www.eatonsprings.com/rearching.htm.

I have had leaf packs re-arched in the past and the leaves did not
show any signs of having been heated so I suspect that they only cold
formed them. I have looked a several web sites that mentioned
supporting the leaf between two stanchions and beating on the leaf
with a 2 lb or similar hammer. I have acquired a hydraulic press and
am thinking of doing the following: dismantle spring asm, make a
template of the current arch and what I want, gently bend each leaf,
working the entire length of the leaf till it has the desired form.
Spring would be constrained between the posts of the hydraulic press
so that the leaf could not fly away on me. Look at eh bottom of this
page at the picture of the “Mart-o-Matic (someone named Mart best as I
can tell) – I would do similar with my press.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...t=32681&page=2 I
am trying to not spend monies that I do not have to in this "near
Depression".

Your thoughts?
***************************
A very long time ago my highschool friend took the rear leaf spring from his
'41 Ford coupe to be re-arched so the eye that held the shackle bolt was
'up' instead of factory down. This lowered the rear of his car about 1.5"
. . . .He took it to the local smelter blacksmith shop and they used 3 men,
and no heat, to do this.
They made a soapstone trace of the spring on a large plate of steel. Then
they put a large Vee block on the floor, on top of a block of wood. One man
was on a sledge hammer, one had a blacksmith fuller (round nosed wooden
handled chisel type tool) and one held the spring. They started near an
eyelet on one end of the spring and they made a hit with the fuller and
hammer about every 1/2". They went the lenght of the spring and then
checked it against the soapstone trace. It did not take that many passes to
fully reverse the arc of the spring. They finally had an identical shape
that matched the 'trace, but the eyes were inverted. This should work on
just re-arching a spring.

re-arching leaf springs
 

"Bob Roberts" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:44:12 -0800, "John Kunkel"
wrote:

I've watched blacksmith shops re-arch leafs cold with a sledge hammer on
an
anvil. One guy steadies the leaf on the anvil and the other smacks it
skillfully so as not to cause the leaf end to jolt the one holding it. The
leaf is repositioned after a few wacks.


This is exactly how we used to do it on dirt track stock cars, works
well.

Build a cage around your press. A huge amount of stored energy if the
spring lets go. Be safe out there!

re-arching leaf springs
 

On Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:21:12 -0600, "Mach1" wrote:


Build a cage around your press. A huge amount of stored energy if the
spring lets go. Be safe out there!



Actually, three firths of five eighths of f-all


Mark Rand
RTFM

re-arching leaf springs
 

wrote in message
...
I have a couple of cars that need to have their leaf springs re-
arched. One web site mentioned that the process that they use is to
anneal, reform, quench and temper:
http://www.eatonsprings.com/rearching.htm.

I have had leaf packs re-arched in the past and the leaves did not
show any signs of having been heated so I suspect that they only cold
formed them. I have looked a several web sites that mentioned
supporting the leaf between two stanchions and beating on the leaf
with a 2 lb or similar hammer. I have acquired a hydraulic press and
am thinking of doing the following: dismantle spring asm, make a
template of the current arch and what I want, gently bend each leaf,
working the entire length of the leaf till it has the desired form.
Spring would be constrained between the posts of the hydraulic press
so that the leaf could not fly away on me. Look at eh bottom of this
page at the picture of the “Mart-o-Matic (someone named Mart best as I
can tell) – I would do similar with my press.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...t=32681&page=2 I
am trying to not spend monies that I do not have to in this "near
Depression".

Your thoughts?


I've had broken spring leaves on my truck more than once, and the spring
shop just selected a blank of the right width, thickness and temper for my
truck, and proceeded to arch them in a hydraulic press: one man, no cage,
no sweat. A little push, move an inch, push again, - repeat as necessary
until desired profile is achieved. Reassemble the spting stack, remoount,
and off I went. The price was not unreasonable, either, especially when
compared to buying from the *Manufacturer's Authorized Dealer*, (who would
sell only the complete spring ASSEMBLY).

Flash

Flash