"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
t...
"Roger Shoaf" wrote in message
...
Ed

The reason I was asking this question is because I was involved in a
discussion about building a coffee roasting drum to be used in a gas
BBQ
grill and it was suggested that a music wire cotter pin might be
used in
it's design.

When I built my roasting drum I considered using a spring for the
door
latch
but opted not to as I was worried about the reliability in an
environment
that you are shooting for a 500 F temp.

Seems to me you have confirmed this.

Yeah, music wire would not be a good choice, unless it doesn't matter
if
it's quickly softened. If you need real hardness at that temperature
(and
I'm guessing that you don't really need very much), high-speed steel
is the
solution. That's a little extreme, but it will hold its full hardness
up to
around 1,000 deg. F.

There aren't many steels that make good high-temperature springs. But
the
application doesn't sound very demanding, so you'll get it solved
without
too much trouble.

Good luck.

Ed Huntress


Sometime you just want to ... scream.
Just when it was getting good too.

Note to self: put the spring on the outside.
g

wws