On Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:34:24 -0700, Roger Shoaf wrote:

As someone that has bent a lot of music wire springs (I'm a locksmith) I
don't think you need to worry about heat treating the rod. My bending
fixtures were aluminum with dowel pins and the aluminum did just fine.

The trick to bending springs is to figure out how much to bend. If you
want a ninety degree bend you have to bend it further so it stays at 90
when you relax the spring. Trial and error seems to work here so if you
have a bunch of identical pieces to make, mark your fixture so you know
how much to bend.

Hey, you may know two things that have been bugging me, then:

1: I usually get music wire from the hobby shop; it's K&S brand which is
pretty good, but the better sort of kit has harder wire that's less
likely to permanently deform on a hard landing. D'ya know where to get a
better grade? Or better yet, a nice selection of grades?

2: Any guidance on minimum bend radii? Someone mentioned that a 1/8 pin
for 1/8 wire is probably too tight, and I'm just not sure if he isn't
right.

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