The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.
If you have one of those older style hardware shops, they normally have
a selection box of springs from which they might just be able to find
something suitable.

Otherwise a search for torsion springs might throw up something?

New letterbox?
Brian

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From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"ss" wrote in message
...
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay and
googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could incorporate
anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

On 21/03/2014 19:32, Brian Gaff wrote:
New letterbox?

Last resort :-) blue tack comes before that.

On 21/03/2014 17:34, ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

Clothes peg springs too big?

A length of piano wire (e.g. from a model shop) wrapped round a former,
ends left as needed? Stiffness is proportional to the fourth power of
wire diameter, so make it close to the original.


--
Kevin


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On 21/03/2014 22:01, Kevin wrote:
On 21/03/2014 17:34, ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

Clothes peg springs too big?

A length of piano wire (e.g. from a model shop) wrapped round a former,
ends left as needed? Stiffness is proportional to the fourth power of
wire diameter, so make it close to the original.


Yip clothes pegs too big so may need to look at piano wire.
With me taking a couple of pins out to access the broken springs and
then tapping them back in I have stiffened the movement of the flap so
at least in the short term it shouldnt flap in the wind.

On Friday, 21 March 2014 17:34:43 UTC, ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay

and googled but no joy as all are too large.

There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent

just halved in two.

The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.

They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is

more important than the inside diameter.

I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.

To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could

incorporate anything larger (diameter)



Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

When mine broke, I used a length of curtain wire which is a coiled spring in a plastic sheath about the diameter you need. That was 20 years ago and the wire considerably older; do they still make it? I cut it to the full length of the flap and put small screws in each end. Whilst I guess I should have uncoiled and straightened a bit to provide pressure, the weight of the flap seems sufficient for its position in a short open-ended porch.

Chris

ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

If you are starting think about making a spring then good sources of
spring wire can be pump action soap dispensers and some of their close
relations, the pump action toothpaste dispenser.**

These use coil springs of about the right gauge wire that could be
fashioned into torsion springs round a suitable sized mandrel. many are
stainless steel so won't rust in your application.

hth

** not all use metal springs, some return action is provided by the
plastic moulding

On 22/03/2014 10:02, Bob Minchin wrote:
ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

If you are starting think about making a spring then good sources of
spring wire can be pump action soap dispensers and some of their close
relations, the pump action toothpaste dispenser.**

These use coil springs of about the right gauge wire that could be
fashioned into torsion springs round a suitable sized mandrel. many are
stainless steel so won't rust in your application.

hth

** not all use metal springs, some return action is provided by the
plastic moulding

Previous suggestion re curtain wire...that would be too thick.

I think I will need to fashion something myself so some good ideas given
re sources for wire, I should find something lurking around the house.

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:33:53 +0000, ss wrote:

On 22/03/2014 10:02, Bob Minchin wrote:
ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

If you are starting think about making a spring then good sources of
spring wire can be pump action soap dispensers and some of their close
relations, the pump action toothpaste dispenser.**

These use coil springs of about the right gauge wire that could be
fashioned into torsion springs round a suitable sized mandrel. many are
stainless steel so won't rust in your application.

hth

** not all use metal springs, some return action is provided by the
plastic moulding

Previous suggestion re curtain wire...that would be too thick.

I think I will need to fashion something myself so some good ideas given
re sources for wire, I should find something lurking around the house.

Model shops probably don't stock stainless steel piano wire, afaicr,
theyre just steel. Aside from the lack of resistance to rusting, piano
wire is an effective way to homebrew suitable springs.

However, you might consider a suitably guaged length of NiTinol wire
(of memory wire fame) since this has about 6 times the elasticity of
the best stainless steel spring wire. The memory effect isn't the only
remarkable feature of this alloy.

You'd only need to use about a fifth the length of a stainless steel
wire spring to get the same elastic range. The only complication being
the need to heat the coil on its forming mandrel to 500 deg C or so to
set the coil shape.
--
Regards, J B Good

On 21/03/2014 17:34, ss wrote:
The springs in my letter box flap are all broken. I have checked ebay
and googled but no joy as all are too large.
There appear to be 2 springs per flap, that is me assuming they havent
just halved in two.
The pieces I have are about 10 mm long and an outside diameter of 3mm.
They dont fit on a rail but inside a groove so the external diameter is
more important than the inside diameter.
I assume where broken off there would be 2 straight lugs.
To me the springs appear quite small but cant see how I could
incorporate anything larger (diameter)

Any suggestions for a source or indeed a DIY solution.

How about a lead weight glued to the inside bottom edge?


--
Michael Chare

On 23/03/2014 14:12, Michael Chare wrote:
How about a lead weight glued to the inside bottom edge?

Yes I thought about that if nothing else can be done, I`ll get a narrow
strip of something heavy and fix it on.

replying to ss, PixelMover wrote:
http://robinsonsantiques.com/mail-slots/cardslot.htm

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On Thu, 06 Sep 2018 00:14:01 +0000, PixelMover wrote:

replying to ss, PixelMover wrote:
http://robinsonsantiques.com/mail-slots/cardslot.htm

One would hope that they've found the springs by now, in the intervening
four and a half years.



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