Drill press return spring

[Garden Shed Projects]

This is purely hypothetical I should point out as no one would be this daft. Let’s just say that you had just bought a used drill press and the reason it was so cheap is because the return spring had snapped. And let’s just say that you had bought a replacement spring on the web. I should remind you this is purely hypothetical. And then let’s just say that on getting the spring out of the bag you notice that someone had bound it up with a bit of wire to help you get it inside the little tin cup that holds it together. Then let’s just say that you snipped that wire before you had installed it, and it had flown across the garage with surprising force expanding to around twice its original size, how do you then think you could get it in the cup, hypothetically of course? Just curious and asking for a friend you understand.

 

[TheTiddles]

Using a dowel with a slot in and a pair of gloves

 

[MARK.B.]

ReCompress the spring around a piece of dowel or other loosely fitting tube ,put a couple lenghts's of wire through to secure it once compressed

 

[eribaMotters]

Hypothetically you are so lucky. I acquired an ancient, suspected pre WW1 Startite drill press many years ago. The spring had snapped but I managed to source a part roll of spring steel. I duly cut this to the correct width and length with a bench guillotine. I then annealed the ends, bent them to shape and then reheated and oil quenched them. It was in re-coiling the spring that things went wrong. What ever method you use [I used a slot across the end of a dowel] please wear the thickest gloves you can find. When that spring uncoiled itself I suffered one of the wurst cuts I've experienced and still have the scar.

Colin

 

[Yojevol]

wurst cuts

Is that like salami slicing?

 

[MARK.B.]

A local guy tinkering with his car decided he could change a broken front suspension coil ,alas his spring compressor was of poor quality and that combined with lack of know how ended very badly indeed,several years on and his face still needs more corrective surgery

 

[stuart little]

Is that like salami slicing?

I'd guess at it being a 'scouse' accent!

 

[eribaMotters]

I'd guess at it being a 'scouse' accent!

More my poor spelling and typing skills, doing things in a rush. As a retired teacher I should know better.

Colin

 

[Richard_C]

Depending on what you have around and size of spring, you can recompress between plain washers on a threaded bolt or length of threaded bar up the middle then re wire.

If the spring was easily obtained and inexpensive, buy another one?

 

[Gordon Tarling]

Depending on what you have around and size of spring, you can recompress between plain washers on a threaded bolt or length of threaded bar up the middle then re wire.

Just pointing out that the spring in question is a spiral spring rather than a coil spring.

G.

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

It is a spiral spring like in a clock.

 

[clogs]

I seem to be doing it all the time on mowers and chainsaws n the like all the time.....partic when the starter string breaks....
I just start by winding it back into the cup NOT rewinding the spring then trying to fit it.....
there are special tools but not nec.....really big ones I wind up on the lathe....
u'll get very oily doing it.....loads'a fun.....

 

[gmercer_48083]

(1) How to replace a drill press spring - YouTube
How to Rewind Starter Recoil Spring Cassette - Bing video

 

[Richard_C]

Just pointing out that the spring in question is a spiral spring rather than a coil spring.

G.

Seems like I got up before my brain woke up this morning. So it goes.

 

[Fergie 307]

Let go with quite a bit of force don't they? You are lucky not to have got hurt. Putting it back in is quite straightforward, just hook the outer end of the spring in the cup and then gradually feed it back inside itself. You may find that a piece of metal rod with a slot cut in it can help, I have an old screwdriver modified to do this on eight day clock springs. Do Not use a piece of wooden dowel, might work ok for a recoil spring on a lawnmower but this is a much stronger spring and you will break the dowel. You need gloves that will give you some protection, but also allow enough dexterity to actually do the job. I am right handed so use my left hand to hold the spring in the cup whilst my right feeds it in. These are tough springs so be careful.

 

[Inspector]

I saw somewhere recently where someone used a hose clamp to squeeze the outside inward until tight. Maybe a combination of the hose clamp on the outside and the slotted driver inside would be easiest. Hypothetically and from a friend naturally.

Pete

 

[Garden Shed Projects]

My hypothetical friend had decided to purchase a replacement and has promised to be a bit more careful in future.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Titan_uk]

I imagine that if someone bought a cheapy b & q tape measure and it went slack, they would probably decide to take it apart to see which bit of plastic had broken. He would probably be quite surprised to find out that all the cheapy steel had rusted right in the middle of the coil and the compression when taking the top off, exploded the bits All over the place. Luckily he was probably wearing glasses but imagine his annoyance any having put pick 1cm pieces of metal from all over the kitchen, worktops, cooker, floor etc. Imagine if anything like that ever happened.. which it never did.

 

[TominDales]

It is a spiral spring like in a clock.

I bought a quill spring earlier this year to use in my Parkinson vice. It only cost £5, so I'd recommend buy again as the metal was sharp and tough.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LBRQ4HL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1Although the post brixit price now seems to be £7.99! thats gone up £3 in six months., shopping around Amazon may find one nearler the £5 mark.

If you were hypothetically to re-coil and mine was coiled with a lot of energy and bound by a thick 2mm piece of wire.
I'd make a metal dowel with slot in the end from 8mm or 10mm diameter metal bolt - a longish bolt say 2 inches so that you can thread a nut or two on to help hold the bolt in place and enough screw turns to wind up the spring.
I'd coil it using a ratchet spanner to prevent it uncoiling between strokes with the bolt threaded through a nut (or 2).
The other end will need to be held by some strong plyers or a mole grip (it it can grip the free end tightly.

Not sure how to fix the bolt in a vice to hold the bolts with enough space for the spring? maybe at an angle with the bolt held diagonally in a vice corner with the spring one side and the bolt head the other.
I'd definitely wear thick leather gauntlets and eye protection - hypothetically if doing this job as the wire could spiral out with a lot of force. Good luck