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Thread: spring steel for camera back?

  1. #31

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    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Wilkinson View Post
    Sorry for reviving am old thread but I am considering using feeler gauge for my 5x12 camera back. I would like to know if you had to heat the gauge before forming?
    Barry, I've used both the 0.025" and 0.031" of the 302/304 stainless steel feel gauge stock from McMaster, and both could be formed into loop ends and drilled easily without any heat treatment. I don't think this feeler gauge stock is true spring temper since it's relatively easy to work with, but the elasticity does seem to hold up fairly well. I used the 0.031" stock on a bail back which puts the springs under a lot of load.

    Last edited by Colin Graham; 11-Sep-2018 at 09:21. Reason: added photo

  2. #32

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    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    A few years ago I had to make some leaf springs for a camera back. On the old cameramakers group there was quite a bit of discussion on this topic. And there, I learned that if you hammer on brass, it changes its composition and turns it into a spring.

    I don't know why this occurs. I wonder if pounding on it heats it up just enough to change its molecular structure.

    Anyway, I got a brass kick plate at the hardware store, cut some pieces to shape (sabre saw with a hacksaw blade did the trick), filed the edges, etc. Before I started pounding I did all the drilling and looping necessary. Then I just pounded it along its length (on a small anvil I have; a big old vise would do nicely for a pounding surface).

    I was really surprised at how well it changed the brass from bendable to flexible. Works really well.

    Hope this helps.

  3. #33

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    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    I've used carbon fiber strips for my 8x10 back. I used 1/2mm and layered it up like an old truck spring, epoxied the strips together. Works great, easy to work with and doesn't rust.

  4. #34
    Film and Darkroom User
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    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    Quote Originally Posted by Colin Graham View Post
    Barry, I've used both the 0.025" and 0.031" of the 302/304 stainless steel feel gauge stock from McMaster, and both could be formed into loop ends and drilled easily without any heat treatment. I don't think this feeler gauge stock is true spring temper since it's relatively easy to work with, but the elasticity does seem to hold up fairly well. I used the 0.031" stock on a bail back which puts the springs under a lot of load.

    Thanks Colin and all others for your guidance, its seems there are a number of solutions to be investigated.

  5. #35

    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    123

    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    I used phosphor bronze shim stock for my build

    https://www.mcmaster.com/9014k315
    Last edited by radii; 27-Jan-2021 at 11:36.

  6. #36

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    1,285

    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    Quote Originally Posted by pacviewcam View Post
    A few years ago I had to make some leaf springs for a camera back. On the old cameramakers group there was quite a bit of discussion on this topic. And there, I learned that if you hammer on brass, it changes its composition and turns it into a spring.

    I don't know why this occurs. I wonder if pounding on it heats it up just enough to change its molecular structure.

    Anyway, I got a brass kick plate at the hardware store, cut some pieces to shape (sabre saw with a hacksaw blade did the trick), filed the edges, etc. Before I started pounding I did all the drilling and looping necessary. Then I just pounded it along its length (on a small anvil I have; a big old vise would do nicely for a pounding surface).

    I was really surprised at how well it changed the brass from bendable to flexible. Works really well.

    Hope this helps.
    Okay, as of today, I can attest to the magical transformation (i.e., hardening effect) of hammering brass strips. I am fabricating an 8x10 reducing back for my 7x11 camera and thus needed a slim, 1/4", top and bottom above/below the ground glass frame. I bought a pair of K&S Precision Metals 1/4" x .064" brass strips to use for the GG springs. My first attempt was a bust--when removing an 8x10 film holder, the springs bent. I removed them, hammered them, then reinstalled. Abracadabra, the brass was transformed into a spring. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.

    https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/.../#post-1303170

    Cheers,
    Michael

  7. #37
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    I too would recommend certain bronze stocks. Gives you a bit of classic old camera look, yet with much greater corrosion resistance than brass, and a more reliable flex.

  8. #38

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    Jan 2019
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    315

    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Roberts View Post
    Okay, as of today, I can attest to the magical transformation (i.e., hardening effect) of hammering brass strips. I am fabricating an 8x10 reducing back for my 7x11 camera and thus needed a slim, 1/4", top and bottom above/below the ground glass frame. I bought a pair of K&S Precision Metals 1/4" x .064" brass strips to use for the GG springs. My first attempt was a bust--when removing an 8x10 film holder, the springs bent. I removed them, hammered them, then reinstalled. Abracadabra, the brass was transformed into a spring. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.

    https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/.../#post-1303170
    FWIW, this process is called cold working, or work hardening. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_hardening The post on bladeforums has the right process but incorrect explanation. It doesn't have to do with density of the material, but rather its structure. Work hardening increases the number of defects (dislocations) in the crystalline structure of the material, so it resists plastic deformation - it doesn't take a set, but springs back. The disadvantage of work hardening is that it makes the material less ductile, more brittle - this is in a sense what happens when you bend a paper clip back and forth until it breaks at the bend. However, if your spring uses enough material, it probably won't break from a lifetime of camera use.

    Heating the material very hot (as described in the bladeforums post) anneals it, relaxing the crystalline structure and making it more ductile and easier to shape.

  9. #39

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    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    Fantastic. Thanks for the explanation!

  10. #40

    Re: spring steel for camera back?

    Reviving this thread.

    I picked up several referrals to mcmaster—so the feeler gauges work well and would last as spring backs?

    Or are there other options at McMaster that would work as well or better?

    Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

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