Wiper blade springs ?

[Rich2502Participant @rich2502]

Anyone know what the steel used in windscreen wiper flat springs is exactly? Is it a high grade spring steel or something cheaper ?

This seems like a good source of free spring steel, my local Halfords has a never ending supply of the stuff.

I’m using it to make lock picks at the moment.

 

[VicParticipant @vic]

No idea but the stuff I’ve salvaged won’t take a tight bend cold. I tried a tight bend to make a tension wrench and the metal cracked. A slightly less tight bend was ok.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Is it a stainless steel variety?

Tony

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

No idea on material apart from some kind of stainless, but it’s hard. Just used some to make dummy window frames, crop out to just over length then bench grinder to get exact length. File wouldn’t touch it

[Tony Pratt 1]

On Tony Pratt 1 Said:

Is it a stainless steel variety?

Tony

Yes, obviously open to the weather 24 hours a day it must be a particularly corrosion resistant variety.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

It is stainless and I have a reel of the same spring strip that was supplied to Trico. I have lost the quality control document that specified the percentages of each of the material contents. I can confirm that it has not rusted in 25 years.

Ian P

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

It is stainless and I have a reel of the same spring strip that was supplied to Trico. I have lost the quality control document that specified the percentages of each of the material contents. I can confirm that it has not rusted in 25 years.

Ian P

I worked at Trico Dunstable back in the day, we had sight of the wiper blade tooling just before they shut us down.

Tony

[Vic]

On Vic Said:

No idea but the stuff I’ve salvaged won’t take a tight bend cold. I tried a tight bend to make a tension wrench and the metal cracked. A slightly less tight bend was ok… …

Played with some in the workshop this morning, it will anneal, a good red for 45 seconds or something and let it cool.

You can hammer a sharp 90* over the edge of the vice without cracking..

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

On Vic Said:

No idea but the stuff I’ve salvaged won’t take a tight bend cold. I tried a tight bend to make a tension wrench and the metal cracked. A slightly less tight bend was ok… …

Played with some in the workshop this morning, it will anneal, a good red for 45 seconds or something and let it cool.

You can hammer a sharp 90* over the edge of the vice without cracking..

I’ve not tried that but wonder how durable it is once softened? It’s reasonably workable as it is and I’ve not yet seen the need for a very tight bend.

[Rich2502Participant @rich2502]

I have answered my own question, it’s “SK-5 is the Japanese equivalent of American 1080, a high carbon steel with carbon between 0.75%-0.85% and 0.60%-0.90% manganese.”  So it is a spring steel, heat treatable and very usefull. And free.

 

 

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

According to interweb, 1080 contains no chromium or nickel, so why wouldn’t it rust?

[Author]

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