Looking for spring material

jackalope66

I have some old (1914) mortise locks on the doors of my house. They use small flat strips of spring steel and many of them have broken. Does anybody know a source for spring steel in t=0.028″ x w=0.083″?

Dean Nickel

Any good locksmith should have spring steel of the round or flat stock in 12-16 inch long. I know that the shop I work in has several tubes.

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

Halflock wrote
Any good locksmith should have spring steel of the round or flat stock in 12-16 inch long. I know that the shop I work in has several tubes.

Just got in some flat spring stock yesterday and it has changed, only in 6″ lengths now.
BBE.

[unknown]

jackalope66

I went to the oldest locksmith in our area and he did not have anything close to the gauge I’m looking for. Where do your locksmith shops get their spring steel rods?

Dean Nickel

Lock supply companies. But do you really want to buy a tube of 100-250 springs(depends on what decade you buy them as they change as was just pointed out by Billy)? The tube is a mix of different thickness and width. So you might get 4-5 springs in a tube that would work for what you are looking for. If I was you, I would call a few shops and see if anyone around you has what you are looking for. Age of the shop will not help in this case. If not then try a search for “Hobby flat spring steel”.

Billy B Edwards Jr. CML

I just took a look at the stock I got in and the closest to what you are looking for is .027″ x .065″. Nothing else in the set is even close to your .028″ x .084″.
BBE.

Dean Nickel

It would figure… they are cheaping out everything.

Pete

Here on the farm, I have found bobby pins (hair pins) used in place of the spring. Doesn’t work as well as the original i’m sure due to it being a bit narrow.
When I need a piece of spring steel, I salvage metal tines from an old leaf rake.

———- Post added at 09:51 PM ———- Previous post was at 09:48 PM ———-

[LEFT]The s&h on such a thin piece of metal should be minimal and I would think many metal supply companies would be glad to ship a few pieces to you. I’m thinking clock repair maybe.[/LEFT]