Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within repair Search permies
Advance search Google search
Register / Login
rocket mass heater
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
skip the rat race Building a Better World Book with giant legos GMC website apropedia earth IC.org
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

Repairing a clockwork spring with rivets

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I bought an old Victrola Talking Machine the other day. It turns out, one of the motor springs was broken. I believe what happened was after sitting for nearly a century, the grease siezed up and someone started cranking the handle all willy-nilly. The coils of the spring could not slide against one another and it tore apart. There was only one listed on ebay--for over 100 dollars! So fix it I will. There's nothing to lose. Here are the pieces of the offending spring.
20200711_174011.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_174011.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Cut off the jagged edges and heat with a torch to soften the temper. I want the repair area to be the most ductile area of the spring to hopefully prevent breaking in the future.
20200711_181949.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_181949.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm going to need some rivets. Since it is a clockwork spring, I want the rivet heads to be as flat as possible to allow the spring to contract and relax freely without the rived heads rubbing into the spring layers. Some nails will suffice. I soften the head ends with a torch to anneal them.
20200711_174526.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_174526.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Now drill a hole for the first rivet.
20200711_182512.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_182512.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The rivets, cut to a proper length, do not want to cooperate.  It is a law of nature that and item which is difficult to barely fit into a hole will always fall out at the slightest breath. I use the camming action of some locking pliers to upset the rivet a little in the holes to hold it together so I can hammer the rivet.
20200711_183844.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_183844.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The two halves of the spring are...well...springy and do not want to cooperate. I have to hold two springs splayed apart while I hammer the rivet. But I need something to hammer against with this awkward arrangement. This is what I came up with.
20200711_184946.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_184946.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
For obvious reasons,  I couldn't take pictures of actually heading the rivets. With a ball-peen hammer, you simply use the flat face to upset the rivet to fill the holes tightly. Then you use the ball-peen to round the head and flatten it so there's no sharp edges to dig into the other coils of the spring as they slide against one another. You can see I upset the one rivet one blow too much, and it cracked the spring. The spring's steel was still more brittle than I expected, and had a definite course grain pattern to it. Not good, but I think it should hold. The strain should always be from one direction, which is good. Maybe I should have tried to squeeze in four rivets...who knows.
20200711_185025.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20200711_185025.jpg]

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Jordan Holland
gardener
Posts: 3132
2095
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Success!

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve, and to give all I can, and to love a young woman whom I don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange."

 
Gerry Parent
Rocket Scientist
Posts: 1809
Location: Kaslo, BC
525
I like...
building solar woodworking rocket stoves wood heat greening the desert
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Very nice repair Jordan. Thank you for sharing.

Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
dragontechrmh.com

 
She's out of the country right now, toppling an unauthorized dictatorship. Please leave a message with this tiny ad:
Freaky Cheap Heat - 2 hour movie - HD streaming
https://permies.com/wiki/238453/Freaky-Cheap-Heat-hour-movie
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...