I need to make a couple of springs for the boat, about .625 OD and 14" long or so. I think the wire is around .075, 302SS. These are extension springs. I can get a raw coil of spring but have had lots of problems trying to create a ring eye in the end. This will be captured by a roll pin, the whole thing ends up inside a tube. When extended, they are pretty much at the limit of extension for that spring.
So how do I go about bending the end to form the eye? I have not been able to grab enough of anything to cold bend the wire without deforming the coils below it, I can make a nice one if I heat the wire but when it cools it is soft and will not hold the tension. There must be a trick to this: how do the manufacturers do it? Does it just take some special fixturing to cold bend it, or do they hot bend then re-harden? It is possible to re-harden 302 with no equipment and no knowledge?
So how do I go about bending the end to form the eye? I have not been able to grab enough of anything to cold bend the wire without deforming the coils below it, I can make a nice one if I heat the wire but when it cools it is soft and will not hold the tension. There must be a trick to this: how do the manufacturers do it? Does it just take some special fixturing to cold bend it, or do they hot bend then re-harden? It is possible to re-harden 302 with no equipment and no knowledge?