Re: Clock springs on helicon


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Posted by Chuck(G) on June 03, 2002 at 17:05:25:

In Reply to: Clock springs on helicon posted by Gary Swart on June 03, 2002 at 16:22:36:

If the springs are really weak, it might well be that they've broken.

I've replaced clock springs--it's not difficult, but it can require the use of a few band-
aids.

You might be able to get some old Miraphone springs, or you can fabricate your own from clock mainspring stock. I went to the local antique clock shop and they gave me a boxful of old mainsprings for nothing.

If you look carefully, you'll see that the canister enclosing the spring is actually in 2 pieces: sort of an outer cup and a disc-shaped part that fits into a recess of the cup. To separate, simply place the canister cup down on a drill-press vise with the jaws set wider than the disk-shaped part. A few light taps on the shaft of the spring should separate the two halves. You'll see that one end of the flat clockspring has a hook-shaped part that engages a slot in the capstan on the shaft, and the other end of the spring has an "outward" hook that engages a slot on the inside of the cup.

You can form these hooks by annealing the ends of the spring that need to be formed. Using a pair of longnose pliers positioned at the end of the annealed area in the flame of a propane torch until it glows red. Remove and let cool slowly. You'll find that you can now shape that part of the spring without having it snap.

After that, it's a matter of getting the spring coiled back into the cup and getting the whole mess pressed back together. I've found that positioning the assembly cup-side up on the drill press vise and using a an appropriately-sized socket (from a socket wrench set) that is large enough to bear down on the disc part will let you get the whole thing back together again with a few light taps of a small hammer.

Probably more than you wanted to know, huh?


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