Sheet metal experts plz

[Snowpuff]

Hey so I'm looking to make these tiny leaf springs for my at-85. (3rd pic)
now how to cut the metal so it's straight and does not bend.
Also more importantly how do I bend such small metal. I bought a small break from amazon but it seems not small enough to achieve the small 90 degrees bends that I need. How is this possible?

is there like a place any one knows that does small sheet metal orders???

How should I go about this? Preferably cheapest rout, I'd rather make them my self but if I could get then made for cheap that would also be ideal

So far I made one out of metal (first pic bottom one)with bending with pliers and hammer (lol) and to cut I spent hours with a tiny little file , it lasted over 500 rounds then was bent out of shape quite rather fast also seem like it needs to be made out of spring steel, so I heated the steal up red hot then diped in water...it was a failure...lol
I'm trying to 3d print them too...obviously with no luck...however I have a few more designs to try out with PETG

[Ecapnation]

Do you need them cut and bent? I don't think we have tooling small enough but I'm sure we could laser cut the flat

[Snowpuff]

The 3rd pic is what I need good sir. So yes lol how to make such small bends lol

[markdem]

Yep. Thats how you do it. With a hammer and pliers. No need for a fancy break machine.

I would Try find a pull-start from a weedwhacker or an old cuckoo clock. Maybe a little rc car with the gas engines. They have coils of nice flat springs inside.

whilst some metals can be made to have some "springy" attributes, spring steel is a specific kind of steel. The metallurgy is different, along with the heat treating. If you do get your hands on some spring steel ribbon, be careful when subjecting it to heat - even a light blue color is enough to mess up the heat treat

[Snowpuff]

So ge this. I fist used feeler gauge for metal, it is already spring steal right? Hardened steal. So I can find the perfect gauge then I cut it to size BUT when you start to bend it SNAP!!! ....lol so it needs to be soft and bent to shape first THEN heat treated to be hard and stiff.

Also I really want to know how they got such perfect bends on just small pieces, it must be a micro break right? I really want the perfect bends.

Also i tried heating up spring steal and trying to bend it while it's glowing ... it weakens it and breaks easy....at least with the steal a feeler gauge is made out of ....man I hope my dad dosnt need that size feeler gauge cause it toast lol he gonna be pissed when he see I cut them up 🤣😅

[markdem]

Snowpuff spring steel can be bent into shape and used immediately. no need for additional heat treating

[XEMON]

Did you dry fire your gun? 😅
That's usually how they break.

Lots of people have tried to make them ... Very few managed to make one actually work ...
Once you have the spring in the right shape, you need it to have the right tension to push the catcher down at the right place and hold if hard enough to not slip, but not to hard to rip the chain ...

The old site had a decent start, I'm not sure it it's in the way back machine or not ... I'll check my notes too, I might have saved it ...

FYI, such a small part, if you get it glow, you already burnt all the carbon out and it's not spring steel anymore. Watch your temps closely for the heat treatment 👍

This little spring and the chain are going to be what render ATS unusable without changing the mag system.

[Snowpuff]

I don't want to admit it but I went through 7 guid plates this summer .... some by airing up the marker with the mag inside ( stupid on/off valve) and one by dry firing without the mag the others just broke by playing normally with the Marker....I have 4 original plates left ...

Today I managed to print a workable guide plate out of petg... I dry fired and entire 45/68 tank...still works...I have DONE IT!!!!!!!!

https://youtube.com/shorts/IVRPYh20B-A?si=4lMBLq1QZvipHdG9

[XEMON]

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

That's great news!

Anything that can keep those beast running is a great news

[flyweightnate]

Most industrial fabricators won't be able to make something that small.

It's crucial to get the thickness right, first, so it's the right amount of "springy". This will be "coined" given its size. You can do this at home with an arbor press, an 80 degree punch, and an 80 degree vee die (or a v-block and some shims to account for springback). Wrapping it with another sheet will keep the holes from distorting as much if they're near the bend line.

The "nubbin" end is tough. They're typically a highly automated process where a narrow pair of tongs grabs and rolls the metal, like how they make clock springs. If you get the base done, I'd drill a small hole in the end and fuse in a plastic "nose" instead of trying to bend a loop in it.

[Snowpuff]

Thank you for that insight my good sir.

[zenmic]

I am subscribing to this tread! Looking forward to where this project goes!