Outer Limits 4x4 Board

wow .. a knowledge of spring steel pencil measureing constest broke out in a tech thread ...

Cobolt drill.
Low drill speed and proper cutter lube.
A drill press would be very helpful.


Where do people get the idea that spring steel is ultra hard to drill ?
It is more difficult than mild steel sure, use the correct tools and bit sizes it is not that hard.

love_mud wrote:wow .. a knowledge of spring steel pencil measureing constest broke out in a tech thread ...

Its barely tech. More like Steels 101.

love_mud wrote:wow .. a knowledge of spring steel pencil measureing constest broke out in a tech thread ...

Cobolt drill.
Low drill speed and proper cutter lube.
A drill press would be very helpful.


Where do people get the idea that spring steel is ultra hard to drill ?
It is more difficult than mild steel sure, use the correct tools and bit sizes it is not that hard.

Well it hard I know cause I spent most of the day doing it. I have cobalt bits and have been using proper cutting oil. I was trying to drill it in place which I think was the problem, I am hoping it's easy enough tomorrow when I pull the spring out. All I really needed was a pilot hole with it in place which is done.

And regarding the steel argument, at least people aren't asking how to fit 31's on there zook lol.

Good luck to you mate, keep us informed! And don't forget the pics when it's done!

I can't see why you would need a pilot hole for an 8mm drill. It is only going to make drilling the hole harder the second time around.

how do you fit 31's on ya zook??

to drill any steel you need the drill speed right down, you will kill any drill bit in 5 secound flat if the speed is to high.

go as slow as you can and dont force it, let the drill do the work not you.

OK guys/girls it's all done now thank god. With the spring out of the vehicle it was much easier to drill, still a bit of a PITA but doable.

Now after a few ramp flexes ( I need a bigger ramp ) I discovers a couple of small problems and sorted them. But one problem may still remain. The elliptic (hlaf spring) spring seems to fold down after max compression and stay there with the shackle somewhat inverted. I flipped my boomerang shackles around the other way and drilled a hole through them for a bolt to make them anti inversion shackles. I think this has fixed the problem but I CBF ramping it up again and stuffing about anymore as I was starving and had other stuff to do.

I'll take it out for a wheel next weekend and flex it up proper and see how it goes. I'll post pics when I'm 100% finished (probably never lol)

just get some cig weldall electrodes and you will be sweet , i,ve welded heaps of leaf springs with these rods including 10 ton rockwell truck springs with no cracks. cheers 350hplux

Umm ok thanks, but I've already drilled them.

But I did read about those weldall rods, Are they supposed to be good for welding anything?

Know someone with a cropper or a punch machine?

if you do and they have the right sized punch they can punch a hole through the spring in a few seconds flat.

no F'ing about with heating up then cooling a spring which will effect the springs stiffeness then trying to drill and crap.

even paying for it would be a hell of a lot quicker and probably cheaper by the sounds of it.

the are a grouse rod and you can even weld cast with the right technique but a bit expensive . when you are drilling spring steel or stainless just remember slow speed high feed. cheers darin