Leaf Springs - suitable for cultivator tine tips?

jbwilson · Jul 17, 2015

I have a box grader with 3 tine (one piece) cultivators. The cultivator points are now blunted and I am thinking of welding on tips fabricated from an old vehicle leaf spring. Seems simpler than building up the blunt tines with weld metal. My thinking is that the steel used in leaf springs is fairly abrasion resistant - and probably more so than the steel in my cultivator tines. I will weld on the tips using 6013 electrodes because in Australia it is cheap and available everywhere and works very well for me. When the fabricated tips become blunt, I simply grind off the welds and replace with new fabricated tips. Does this idea seem sensible - are there other common (and cheap) steel products that may do the job better? Thank you.
John

CNC Dan · Jul 17, 2015

jbwilson said:
I have a box grader with 3 tine (one piece) cultivators. The cultivator points are now blunted and I am thinking of welding on tips fabricated from an old vehicle leaf spring. Seems simpler than building up the blunt tines with weld metal. My thinking is that the steel used in leaf springs is fairly abrasion resistant - and probably more so than the steel in my cultivator tines. I will weld on the tips using 6013 electrodes because in Australia it is cheap and available everywhere and works very well for me. When the fabricated tips become blunt, I simply grind off the welds and replace with new fabricated tips. Does this idea seem sensible - are there other common (and cheap) steel products that may do the job better? Thank you.
John

Spring steel isn't as abrasion resistant as hardfacing, but it's a lot cheaper, and it's better than most common low carbon steel.

Go ahead and use it. Worst case you end up back where you are now.

ThomasH · Jul 17, 2015

Leaf springs are typically good quality steel and the ones I have used were case hardened. I am wondering if you can drill the springs with a sharp drill bit? If so, I would be more inclined to bolt the tip in place rather than heat it up and remove any hardening that might be there. In other words, make a holder for the tip, maybe C shaped, to bolt the tip into.

jbwilson · Jul 17, 2015

Thank you all. I'll go looking for an old leaf spring in a field somewhere - and then to the wreckers if no luck. Making a tip holder sounds like fun for practising metal working skills.

John

kydick · Jul 17, 2015

over the years i have taken leaf springs and welded them onto plow points. just took a new one as a pattern and cut to length and weld on top of the point. works like new maybe last longer too. seems like a 6011 is my favorite rod. also have welded them onto my disc mower shoes. when they get worn down almost to the original shoe i just weld another spring on it. never had to buy a new shoe for my mowers in at least 20 years.

jbwilson · Jul 18, 2015

Thank you Kydick for your endorsement.

John

jaotguy · Jul 18, 2015

drilling spring steel .... lots of pressure, a VERY slow turning drill and water running on the drilling surface to keep things cool ....

jbwilson · Jul 18, 2015

Thank you jaotguy. Where possible I use my floor drill press whenever drilling in steel using new engine oil for cooling and lubricating. I just use enough oil to stick onto the metal scarfings and work piece without the oil dripping anywhere. I'm hopeless at using a hand held drill for steel - it takes forever, I can't exert enough pressure on the drill, the holes are anything but circular, and the drill bits end up blunt or broken.

John

duanew1 · Jul 19, 2015

jaotguy said:
drilling spring steel .... lots of pressure, a VERY slow turning drill and water running on the drilling surface to keep things cool ....

Good tip. It took me dulling a few drill bits to learn to drill on my drill's slowest speed. Hand sharpening larger drill bits is actually pretty easy.

Also going slow on metal cutting blades help keep them sharp and not melt the teeth.