It’s All In The Spring
Spring replacement:
Spring replacement can be approached in many ways as springs make a massive difference to the feel and response of the mechanism.
Mostly spring replacement is a repair, in that we are replacing a broken or rusted spring, this could be one or many springs.
From time to time we get asked to replace all the springs on an instrument. The secret about springs is the tensile strength, the tension that can be applied to the thinnest (finest) spring. Some metals are better for feel and some better for longevity or reliability
Springs are made from many metals
Stainless Steel-
These are the most popular for most wind instruments except oboe. Stainless steel springs need to be thicker to do the same job as other springs therefore cause the mechanism to feel slightly more spongy and heavy. They are virtually indestructible and not affected by moisture therefore particularly good for student instruments.
Blue Steel Springs –
Made from carbon steel that has been heat tempered until the perfect blue tinge appears then quenched in oil. They were once the only spring available, but stainless steel is starting to take over. Blue steel have a very high tensile strength and can therefore be much thinner to do the same job as other springs. The feel great and are mostly found on professional instruments and oboes these days. The only real problem is that they can snap easily and they can suffer from metal cancer (rust)
White Gold Springs –
White Gold Spring wire is solid gold (11 to 14ct) alloy and only found on professional flutes. Most people thing that gold is soft, and it is, however, it has incredible tensile strength. It is perfect for the feel and response of flutes. The drawback with gold is largely the price and to a lesser extent reliability, a gold spring can spit the dummy without notice.
Phosphor Bronze –
Another very useful material for springs it is rarely used and is perhaps the worst option for musical instruments due to its marginally better tensile strength, but is subject to easy breakage.
Other metals are usually a combination of above, however there is nothing new (other than perhaps opposing magnets) that beat the above options.
