Report · since 1996
What happens between your note and a counted bag of springs on a Friday. Six steps, the same for ten pieces or two thousand, so you know what to send and what comes back.
§1 Step one
A drawing, a list of dimensions, or the broken spring itself. Any of the three is enough to start.
Missing a few? Send what you've got. I'll ask for the rest rather than guess.
That's fine, and it's how half our work starts. I measure the pieces, work out the wire, the coil count and the free length it had before it tired, and draw it up properly.
Measuring and drawing from a sample is $45, credited against the order if you go ahead. You keep the drawing either way.
Write to hello@kvoyle.com with photos or a drawing. For a physical sample, write first and I'll tell you how to get it to the shop, or arrange a drop-off.
§2 Step two
One price per design, with setup shown on its own line so you can see what a repeat will cost.
Once I have a drawing, a sample or full dimensions, the quote comes back within 2 working days. If I need to order a special wire, I'll say so and give you the extra days.
The price stands for 30 days from the date on it. Wire prices move, and after a month I'll check them again before I hold you to anything.
New customers pay 50 percent before winding and the balance on pickup or delivery. After that you're on 30 day invoice. Bank transfer or cheque.
§3 Step three
Nothing gets wound in quantity until three pieces have been measured, load tested and signed off. It's the step I still do myself, on every job.
The coiler is set, three springs are wound, stress relieved, and taken off to the bench. One is never enough to tell whether the setting is steady.
On production jobs, I send you the readings to approve before the run starts.
The load scale on the bench was bought second-hand in 1996, the same month as the first coiler. Every Monday morning, before anything else, it gets checked against a 5 kg brass weight.
The weight lives in a grey wool sock in the top drawer, because the sock is the only thing that's never scratched it. If the reading is off, nothing gets load tested until it's put right.
First-off check sheet
| Check | Nominal | Piece 1 | Piece 2 | Piece 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free length | 42.0 ±0.5 | 41.9 | 42.1 | 42.0 |
| Outside dia. | 14.0 ±0.15 | 13.98 | 14.04 | 14.01 |
| Total coils | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 |
| End squareness | Within 2° | 1° | 1° | 1.5° |
| Load at 30.0 mm | 64 N ±10% | 62.8 | 65.1 | 63.9 |
Scale checked Monday against the 5 kg brass. Read 5.00.
Checked: R.
Run released
§4 Step four
Production takes 10 to 15 working days after you approve the first-off. Prototype packs ship in 5.
Once the coiler is running, every 50th spring comes off to the bench and goes through the same checks as the first-off. Wire varies a little from one end of a coil to the other, and the machine warms up over a morning. This is how we catch it.
If anything drifts more than half the tolerance, the run stops and the coiler is reset. I don't wait for a spring to go out of tolerance before acting. The pieces since the last good check are measured one by one before they go in with the rest.
§5 Step five
Winding leaves stress locked in the wire. Every job goes through our own oven to let it out, at a time and temperature set for the wire, so the spring keeps its length after the first thousand cycles instead of sagging.
We don't plate or coat in the shop. Those go out to local finishers we've used for years and come back for a count and a look before packing. It adds 5 working days to the lead time.
§6 Step six
Friday mornings the van goes out. The shop closes at noon, so the drop is done by lunch.
Springs are counted into bags and each bag is labelled with the job number, the quantity and the drawing reference. Use the job number when you reorder and the $85 setup is waived within 12 months.
Free Friday drop on orders over $500, and $35 on smaller ones, to Burlington, Stoney Creek, Grimsby, Ancaster, Dundas, Brantford and Caledonia, and anywhere else inside 60 km of Hamilton.
Courier at cost beyond 60 km, or pickup at the shop by arrangement. On a first order, the balance is due on pickup or delivery.
§7 Next
Now you know what to send, the rates sheet shows what it costs. The written quote comes back within 2 working days and holds for 30.