Are these worth anything

[jcdammeyer]

I suspect there may be some guitar experts here on the forum.

I have this pile of guitar strings. Some are coiled up nicely. They were on or destined for 4 and 5 string bass, 8 string bass and 6 string guitars. Even if I sorted them all into the standard packaging I have no idea if they are any good or even worth anything.

Please help me with this.
Thanks
John

 

[Tomc938]

I've heard metal music wire can be wound for custom springs.

My son plays guitar, and wouldn't consider putting springs of unknown provenance on his guitar. Likely to be stretched out already, (which is why they are not in packages new) so will loose tune quickly and break soon.

 

[YotaBota]

The ferrels make great spacers, standoffs etc for little stuff.

Edit - electronics?

 

[Susquatch]

I used to play guitar. The only reason to keep open package strings was for spares in case you broke one. Even then, I always kept new spares. I agree with Tom - since they are not in the paper envelopes they came in, I'm pretty confident that they are all used. New would all be in sleeves that look a lot like a CD envelope.

I too have heard they could be made into small springs in a pinch.

If you are like me you would keep the nicely rolled ones and pitch the rats nest ones.

 

[VicHobbyGuy]

Not good for music any more, but a few pieces in each size are very handy for cleaning out tubes, small through holes, etc... The round-wound (not flat-wound) strings have a very gentle rasp-like property for clearing out openings in plastic. And if you have a 3D printer, some might come in handy there also.

 

[eotrfish]

I've heard metal music wire can be wound for custom springs.

Definitely - I keep these on hand for making that special spring that is unavailable from my suppliers (including AliExpress). Hang on to the strings - you never know when you might need them

 

[YotaBota]

@eotrfish - Did you build any dedicated wire winding tool(s) for spring making?

 

[eotrfish]

Did you build any dedicated wire winding tool(s) for spring making?

Yes. I made this tensioning tube that fits in an AXA holder. Tighten the brass tipped set screw to set the drag on the wire and use the half nuts to set the coil pitch.




The mandrel has a cross hole to secure the wire when starting the spring. Determine the mandrel diameter by trial and error since there will be some springback once you remove tension from the wire.

For very small springs you can eliminate the tension tube and half nuts - just grab the end of the wire with vise-grips and eyeball the spring pitch.

I originally made this jig in order to make a run of 10 springs for a model Gatling Gun. The springs turned out OK but I had to plug the barrels when I moved back to Canada so they have never been installed.

 

[Susquatch]

Yes. I made this tensioning tube that fits in an AXA holder. Tighten the brass tipped set screw to set the drag on the wire and use the half nuts to set the coil pitch.

This is the coolest dang thing I've seen in a long time!

You powered the spring winder using your lathe chuck, set the spring pitch with your threading pitch, set the diameter with a mandrel, and set the tension in a tube that feeds the wire at the desired pitch.

How did you do the ends with zero pitch?

Very nice @eotrfish!

 

[YotaBota]

And to cool, thnak you.
I'm going to print the pictures and file them for later.

 

[eotrfish]

How did you do the ends with zero pitch?

Leave the halfnuts disengaged for a few turns, then engage for the number of turns you need, then disengage the halfnuts. You can make extra turns at each end because you'll likely want to trim the spring to length and grind the ends flat.

 

[Susquatch]

Leave the halfnuts disengaged for a few turns, then engage for the number of turns you need, then disengage the halfnuts. You can make extra turns at each end because you'll likely want to trim the spring to length and grind the ends flat.

I learned so much in just a few posts. What a terrific start to the new year.

Thank you!

 

[Former Member]

What this thread reminds me is of is:

Think outside the box as we all get trapped inside the box on occasion.