spring steel?

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a guy called me and wants to know if i can weld spring steel, so of course i said yes. now if only i knew what it was, and which rod to use on it. its been welded before but with what? any help would be greatly appreciated
Reply:Well, you'd better call him back and tell him that you can't weld spring steel.Welding causes de-carbonization and makes the steel VERY brittle. Even if the weld looks sound, the part WILL fail...usually in the HAZ.http://all-a-cart.comWelding Cart Kits and accessories
Reply:AND you will damage the heat treat if it is already made into something like a leaf spring. It will be easy to bend in the places it does not brake.
Reply:If I remember I read on a book you can weld that spring steel, but it would need to be heat treated again so it can recover it´s elasticity. Was the book right?My Babies: HF Drill pressHF Pipe Bender3   4.5" Black and Decker angle grindersLincoln Electric PROMIG 175that´s it!
Reply:Not in my mind.  Can you weld it? Sure, it will stick together? Sure.What bothers me about what your books says is for example a leaf spring. Most are either 1095 or more likely 5160. You weld it all up as you need it to be. Then you need to go through the heat treat process which includes hardening and then tempering. This is roughly a follows:To get a proper heat treat you need to first normalize the steel. This means you have to heat it all up to non-magnetic and allow to cool to black. You do this three times. Then you need to harden it. You take it up to non-magnetic and quench in oil. Then you need to reheat to temper, 5160 requires three temper cycles to temper it correctly. Your spring is tempered but your weld and the part you welded on just went through Hell. I would doubt they could stand up to the stress of the hardening and temper.I would think it would still fail rather quickly.
Reply:Not in my mind. Can you weld it? Sure, it will stick together? Sure.What bothers me about what your books says is for example a leaf spring.
Reply:thanx fellers
Reply:Originally Posted by smokkethanx fellers
Reply:i would not touch itif it fails .. you dont want to be "it"you fixed it..so your it.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:sounds dangerous to me     spring steel + welding = DANGEROUS PART FAILURE      +
Reply:To get a good bead you'd need to do a pre-weld heat treatment (normalize) then a post-weld heat treatment (normalize again), then harden, then temper.   Seriously.On the other hand, talk to the guy, maybe the application is such that having it stuck together for a while is more important than having the repair last without cracking.Kalroy"It's all about the OODA Loop."
Reply:Originally Posted by elvergonIf I remember I read on a book you can weld that spring steel, but it would need to be heat treated again so it can recover it´s elasticity. Was the book right?
Reply:do not do it