Mini-grip's Omega Spring failed. So how exactly do you make a new spring?

E

edcrefiner

Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
270
Hello all,

Recently my Mini-grips Omega Spring broke and right now it is running on only 1 omega spring. Benchmade will not send out Omega springs so I will have to send the knife in which is impractical ( for my situation).

I see a lot of threads on using guitar strings as a substitute. However, I do not know a single thing about guitar strings. How do I know what kind of string to buy? More preciesely I noticed there are bronze, steel, ect which also have different thicknesses. Some help on what dimensions and material of guitar strings to buy would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
 
Same here. Had a 940 spring break on me a few weeks back. I'm probably just gonna send it in and utilize my warrenty.
 
Check the maintenance section. That's where these threads get put, and there are a few in there on the subject :)
 
Do a search on Omega Springs and see if that brings up anything. I know that string type has been mentioned in more than one thread.
 
It seems that most of the threads that mention the type of strings that are supposed to be used are very vague especially to the non-instrument savvy folks. The most specific was somebody mentioning an "e string". Searching online stores it appears that you cannot simply just buy an " e string" by itself.

So I guess the question now is should I just randomly buy a set of guitar strings and hope that an "e string" will be in the set and that it is omega springquality?
 
edcrefiner said:
It seems that most of the threads that mention the type of strings that are supposed to be used are very vague especially to the non-instrument savvy folks. The most specific was somebody mentioning an "e string". Searching online stores it appears that you cannot simply just buy an " e string" by itself.

So I guess the question now is should I just randomly buy a set of guitar strings and hope that an "e string" will be in the set and that it is omega springquality?
Click to expand...

Guitar strings generally come in sets of six, which include one each of: low-E, A, D, G, B, and High-E strings - in other words, a full compliment of strings for a six-string guitar. Generally speaking, whatever package of strings you buy will include an E string.

I have not done this particular project before, but it would seem wise to me to just go to whatever music store and buy the cheapest set of Electric guitar strings they have. The precise gauge of the strings probably won't matter at all for these purposes, so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. This way, you will have three un-wound strings of various gauges to choose from : G, B, and high-E. You can experiment to figure out which will work best for this project. The unwound strings are simply the ones that are plain metal wire.

I hope this helps!
 
I made a new omega spring with a guitar string. I used the thickest I had laying around and it's about 0,4 mm thick when I removed the copper wrapping around it.

it's still working.
 
A friendly machine shop might be able to help you, or if your local vo-tech has a machining program.

Take them a piece of your broken Omega spring, and ask them to measure it with a micrometer. For those unfamiliar, it is a tool used to measure the thickness of materials out to about 0.0001, or so.

A machine shop can also translate the decimal measure into wire gauge. They may have steel wire in the proper size. Should take about half an hour or so, and while you're there, see if they can bend the wire into the proper shape. Better yet, take them the intact spring and ask if they can duplicate it.
 
Hobby shops should stock spring steel wire no idea what size you need but the model plane boy use it.

Richard
 
Thanks for all the help guys. Looks like I'll be buying a full set of guitar strings since the proper string should be located within the set.
 
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