3D-Printable Alps click leaf re-bending tool.

[abrahamstechnology]

Hello,
I think a very good idea would be some sort of 3D printed press tool to uniformly bend worn-out Alps leafsprings back to their original shape. I have lots of black Alps that I would like to restore, but I fear hand bending them will cause inconsistencies. I am not good at 3D design, though.

[LeslieAnn]

Ideally you would bend them to work the same, not look the same, but that gets tricky, and while you can match the spring pressure at any one point, they will differ everywhere else.

In order for them to all be consistent all the way through, the material in all of them needs to be the same, same work load, same stresses, same shape, and that just isn't possible at this point.

[abrahamstechnology]

Ideally you would bend them to work the same, not look the same, but that gets tricky, and while you can match the spring pressure at any one point, they will differ everywhere else.

In order for them to all be consistent all the way through, the material in all of them needs to be the same, same work load, same stresses, same shape, and that just isn't possible at this point.

Aren't they all the same? For a given switch series, that is.

[LeslieAnn]

Ideally you would bend them to work the same, not look the same, but that gets tricky, and while you can match the spring pressure at any one point, they will differ everywhere else.

In order for them to all be consistent all the way through, the material in all of them needs to be the same, same work load, same stresses, same shape, and that just isn't possible at this point.

Aren't they all the same? For a given switch series, that is.

Yes, but certain keys have been used far more than others.

[abrahamstechnology]

Ideally you would bend them to work the same, not look the same, but that gets tricky, and while you can match the spring pressure at any one point, they will differ everywhere else.

In order for them to all be consistent all the way through, the material in all of them needs to be the same, same work load, same stresses, same shape, and that just isn't possible at this point.

Aren't they all the same? For a given switch series, that is.

Yes, but certain keys have been used far more than others.

The idea is they would conform to the shape of the press, thus be consistent.

[LeslieAnn]

Metal fatigue is different on every switch due to age and cycles, simply bending them all to look alike/be the same shape will not result in a uniform feel. You will actually make it worse than it already is because you are adding even more fatigue to make them the same shape, which is no longer a way to judge how they will perform. Frankly, it never was, shape is only one factor in how a spring performs.

There is only one way to make them all work identical again is to melt them down and start over.