Spring tension tester

As part of my restoration of old motorcycles I often need to test the tension of valve, clutch and drive shock absorber springs. I made a spring tension tester out of a 1/2 ton Central Machinery arbor press (#3551 on sale at Harbor Freight as of March 2016 for $40) by welding a 3/8" socket to the ram drive. I then velcroed a small ruler next to the ram to measure the distance the ram moves. To measure the tension of a spring, I place the spring under the ram and using a beam torque wrench inserted into the socket, compress the spring a specific distance as measured off the ruler and read the load off the torque beam scale. Spring tension = (Final load - Initial load ) / Distance compressed.

Attachment 9315

Great first post j2mariashop! Welcome to HomemadeTools.net :welcome:

Hi j2mariashop,

Welcome! :welcome:

Lots of bike guys here, including yours truly. Do you concentrate on a particular sort of vintage bikes?

What are you working on at the moment?

Ken

Thanks j2mariashop! We've added your Spring Tension Tester to our Measuring and Marking category, as well as to your builder page: j2mariashop's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/spring-tension-tester"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/145279/spring-tension-tester.jpeg" /></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/spring-tension-tester">Spring Tension Tester</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/j2mariashop">j2mariashop</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/wrench">wrench</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/arbor-press">arbor press</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/spring">spring</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/torque">torque</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/tester">tester</a>, <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/scale">scale</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Hi Ken

No, I don't concentrate on a specific model. Bikes I have restored include a Moto Guzzi Super Alce, a Moto-Morini 350 V Twin, a Moto-Guzzi Le Mans and I am currently working on a Ner-A-Car. It has to be technically interesting for me. I also ride and am in the middle of servicing my Kawasaki 300 Ninja - coolant change, top end work, etc.

Some neat projects there. I'd love to see pics of the Ner-A-Car restoration underway. I did a '69 Triumph T120R a few years ago, but that doesn't remotely compare to the complexities of your current project. Were you able to find any references and/or parts stores (NOS is probably a dream) for the Ner-A-Car or are you fabricating everything necessary from scratch?

Ken