Tips on where to dig?

[happyamos]

Yep, saw that. I think I can get my hands on some through work.

 

[GLASSHOPPER55]

Yep, saw that. I think I can get my hands on some through work.

Yeah If you don't use spring steel, you'll spend more time straightening the probe than using it.

 

[happyamos]

Boy, was I wrong about that. Turns out, SS is not as common as I thought. Couldn't order any unless I wanted to buy a truckload. Obviously, I don't need that much! Junk yards it is, I suppose!

 

[UncleBruce]

Boy, was I wrong about that. Turns out, SS is not as common as I thought. Couldn't order any unless I wanted to buy a truckload. Obviously, I don't need that much! Junk yards it is, I suppose!

Older car trunks had spring steel rods in them. If you can find the older 70's and 80's they are longer. Hit up a salvage yard you can usually get them very cheap.

 

[hemihampton]

I've been buying sheet metal from a local steel shop here in Detroit area for past 20 years. A couple of years ago I went in to see if I could buy some Spring Steel rods from him & surprisingly he had no clue or idea what I was talking about & never heard of it? And this is a huge wharehouse full of different shapes & sizes of steel? LEON.

 

[happyamos]

I've been buying sheet metal from a local steel shop here in Detroit area for past 20 years. A couple of years ago I went in to see if I could buy some Spring Steel rods from him & surprisingly he had no clue or idea what I was talking about & never heard of it? And this is a huge wharehouse full of different shapes & sizes of steel? LEON.

It's a specialty metal. I work for a specialty metal distributor and even they don't carry it. I did find a couple distributors, one in Chicago area, one in Detroit area, as well as Alro, and they all laughed when I told them how much I needed. It can be obtained, but it's pretty much made to order. So, unless you are buying a flatbeds worth of steel...

 

[GLASSHOPPER55]

Yeah the old large car trunks are gonna be the cheapest and best bet on the spring steel rods. And then some metalworking of course...

 

[embe]

I made a probe (for a septic tank of all things) out of a metal rod from an old crib, and some gas line fittings for the "T" handle. Did the job.

 

[olddog21]

I had a hard time getting spring steel years ago. I was talking to a guy who I teamed up with later on and he said to try a garage door spring manufacturer. I found a spring maker in town and was able to buy twenty feet of steel. That’s great, I can coil it up and stick it in my cars trunk. I got the piece out to my car and found out the stuff isn’t easy to coil up. I had a big car trunk.

Got the piece in the trunk then home and cut to length. I’m not a welder so finding someone who understood that if spring steel heated to hot, it becomes brittle. Not a good thing if you are pushing the probe into the ground and it breaks either at the tip or at the handle

Finally found a good welder and made my probes.

The spring manufacturer sold out to a consortium of makers and they now have a huge plant to make springs. Getting steel from those guys depends on the day and how the secretary feels