(Mods, please move if this is not in the right place...)
This is my attempt at a St. Croix-style Strike Indicator Spring. The St. Croix design is one of the most sensitive on the market, but they are pricey at $8 or $9 a piece. With the materials used below, one can produce a similar spring for about 68 cents in materials. If was to include my time, I figure each spring costs me $1.90. I have not been able to test these yet, but I did by a Light St. Croix Spring and they seem to “feel” very similar; my spring is probably more like a Medium Spring.
The Boring Stuff – Skip to “the Good Stuff” if you just want to see the process.
R & D Notes
Stainless Steel Leader Wire
After quite a bit of research, I found some info from another icehead that had made his own springs that used .016 diameter wire so I used that for my starting point. I looked for a wire that was available in several diameters so that I could make springs with several different tensions to allow use with different weight jigs/lures. I settled on AFW Tooth Proof Stainless Steel Leader Wire. I went with #7, #9, #11 and #13. It is my hope that #7 will result in a medium spring, #9 will result in a medium-heavy spring and #11 will result in a heavy spring. Not sure what I am going to do with the #13 wire.
(Note: I didn’t purchase the St. Croix spring until after I already had the leader wire. A light spring uses a wire that is .013 inches in diameter, or #4 Tooth Proof wire from AFW.)
Nails
I had a heck of a time finding suitable mandrels to use to create the coil section of the spring. The opening in the rubber grommet that the coil slides into is 1/8 of an inch in diameter. After a bunch of mind-numbing math, I found the following maximum diameters for mandrels for each spring:
#7 = .089 #9 = .081
#11 = .073 #13 = .063
When finished, the coil needs to be snug in the grommet, but not so snug so that you mess up the coil when installing or removing. Finally, over the Turkey Day holiday I found suitable mandrels. While digging around in my parent’s garage for something totally different, I came across an old mason jar full of miscellaneous nails. Using digital calipers I measured somewhere around 976 nails and found a couple 3 for each different wire diameter. They weren’t exact but they were with in a couple thousandths and at least 1 ¾ inches long. Once I had my mandrels and started testing, I found that the mandrel I selected for the #11 wire worked best for the #7 wire and the mandrel for the #13 wire worked best for the #9 wire. I have yet to locate a mandrel for the #11 wire.
The Good Stuff – Making a Strike Indicator Spring
Tools
Calipers
Variable-speed drill (very important that it’s variable speed for winding the spring.)
Nails, various diameters and lengths (these will be the mandrels for winding the spring.)
End or Side Cutters
Slip-Joint pliers
Round Jaw pliers
Tape Measure
Materials
Stainless Steel Leader Wire (#7, #9, #11)
Soft Glow Beads (4x6mm)
Storage Tubes
Chuck a nail in your drill so that there is approximately 1.25 inches from the jaws of the chuck to the end of the nail.
Cut a 24 inch piece of wire and make a 90 degree bend about 5/8 of an inch from one end. Slide this end in between the jaws of the chuck.
Slowly pull the trigger on your drill with one hand will applying slight downward pressure on the wire with the other hand. This is where the variable speed drill is important. Continue until the wire is at the head of the nail. DO NOT LET GO OF THE WIRE! There is tension on the wire and you could be injured! Slowly let the wire “unwind” to release the excess tension. You may lose a coil or two, but not enough to make a difference.
Remove the nail from the drill but don’t remove the coil from the nail just yet. Bend the wire that will become the arm 90 degrees away from the coil. Then make a 45 degree bend 2 inches from the coil.
Slide on 2 soft beads. Then use round-jaw pliers to form the loop.
Trim the wire so that it does not extend past the 2nd bead.
Bend the loop down 90 degrees from the arm of the spring.
Slide both beads up to close the loop.
Here is a picture of the completed spring bobber. Remove the nail and trim the coil to a finished length of 7/8 of an inch. Make sure it fits in the spring bobber holder before you make a bunch.