Hi All,
Some one sent me a mangled hairspring, which I volunteered to try to untangle.
What a fool I was. Now hairless.
However several months later, and many many "walks away from the bench", I have untangled the mess. Unfortunately the result is a conical spring, seriously conical. I have done some conical hairsprings, but except for the first 4 or 6 coils the rest are conical. I remember H.B. Fried's article on de-conicalizing (?) .
But can not find the article or any serious directions for straightening this type of problem.
I know that the spring is not going to be any where as good as the original, but now it is a moral challenge.
Any help? for a fool?
Thanks Mel

If the conical deformation of the spring is uniform, I have actually made them usable again by actually holding down the outer circlet of the spring and pulling against the cone with a toothpick lightly pressed into the hairspring collet.

Hi And thanks.
I tried something similar to that and the coils are not uniform enough for this to work.
And before I make it worse, I am seeking more opinions.
Mel

If you have a hairspring stand, (The little base with a tapered rod in it) set the HS on it. Then push or pull in whatever direction you need it to go. This may take several tries but I have made it work pretty good.
Its the same method that Dave is describing only using the tool for a HS stand. I have all the HS tools, tweezers, Hooks Pliers and so on and some times I end up just dropping whole thing in file 13. Even as I hate to destroy a HS as their aren't that many left.

Hi Guys,
So I understand pulling the coil up or down,how do you prevent the good coils from distorting. Making the matter worse?

Take some type of a plastic sheet, very thin and use a paper punch to make a hole in it. Several sizes may be needed. Lay it over the hair spring or tape it to the bench with the HS under it and then pull. This only works if the outer coils are good.