Tom asked:

"In a clumsy attempt to tweak the spring on a chuck so that the jaws
close evenly, I broke the spring (hung head here).  I still have the
pieces, but am wondering what the correct process is for getting /
bending spring steel wire without MORE broken bits of wire."

You can wind your own springs using what's sold as "Music Wire". This is
hardenable carbon steel wire sold in the annealed (soft) condition. MSC sells a
carbon steel grade for about 4.50 for a jillion foot roll, likely to meet your
chuck repair needs well into the next meillenium. You wind it while its soft
then harden it. For small springs I've heard of old timers doing this with an
alcohol lamp. I expect you'll have to draw the temper after the initial heat
treating, just as you would with a cutting tool. I believe that there was a
thread some time back about doing this with a toaster oven - I think Esther is
a
practionix of this art.

A simpler solution might be to simply buy three new springs. Hardware stores
usually offer various sizes of small springs for general repair. I found some
that fit a Godell-Pratt chuck this way - ballpoint pen springs sometime fit as
well..

Good luck.

Ed Balko
Middletown, New Jersey
Also makin' Shaker tables, six of them nearing completion at the moment.