Identify a Torsion Spring’s Direction of Wind

Identifying the direction of wind for a spring can be critical to the function of your device. With torsion springs, the direction of wind is extremely critical since it will determine the direction in which your spring will be deflecting as well.

The right way to determine the direction of wind of a spring is facing it as if looking down the barrel. With torsion springs, you must position it so that the back leg is at the top and in a horizontal position. Whichever way the back leg is pointing will tell you the direction of wind. If it is pointing left, it's a left handed spring and vice versa.

Direction of wind is very important when it comes to torsional springs. The inner diameter has to contract during deflection. Otherwise, your spring doesn't have much elasticity and will easily take a permanent set or break.

To know the direction of wind of a torsion spring, you must know how you will position the front and back legs. Then determine which one of the legs will be deflecting (if not both) and the direction in which you want them to deflect. The back leg of a right hand wound torsion spring will torque clockwise and the front leg vice versa. When it comes to a left hand torsion spring, the back leg will travel counter-clockwise while the front leg will travel clockwise.