McMaster-Carr spring order to Canada fail

I just tried ordering the McMaster Carr 9657K155 springs that others are using to upgrade their bed springs and got the following message from the vendor:

"Due to the complexity of US export regulations, McMaster-Carr accepts international orders only from businesses...We are unable to provide a quotation or accept your order."

Huh? Didn't NAFTA make all of this a piece of cake? Isn't that why I am able to order things online from US vendors almost weekly?

Anyone got a reliable Canadian spring vendor? Lol

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2015 01:02PM by Vanbot.

Vanbot:

Saw a guy selling aluminum hot beds and using some rubber/ silicone tubing as a spring. Go to a hobby shop that sells gas model airplane engines and buy a piece of large size silicone tubing and cut it to the length of the spring you want to buy. Or go online and order from Great Hobbies, Silicone tubing. I am suggesting silicone as it is heat resistant. Rubber would probably work as well.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2015 06:09AM by Ecky.

Quote
Ecky
Vanbot:

Saw a guy selling aluminum hot beds and using some rubber/ silicone tubing as a spring. Go to a hobby shop that sells gas model airplane engines and buy a piece of large size silicone tubing and cut it to the length of the spring you want to buy. Or go online and order from Great Hobbies, Silicone tubing. I am suggesting silicone as it is heat resistant. Rubber would probably work as well.

Thanks Ecky. So the tubing was cut into cross sections and simply installed at the corners in place of springs? What was the diameter of the tubing used?

I was talking to Dan from marginallyclever.com yesterday and he said he finally got sick of spending so much time on leveling and springs and he's going to use proximity sensors to auto level from now on. I think I'll be going the same route.

Have a look here. In this case the supplier had his own tubing. The tubing I am suggesting is the large diameter, 1/8" ID, one. Car parts places will certainly have a rubber, neoprene, version as well.

I am cautious about proximity sensors as they don't react to glass as well a metallic surface. Perhaps it would be best to kill 2 birds with one stone and buy the above mentioned kit and get the rubber springs too. It also places the thermistor between the hot plate and the bed as opposed to under it which is a better solution in my mind.

My next favorite is the microswitch and servo but that setup shouldn't have any slop in it or it won't be accurate.

Quote
Ecky
Have a look here. In this case the supplier had his own tubing. The tubing I am suggesting is the large diameter, 1/8" ID, one. Car parts places will certainly have a rubber, neoprene, version as well.

I am cautious about proximity sensors as they don't react to glass as well a metallic surface. Perhaps it would be best to kill 2 birds with one stone and buy the above mentioned kit and get the rubber springs too.

This is exactly what I'm thinking. Thanks for the link!

I just got my MC springs. Started having trouble with a print only to find that the springs had collapsed from the heat. Tubing is sounding great.

I have to set the bed height when the bed is hot or else the print fails because of too much clearance. The plastic balls up on the nozzle.