Well I ended up making new springs. It was actually pretty easy. Here are some tips in case anyone wants to make their yoke center better. I couldn't find replacements for the 20 year old original springs so I just bought a big 10 inch spring that was the same diameter and about the same tension at my local hardware store. The first mistake I made was that springs come in 2 orientations. Looking down on the spring they either spiral down clockwise or counter-clockwise. The original yoke spirals clockwise. The spring I bought was the opposite. I tried to make a replica of the original spring but it was impossible because of the orientation. Therefore, I made a spring that was a mirror image. I didn't have any proper tools to work with springs, but I found that all you need is 2 vice-grip pliers. The easiest way to cut a big spring is just to clamp it with both pliers about 1/4 inch apart and then just bend back and forth until it breaks.
Each axis of the yoke is centered by 2 springs pulling down on opposite sides of a crossbar perpendicular to the axis. Since my new springs were opposites of the original, I had to insert them so they both pushed up on the crossbar. This seems to work as well as the original layout. The next trick is adjusting the tension. After I put the new springs in, I found that the yoke would pull to one direction. I tried tightening the other direction, but it only made the centering worse and it made the action very stiff. I finally realized that the trick was to loosen instead of tighten. At dead center the yoke springs should have no tension on them. This optimizes the centering and makes for a very fluid range of motion.
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Topic: Star Wars Yoke Spring Replacement (Read 905 times)
