Right vs. Left Hand Helical Spring Wind Direction

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Helical Spring Design Resources – Spring Manufacturing

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The direction of wind of a spring can be determined by simply holding it in your hand with your fingers placed around the outside of the body and your thumb pointing straight up. If the last coil ends in the same direction that your fingers are pointing, that is the hand (direction of wind) of the spring. In the US most screws are right hand. As you turn the screw clockwise it moves away from you. This is very similar to a spring.

There are times when the direction of wind is very important, especially on torsion springs where the spring should close up (tightens up) during deflection (movement). The end of an extension or compression spring may also screw onto a mating machined part, so the direction of wind of the spring must then match the direction of the threads.

Please contact the Newcomb Spring facility nearest you for more information on right hand or left hand direction of wind and other considerations of spring design.