The “machined” springs provide the foundation for the integration of components such as flanges, squares, hexes, rounds, bearing seats, gears, splines, bell-crank arms, threads, and other machinable shapes into a single piece. Component integration and the potential reduction of overall part count can reduce assembly time, conserve assembly space, reduce inventory space and related purchasing costs. Other features or functions that can be incorporated into machined springs include spring rates, precise preloads, and multiple integral coils (multi-starts), aspects not possible with traditional type springs. Machined springs can be configured to provide very precise, linear deflection rates because virtually all residual stresses are eliminated. As a result, there are no internal stresses to overcome before deflection occurs.