Whammy bar

I never understood the whammy bar.I am often afraid that i'll damage the springs or the guitar when I try out the whammy.How much force should be applied?

if you jus wanna add a slight vibrato, then not much force is needed to waver the note, but bending to other notes, its best to listen to the note that you want and then try to bend up/down from anouther one, you'll need more force the further away the note is,

ok thanks for the info

dude dun worry it was made 2 be abused in divebombing nd crazy sounds ;D

It also depends on which kind of whammy bar and bridge you've got. I mean with a floyd rose you can jump on it =)