color case harden a lock

[holzwurm]

when you colorcase harden a lock do you also do the friz?

[David Rase]

Yep,  Throw all the parts into the crucible.  After heating and quenching you will need to draw the temper on the spur and pivot area.  I also stress relieve (temper) the plate, hammer, bridle, topjaw etc. at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour.
DMR

[smart dog]

Holzwurm,
After case-hardening the frizzen, heat soak it for 1 hour at 400 degrees F.  Let cool slowly and polish it back to shiny steel. Then heat the spur, toe, and pivot screw hole area with a propane torch until it turns dark blue. I keep a spray bottle of water handy to cool the hammer part of the frizzen if the blue color starts to spread from the spur. Jerry Huddleston described this method in a post several years ago.

dave

[J.D.]

Yep,  Throw all the parts into the crucible.  After heating and quenching you will need to draw the temper on the spur and pivot area.  I also stress relieve (temper) the plate, hammer, bridle, topjaw etc. at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour.
DMR

Am I to assume that the frizzen goes into the water with all other parts?

Have you had any problems with cracks and fissures in the frizzen?

Thanks and God bless

[smart dog]

Hi JD,
I have case-hardened >20 frizzens with never a problem of cracking.  The trick is to make sure the charcoal pack completely covers the frizzen and to pour it quickly into the water so that the pack and parts fall as a unit. This requires you to be close to the surface of the water before flipping the crucible and turn it completely over quickly to dump the contents (don't pour it into the water).  You don't want air hitting the parts before they are in the quench. Doing it this way will create a big splash so wear protective clothing and a face shield.

dave 

[keweenaw]

Because frizzens are often 1095 or other high carbon, I typically just quench them in oil to avoid all risks of cracking.  I had one from TRS that didn't spark very well - was a geometry problem in the end - and case hardened it the second time around and it did crack in the water quench.  Dave has obviously be luckier.  It may depend on whose lock parts they were and what alloy was used.  When I make frizzens from scratch, I use mild steel and case harden them for a long soak.  No problem with quenching them.

Tom