Patch Box Latch

[Kevin Houlihan]

I'm making a patch box latch for a southern rifle using a concrete nail per Ken Guy's tutorial. I annealed the nail and it's now soft enough to file. My question is - when I get it filed enough that it's "springy" will it stiffen up much when I harden and temper it?
Thanks
Kevin

[Dennis Glazener]

Yes, not sure if enough since I have not tried it. But I have made latch springs for wooden patch box lids using hinge pins from a door hinge. Didn't anneal them nor did I harden them later. They had plenty of spring for that purpose.
Dennis

[Mark Elliott]

Not if you temper it correctly.    I temper all my springs these days to 700F.   I use an 1/8" square strip of 1095 steel for my latches.   I upset it in the notches for rod in my bench vise; hot, of course.   I upset it until I have about a 1/4" square head.      You must file the springy portion very thin, like 1/32"x 1/8".   

[Acer Saccharum]

This was just plain steel. It's long and has just the right amount of spring without needing to be hardened. It doesn't travel enough to need memory.

[Mark Elliott]

I thought the original writer was talking about the button type latch for a banana box or a captured box.