bending and filing a trigger shoe

[eagle24]

I have a Davis Trigger set.  If I remove the triggers and hold them in a vice, can I heat and bend the trigger shoe without affecting the hardening of the engagement surface of the trigger?  or will it have to be re-hardened?

[rex]

Hi: I have done that with no problems. Rex

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Hold the working part of the trigger in the vise with the shoe up...then heat dull red and reshape as you like.  Allow to cool in the vise.  Then the hardened part of the trigger is still hard, and the shoe is reshaped.  Works well, but don't try to bend Davis' trigger shoes cold....don't ask how i know that!

[Lucky R A]

    I do not know what Davis uses in their trigger castings, but I find that when I heat and reshape them they are extremely hard and sometimes brittle.  I allow the part to cool slowly in the vice and it is still so hard that a file will not touch it.   The last rear trigger I reshaped on a # 04 set was so brittle that it snapped when I dry fired the trigger set.  Any sugguestions on how to properly aneal this type of steel?

[J Shingler]

The trigger knives are carbon steel so the blades can be hardened. This makes the reshaping of the shoes tough. One thing I learned from the House brothers is to cut off the shoes and braze or silver solder on a mild steel shoe that can be worked easily.  You can anneal both blades on a few charcoal brickets. Just light them and leave your parts on top till cool. You can work them then and then just reharden and temper the usual way. I find brazing on new feet the easiest.

[ironwolf]

 Trouble is, they're so small that they air harden.
K

[Metalshaper]

Trouble is, they're so small that they air harden.
K

from my blacksmithing/knife making experience. a piece that is heated and dropped into a bucket of powdered lime and then covered over ( with the lime    ) it will cool slowly and remain annealed.

I always try to preheat the lime,, by using a piece that is about 2x as wide and 3X as thick as the intended part.  or just heat any convenient thick bar and stick it down into the bucket/can of lime. 

This does two things!  #1 warms up the lime so the "part' doesn't cool too fast.. and #2, when you draw out this first piece, it creates a pocket to immediately drop the working part into.. then, just a quick shake or bump will cause the lime to fold in and surround the annealing part.. 

Walk away for an hour or so ( depending on how big it is ) and when you get back.. it should be cool and "annealed "

Hope it helps
Respect Always
Metalshaper

[Dphariss]

I would anneal the whole part and reharden.

Dan

[T.C.Albert]

What Metalshaper said...only sifted wood ashes in a big tin can works for me. Its gotta cool slow to anneal.
T.Albert 

[P.W.Berkuta]

Matelshaper - I have some 1/4" X 1" X 8' bars of 1084 hot rolled non-annealed stock. It is darn hard and I want to anneal pieces that I have cut off - where do you get the lime, is it the same as used in mixing cement?

Trouble is, they're so small that they air harden.
K

from my blacksmithing/knife making experience. a piece that is heated and dropped into a bucket of powdered lime and then covered over ( with the lime    ) it will cool slowly and remain annealed.

I always try to preheat the lime,, by using a piece that is about 2x as wide and 3X as thick as the intended part.  or just heat any convenient thick bar and stick it down into the bucket/can of lime. 

This does two things!  #1 warms up the lime so the "part' doesn't cool too fast.. and #2, when you draw out this first piece, it creates a pocket to immediately drop the working part into.. then, just a quick shake or bump will cause the lime to fold in and surround the annealing part.. 

Walk away for an hour or so ( depending on how big it is ) and when you get back.. it should be cool and "annealed "

Hope it helps
Respect Always
Metalshaper

[C Wallingford]

You can pack it in sand or wood ashes and get the same result. No special type of lime is required.

[Metalshaper]

Matelshaper - I have some 1/4" X 1" X 8' bars of 1084 hot rolled non-annealed stock. It is darn hard and I want to anneal pieces that I have cut off - where do you get the lime, is it the same as used in mixing cement?[quote >>>>


I found mine at a garden/feed store.  think it was called hydrated lime?  Mine was bought from a store that carried a lot of the Hy-Yield  brand of garden supplies.  think mine was also in 2.5 lb bags?? So I bought two..
as was mentioned by TC Albert,  sifted wood ash accomplishes the same thing.

sand may also work?? but I was taught to use ash or lime ( lime preferred ) so that is what I use??

the trick is to have a fairly consistent 'powder' to encapsulate the part. this holds the heat in ( for a really long time and especially if it was preheated ) and keeps the air off the part.


Hope it helps?

Respect Always
Metalshaper

[Dphariss]

I have some 1/8 x1 spring stock with hard spots (hot rolled) and it will anneal nicely if I heat the fire brink in my little gas forge then heat the stuff to red and just shut off the forge and let it come down to a temp I can pick up.
Wood ashes work great if dry.
Dan

[Z. Buck]

i have an old toaster oven i use, if you lay a small part on a chunk of steel that is 3/4 or so think and 4 x4 inches and cook the whole thing up to the desired temperature it will anneal small parts pretty well, i think my little oven goes up to 600 degrees

[J.D.]

If one wants to anneal small parts in a bucket of lime or ash, keep the heated bar in the bucket and set the heated small part on top of the hot bar prior to covering. Gotta cool those parts real slow to anneal properly.

IMHO, the parts should still be a little warm to the touch the next morning.

[J Shingler]

Ashes from your charcoal grill work real good too.
Matter of fact just put your part on top of them and as they burn out real slow they do a good job of anealing the part.
J Shingler