Polishing a Frizzen?

[Acer Saccharum]

Question:
How is best to polish a frizzen?
It is already fitted and hardened as it comes from Davis. Do I anneal it, file it, polish it, and re-harden? (all the locks, L&R, Chambers, etc, all have hardened frizzens requiring polishing)

Or do I leave it as is, and grind and stone to finish?

If I anneal it,  I can pack harden and temper it again.

any thoughts appreciated.

Tom

[Jim Kibler]

I just polish them as hardened.  Sometimes I just use stones, but other times especially for a rough casting I have used a sanding disc for an air grinder to get the two big angled flats roughed out.  Depending on who made it you may be able to file the pan cover.  Typically with a Chambers lock only part of the pan cover is hardened to the point where it can't be filed.  I believe he has mentioned before that he heats the frizzen face with a torch and doesn't attempt to heat the pan cover to a point where it will harden when quenched.  Naturally some of it does get hardened, but not the whole thing.

[Acer Saccharum]

Jim, thanks for your thoughts. I could then temper the cover and tail to the point where I can file them, careful to leave the frizzen face temper as is.
Tom

[Roger Fisher]

Assuming you mean 'when new' they should be smooth enough (on the striking face)

If you mean after they start getting rough and chewed up, I use emory cloth around 180 or such wrapped around a steel cylinder and worked up and down on the face (okay and some sideways ) This smooths her up and gets her spark back.

[Stophel]

I will presume the as-cast visible surfaces are what is meant.

 I usually get away with stoning them where they are too hard to file.   

[Acer Saccharum]

Sorry for your confusion, Roger.   Striking face is already factory finished.

It's the OTHER side that's rough, casting lines, pits, etc. that are causing me to ask.

Tom

[Don Getz]

Roger.......No, if you buy a good lock the face won't need any work, it's just the back side that we're trying to make look
good, you know, the part that you can't file, and have to resort to a dremel tool, or something of that sort...........Don

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Diamond polishing sticks work better than anything else I have found  and diamond powder/paste for dremel buffing pads

[Stophel]

The Front of the frizzen.  And just like with a Volkswagen, "Front" means "Front".   

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

unless they are stoned.....and then.......

[Acer Saccharum]

Is the back of the VW a bonnet, and the front thingie a hood?

If so, I want to polish up the hood part of the frizzen, and leave the bonnet alone.

Now I'm confused. Hey, Roger, we should talk this over a cold one. We're sure to get it straightened out then.

Tom

[Acer Saccharum]

Tim from Davis wrote me to say that the frizzens on this lock are 1095. Put that in my notebook for future reference.

Any time you want to engrave a frizz, you will need to anneal it.

Tom

[Roger Fisher]

unless they are stoned.....and then.......

Well I guess some guys like a fancy 'lady' (and I admire them for the results) while some of us 'small' people (like BP says) are happy with a 'lady' that does the 'job' well w/o too much upkeep (or whining)

[Don Getz]

A helpful hint on polishing with a Dremel tool.   I made a leather washer about 1 1/2" diameter, and added a same diameter piece of about 150 grit emery paper.   Using the leather to back up the paper makes for a nice polishing wheel
on a frizzen, or other parts.....try it............Don

[Long John]

I have used a Dremel tool with these little drums with grit on the outside that they sell for them.  Once the big stuff is smoothed down I switch to files with silicon carbide abrasive papers wrapped around them.  Of course, maybe that's why I am still the oldeest living "apprentice" class maker at the fair.

Best Regards,

JMC

[rick landes]

I find small diamond coated needle file work the fastest and easiest for me. I use 240 and 600. I got these from Brownell's for a good price for a set of six. I fine finish with wet sand paper.

I have also used paste emery on small felt wheels (think dremel type) between 600 and 1200 grit finishes as it highlights any small scratches that I cannot seem to see other ways. After this I lightly go over the area with the 600 again to show any waviness the polish may have caused. Then these are removed, then to 1200 then to polish.

[northmn]

A helpful hint on polishing with a Dremel tool.   I made a leather washer about 1 1/2" diameter, and added a same diameter piece of about 150 grit emery paper.   Using the leather to back up the paper makes for a nice polishing wheel
on a frizzen, or other parts.....try it............Don

Excellent idea as I ahve found the emery papers for Dremmels to blow before I get much use from them.

DP

[rick landes]

The picture may not show it too well but this is the result of polishing a frizzen as I had noted above.

This will get a greyed finish after the 24K gold is inlayed into the pan.

[rick landes]

A helpful hint on polishing with a Dremel tool.   I made a leather washer about 1 1/2" diameter, and added a same diameter piece of about 150 grit emery paper.   Using the leather to back up the paper makes for a nice polishing wheel
on a frizzen, or other parts.....try it............Don

I have used this same leather washer (or a couple glued to get about 1/4" thickness to put rouge on (like Flexcut)and use as a power strop for sharpening chisels. I gent that lives through the woods carves life like bird statutes taught me this some years back.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Yeah it is interesting but many pro woodcarvers I have talked with and read about sharpen their chisels and gouges with a leather strop or a cloth buffing wheel with rouge...... Several don't even own stones.........