forging frizzen

[J.D.]

I plan to forge a frizzen a replacement for an old worn out frizzen, more of an exercise in forging, than anything else. Information gleaned from an old article printed several years ago, indicates the face of the frizzen, ideally, should have about a 10 degree slant from the vertical, to the rear of the lock. The question I have, is there an ideal relationship of the arc of the face of the frizzen to the arc of travel of the cock, for the most efficient ignition, and how could that be determined, other than testing the contact of a flint on the face of the new frizzen, to indicate that arc of the face of the frizzen, prior to hardening?
Or, am I overthinking this?

As always, any information gleaned from the very knowledgeable members, here, is greatly appreciated.

J.D.

[Daryl]

You could always just copy a the original frizzen or one off the same lock. Track's picture catalog would work.

[Hungry Horse]

 This sounds very much like the student that spends his first day in medical school and decides he wants to try brain surgery. I would try half soling the frizzen first, and get a feel for hardening, and tempering, before I started trying to forge a frizzen and harden it. Both ends of a frizzen require different degrees of temper, and hardness.

Hungry Horse

[Clint]

The angle of the standing frizzen is an interesting problem. If the face approaches 90 degrees of of the pan it will break a lot of flints. If the angle is too low it will be hard to fit a flint at half cock. I try to open the angle as much as is reasonable and still have enough room to fit a proper size flint. Put the old frizzen on the lock and see what the clearence is, if there is plenty of room for the flint, open it up a little. What ever you decide on, you will still want to grind a radius into the face, I think Bob Roller recomends an 8 inch grinding wheel. The very bottom 3/6" may need to be ground slightly deeper to let the frizzen open completely and to keep flints from breaking. Frizzens are not that difficult to forge. concentrate on keeping the pan cover short and make them out of soft steel or wrought iron. after you have filed and finished the piece, pack harden it and draw the foot right into the pan cover/ Charred horse hooves or cow horns make the best charcoal & mix in a crushed egg shell

[J.D.]

Thank you folks for your comments. I have done a bit of blacksmithing, for about 30 years, but have never tried making lock parts, other than springs. I have done more than a bit of hardening and tempering, including case hardening more than a few frizzens, hardening and tempering quite a few knives, tools, and other assorted items.

This lock is an old Robbins lock from the 1970s, so there are no pictures or replacement parts to copy. The old frizzen is worn down to the point that the edges of the frizzen are so sharp they will cut my hands, if I'm not careful. Conversely, the internals of the lock appear to be near new, though that lock has been used, quite a lot over the years.

Clint,
Thank you for that information. That is what I was looking for.
My plan is to use a high carbon steel railroad spike, for the body, and forge weld a piece of file
 steel to the face of the frizzen. I have also considered using mild steel and pack hardening the entire part. HC spikes contain about 3 points of carbon, and should provide a strong body and durable base for the hard face of the frizzen, if I go  that route.

Charred, crushed cow horns in an eggshell mix? That one is new to me, though I have heard of charring and crushing peach pits, to add to the charcoal in the pack.
What ratio of charred horn/eggshell, to charcoal do you recommend?

I do appreciate everyone's help.
J.D.

[rich pierce]

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Clint]

making charcol from horns or hooves takes a little getting used to. (it is very aromatic) but the smell grows on you, I use a one quart paint can with a very small hole poked in the top, and I simply lay it in a wood stove. Crush up the finished charcol then put it into a cheap blender add one egg shell (accelerant) and pack the frizzen in a steel box with a lid, For a frizzen I would soak the box at 1500 degrees for two or three hours and let it cool naturally, That should give you a case close to .40" deep. Reheat the frizzen and quench in brine. oil will not do it, You will have to play with the temper but 325 degrees should give a good spark, if the face is too hard the flint will not scrape enough steel to get sparks. the foot needs to be tempered to sort of match the hardness of the spring.

[J.D.]

Thank you, again, for that information. I don't have a ready access to hooves, but I do know a couple of horners near here, so I will hit them up for any scrap pieces of horn they might have.

Your instructions for hardening and tempering the frizzen, describes the way I harden and temper strikers, so I should be good to go there. I am also aware of the selective temper of the foot and tail of the frizzen, so I should be good to go there, too.

I do appreciate your help.
J.D.

[Dphariss]

I would face it. I suspect you have the capability to forge one but at my age I go with simple first.