Heat treating and tempering a hammer

TemboTusk · March 24, 2014, 07:01 PM

(I mentioned in a previous post about repair work I did on one of my revolvers and wanted to give the question I had its own thread.)

I have milled the full cock notch square to repair damage to my 1949 Colt pocket pistol hammer. James K commented that I should use Casenit to harden the hammer notch to lessen new wear on the repaired area. (see pictures below of the work done and the area of concern.)

I have a few questions about the hardening process:

1: Do I heat treat only the notch area or the whole hammer?

2: How long do I need to keep the metal “cherry red”?

3: After heat treating, can I use my molten pot of lead to temper the metal?

4: How long do I need to temper the metal and at what temperature?

Thanks for any help!
This forum is a wealth of information and knowledge. I learn something new all the time here!

Old Stony · March 25, 2014, 08:49 AM

I've used the casenit for things like this and had good results. I just heated to a cherry red, and buried the part in the can of casenit until it cools pretty good. I then pulled out the part and quickly burned off the casenit that was stuck to the part by just waving the flame over the part until it was gone. I don't know if this would be considered the proper method, but it has always worked for me.

maillemaker · March 25, 2014, 11:25 AM

I've not used casinite and I don't think you can buy it anymore.

I have case hardened and heat treated BP gun parts by packing them in a metal box with leather scraps and heating them over a propane burner for an hour letting it glow, and then quenching. Then I polished the piece and re-heated watching the colors change until I got a straw color and then quenching again. The lead pot idea has been suggested to me and lets you more accurately control the quench temperature.

Here is a great book on heat treating alloys and temps:

http://www.secowarwick.com/assets/Do...EBook.2011.pdf

Steve

TemboTusk · March 25, 2014, 08:51 PM

Thanks for the comments.

I'm not really set up for full on heat treating. More quick and nasty in the garage type heat treating for small parts. Interesting link about heat treating, but way over my head.

I don't know if I should re-treat the whole hammer if all I did was cleanup one surface or can I heat treat just the area I worked on?

Will I get the results I want by heating till it is red, rapid cooling in water and tempering by letting the part sit in the molten lead pot for a five, ten, fifteen minutes?? Is this overkill? I figure other than tempering, this should take all of five minutes, but I may be wrong!

I've researched the internet with mixed results, meaning it is hard to get a consistent answer.

March 24, 2014, 07:01 PM	#1
TemboTusk Senior Member Join Date: June 30, 2012 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 139	Heat treating and tempering a hammer (I mentioned in a previous post about repair work I did on one of my revolvers and wanted to give the question I had its own thread.) I have milled the full cock notch square to repair damage to my 1949 Colt pocket pistol hammer. James K commented that I should use Casenit to harden the hammer notch to lessen new wear on the repaired area. (see pictures below of the work done and the area of concern.) I have a few questions about the hardening process: 1: Do I heat treat only the notch area or the whole hammer? 2: How long do I need to keep the metal “cherry red”? 3: After heat treating, can I use my molten pot of lead to temper the metal? 4: How long do I need to temper the metal and at what temperature? Thanks for any help! This forum is a wealth of information and knowledge. I learn something new all the time here!

March 25, 2014, 08:49 AM	#2
Old Stony Senior Member Join Date: May 31, 2013 Location: East Texas Posts: 1,705	I've used the casenit for things like this and had good results. I just heated to a cherry red, and buried the part in the can of casenit until it cools pretty good. I then pulled out the part and quickly burned off the casenit that was stuck to the part by just waving the flame over the part until it was gone. I don't know if this would be considered the proper method, but it has always worked for me.

March 25, 2014, 11:25 AM	#3
maillemaker Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2010 Posts: 1,635	I've not used casinite and I don't think you can buy it anymore. I have case hardened and heat treated BP gun parts by packing them in a metal box with leather scraps and heating them over a propane burner for an hour letting it glow, and then quenching. Then I polished the piece and re-heated watching the colors change until I got a straw color and then quenching again. The lead pot idea has been suggested to me and lets you more accurately control the quench temperature. Here is a great book on heat treating alloys and temps: http://www.secowarwick.com/assets/Do...EBook.2011.pdf Steve

March 25, 2014, 08:51 PM	#4
TemboTusk Senior Member Join Date: June 30, 2012 Location: Anaheim, CA Posts: 139	Thanks for the comments. I'm not really set up for full on heat treating. More quick and nasty in the garage type heat treating for small parts. Interesting link about heat treating, but way over my head. I don't know if I should re-treat the whole hammer if all I did was cleanup one surface or can I heat treat just the area I worked on? Will I get the results I want by heating till it is red, rapid cooling in water and tempering by letting the part sit in the molten lead pot for a five, ten, fifteen minutes?? Is this overkill? I figure other than tempering, this should take all of five minutes, but I may be wrong! I've researched the internet with mixed results, meaning it is hard to get a consistent answer.