Adding a fly to a lock..

[Roy]

Sort of a visual how to :haha:

I started out by heating it up bright and letting it cool in ash to take the temper out..

Drilled the pivot hole and scribed where I wanted the fly to go

Engraved chiseled and filed

makings of a fly

getting it shaped

almost there

all hardened and ready to go..

 

[RC]

:hmm: feelin a lil creative today Roy? that's pretty cool! (damn you must have good eyes! :rotf: )... :bow:

 

[bingo1952]

Or a D@^^^ed big magnifying glass. :shocked2: :hatsoff:

 

[Roy]

Eye doc said that I had perfect vision.. :grin: I wish I did have a big magnifier though :haha:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Nicely done, Roy. Thanks for the pictures. I doubt many people ever want to tackle making such a small item, much less fitting it to a tumbler.

Q. Do you harden AND temper the fly? If so, how do you do that on such a small piece of metal.?

 

[Roy]

All in all it only takes a few hours to do the work. Do this a handfull of times and you get quicker :haha: . Well worth it, especially on some of the castings that you get from The Rifle Shoppe. Not always needed, but does allow for a lighter trigger pull.

Yes I do harden the fly, if I didn't it would be worthless after a few shots. I use a pair of old needle nose pliers and a torch then case harden the fly. I like to use kasenite because it sort of insures that it will be hardened. Then I draw it back a touch by color.

Little pieces and big pieces are all the same.. just sometimes need a hotter flame for the big parts :haha:

 

[Twice boom]

You should have been a clock maker Roy..
Nice touch. :thumbsup:
Twice.

 

[RC]

You should have been a clock maker Roy..
Nice touch. :thumbsup:
Twice.

He ain't got time to make a clock! :nono:

 

[R.M.]

Q. Do you harden AND temper the fly? If so, how do you do that on such a small piece of metal.?

A2 would be ideal for that. No quenching needed.

 

[bingo1952]

A6 would also work pretty well.

 

[R.M.]

True. I imagine any air-hardening steel would be fine.

 

[Roy]

Never really played with any air hardening steel.. I imagine that it might be a pain to hammer one out. I started with round stock. Not too sure what it is I used :haha: but if you let it cool fairly slow you can shape it with a file, then harden it. I guess it would be ok if you heated it bright and let it cool in ash like I did the tumbler.

Anyway its not rocket science, only just one file stroke away from starting over :haha: :v

 

[mazo kid]

I have often wondered if it could be done...I have a Trapdoor tumbler I would like to put a fly in and couldn't find anyone who would even touch it. I considered getting a tumbler from TOTW already done and using that. MAYBE....I will get courage enough to try it, I do have extra tumblers in case of screw-ups. :rotf: Thanks for the tutorial on how-to-do-it!

 

[Roy]

:thumbsup: There are a couple of tips I can give if you want to try..

 

[blacksmithman64]

Wonder what dummy sent ya a lock without a fly? :rotf: :redface:

 

[Roy]

:haha: Well I have one for it now..

 

[Stophel]

Most old locks didn't have them.

I've had some "tumbler blanks" made up for myself at the local machine shop. Made of mild steel (which I will caseharden). Basically a 1" diameter wheel with one large shaft on one side, and a small one on the other. So far, I've only used one to make my own tumbler (no fly). By golly, I think I did a good job with it and it works well.

Making a sear is pretty easy. I often saw bridles out of 3/8" thick mild steel (it's a LOT of hacksawing).

When I harden and temper flys (or is it "flies"???), I do them on the tumbler together with it. The fly is just too dang small to do by itself.

 

[Roy]

The lock above would go into half cock with a single pinned trigger from full cock, unless you more or less jerked the trigger. I could have increased the sear spring tension, but the owner thought a fly would be a better bet. Stumblins lock is another story, a Chambers small siler that somehow... (not naming names or pointing fingers :haha: ) lost its fly..

 

[RC]

Stumblins lock is another story, a Chambers small siler that somehow... (not naming names or pointing fingers :haha: ) lost its fly..

:hmm: Evidently that happens..sometimes.. :redface: :rotf:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't care how HOT you get those little suckers when you harden them, when they are done, they still have " WINGS"! :rotf: :surrender: :thumbsup: