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TC lock refinish

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Phil Coffins

69 Cal.
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I was color case hardening some parts for an other project and my buddy has a TC rifle that had a rusty lock. Over all it’s a nice rifle and deserves a prettier lock so I talked him into letting me do it for him. I think it came out good.
D2BA1B0C-AEF4-487E-93B2-E5C639D1417D by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
 
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Yeah - tell us how you did it!

I've got a T/C lock that needs the exact same treatment.
 
Thanks for the kind words.
This is bone and wood charcoal case color hardening. The annealed parts are packed in a crucible with a mix of charcoal and heated to 1375 degrees for 1 hour at temperature. Then quenched in water. These were drawn for one hour at 380 degrees before oiling. There’s lots of details to the process that would fill a book but that’s the basic idea. Good polishing and removal of casting lines and rough surfaces gives good color.
 
Thank you, Phil!

What do you mean by "These were drawn for one hour..."?

I'm guessing you have a forge with a set able temperature? Which brand and model?

I've seen a U Tube Vid by Midway and he left the parts in a furnace at high heat for hours - like overnight. So it sounds like there are different ways to case harden. I'm guessing the bone is charcoal as well?

Guess I'd better check into this some more.
 
I use a heat treat oven with a pyrometer to control the temperature. Draw means the parts are placed in an oven at a lower temperature right after quench. This is to deal with the stress that the quench puts in the steel. It can also mean to reduce the hardness to a controlled amount.
If a part was left in over night it was probably being annealed, meaning softened.
 
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