Frizzen Hardening

[Kentuckywindage]

I read a post on here many many months back and the guy used Sugar and a campfire to harden his frizzen. How do i go about this? I just took my traditions lock apart so i could use my dremmel and add some depth in the pan. Bottom of the pan originally sat level with the touch hole. Put it all together and it barely sparks and those sparks all go out to the side. Put a different frizzen on, Same chit :cursing:
I have to mold some round balls and figured i would give the Sugar/campfire a try on my spare frizzen.
Any info on how to do this?

 

[rice1817]

I read about it in a Dixie Gun Works catalog many years ago. I tried it once and it worked.

Take a steel (not aluminum) can and put a couple of inches of sugar and/or leather scraps into the bottom of the can. Now lay your frizzen in, and pour more sugar in to completely cover the frizzen. Crimp the can closed. Now set it in the coals of a good fire and leave it there for 45 minutes to an hour. Fish it out and dunk it in a bucket of water to quench it.

The article did not address tempering of the frizzen. I did not bother to temper mine. It sparked well after the treatment, though. Not sure how would go about tempering it with an open fire.

 

[sundog]

Back in the 1970s in college we hardend frizzens in open fires.
As I recall we applyed wet sugar slurry to the frizzen facethen bundled it in leather wet with sugar water. Packed the frizzen in a steel bean can and put bone meal around it. Got a nice hot fire going and put the can in, let it roast for an hour or so then fished it out with a couple of sticks used like chop sticks and tossed the can into the stream to cool it.
At the time TC frizzens were kind of soft and you had to harden it after only a hundred shots or so.
Now I use Casenit and a torch, works good but not near as much fun or as satisfying as using the fire method. Try the fire method, it works and it is satisfying and fun.

 

[LRB]

Save yourself some trouble and just reharden it. If it will not harden use Kasinite on it. If it does harden, temper at 375o.

 

[paulvallandigham]

And the longer you allow the heated frizzen to stay in contact with the kasenite, the deeper the carbon works into the surface of the steel, giving you much longer working life to a frizzen than it would have if you use the same short time used to color case harden steels.