Stropping/honing action parts
- Thread starter Papaclaude
- Start date
With the leather belt and polishing compound you would be talking microns. I am just not sure how deep hardening will go.
Belt sander? Good God, no!
You don't say exactly what parts need polishing, but I'd think some wet & dry sandpaper on a firm backing and a bit of oil. Depending on the amount of polishing needed, start with 400 grit (or maybe 320 if it's really rough) followed by 600 and maybe 1000. Probably don't need to go higher than that unless you're talking about trigger/sear stuff, but that's best left to a professional with the proper jigs and ceramic stones. 
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You do not say what model There are videos that show how to slick up a leaver action
I have done 2 brand new model 92's , --- Did a debur on parts that will catch on a rag and did a quick polish on machined surfaces that rub (Using a very fine stone)
FYI shone was app. equal to 600/800 grit -- (just a rub 1 or 2 pases) then clean parts
Leaver actions are not the Easiest rifle take apart and put togeather
I would suggest a good cleaning (tooth brush) with out taking it apart and try it with a good grease on the moving parts before you take it apart
After using grease on leaver actions I would not go back to gun oil alone
I have done 2 brand new model 92's , --- Did a debur on parts that will catch on a rag and did a quick polish on machined surfaces that rub (Using a very fine stone)
FYI shone was app. equal to 600/800 grit -- (just a rub 1 or 2 pases) then clean parts
Leaver actions are not the Easiest rifle take apart and put togeather
I would suggest a good cleaning (tooth brush) with out taking it apart and try it with a good grease on the moving parts before you take it apart
After using grease on leaver actions I would not go back to gun oil alone
Let's stop and think about what is causing the roughness. But first just step away from the belt grinder.
If it's roughness in the cycling of the lever then it's likely due to rough surfaces rubbing over each other. But you don't want to remove much metal or there will be too much slop.
Another source of rough movement can be burrs on the edges that dig into passing surfaces.
So right off the bat a good thing is to use a small fine stone to hone away any rough burrs along all the edges. They should feel smooth but almost sharp as in a clean squared off corner. A SLIGHT chamfer is dandy as well. Just enough that you can see a hairline reflection of light from it.
Now the flat surfaces are often not flat. Machine marks can "cog" over each other. But if you remove the machine marks completely you remove too much metal. So the solution is to rub that fine stone over the marks to cut off the crests of the marks. Sort of cutting the "mountain peaks" down to form hills with flat "plateaus" on the tops. These flat and even tops on both surfaces will rub over each other neatly and smoothly. And the "valleys" hold some oil to spread over the "plateaus". Creating these plateaus is the best way to smoothen up how parts rub over each other without removing too much. And it really doesn't take a whole lot. The marks can still be seen strongly as long as the flat honed down plateaus constitute about 1/4 to 1/3 of the area with the score mark "valley lines" still strongly present.
And using a stone ensures a flat cutting surface which creates very neatly even plateaus. And THAT is what you want. Just remember that a little goes a long way in metal working. And in this case where small amounts count for a lot this means that big aggressive power tools are not the first, second or even tenth valid option.
In particular pay attention to the heel and spine along the lower side of the bolt that rubs against the hammer when the bolt comes back and cocks the hammer. That can be a massive source of friction in a lever gun for the downward stroke of the lever. Next up are the rails on the bolt and grooves in the receiver. The rest is pretty much small potatoes.
If it's roughness in the cycling of the lever then it's likely due to rough surfaces rubbing over each other. But you don't want to remove much metal or there will be too much slop.
Another source of rough movement can be burrs on the edges that dig into passing surfaces.
So right off the bat a good thing is to use a small fine stone to hone away any rough burrs along all the edges. They should feel smooth but almost sharp as in a clean squared off corner. A SLIGHT chamfer is dandy as well. Just enough that you can see a hairline reflection of light from it.
Now the flat surfaces are often not flat. Machine marks can "cog" over each other. But if you remove the machine marks completely you remove too much metal. So the solution is to rub that fine stone over the marks to cut off the crests of the marks. Sort of cutting the "mountain peaks" down to form hills with flat "plateaus" on the tops. These flat and even tops on both surfaces will rub over each other neatly and smoothly. And the "valleys" hold some oil to spread over the "plateaus". Creating these plateaus is the best way to smoothen up how parts rub over each other without removing too much. And it really doesn't take a whole lot. The marks can still be seen strongly as long as the flat honed down plateaus constitute about 1/4 to 1/3 of the area with the score mark "valley lines" still strongly present.
And using a stone ensures a flat cutting surface which creates very neatly even plateaus. And THAT is what you want. Just remember that a little goes a long way in metal working. And in this case where small amounts count for a lot this means that big aggressive power tools are not the first, second or even tenth valid option.
In particular pay attention to the heel and spine along the lower side of the bolt that rubs against the hammer when the bolt comes back and cocks the hammer. That can be a massive source of friction in a lever gun for the downward stroke of the lever. Next up are the rails on the bolt and grooves in the receiver. The rest is pretty much small potatoes.
Whoa gentlemen!!!! I did state a belt sander with a leather belt and polishing/honing compound. It does not sand, but polishes. It is a 1 inch wide leather belt on which a small amount of polishing compound that has a grit of 5000 size is placed. It can polish metal to a mirror finish. I was simply concerned abot the possibility of removimg the hardening on any hardened parts. Not a piece of sandpaper will touch the rifle☺
OK, so we made the wrong assumption, sorry. But the wording of the first post was just off enough that it sounded like you were going to use both belt grinding and stropping. Or at least there was some room for that. I read too many posts about folks wanting to stuff their parts into big buffing wheels thinking that they are "polishing" the action parts correctly. So I think there's a tendency to automatically assume the worst possible meaning....
It's still not the right way to do it. You don't want shiny, you want "flat and even". For mechanical fitting like this there's a world of difference between the two things. The leather belt will reduce the peaks of the surfaces in a very uneven way leaving shiny waves of various heights in the surface. Also it's hard with things like the edges of the rails to get into the inside corners and work the surfaces evenly. Here again you want a hard flat abrasive such as a well shaped stone.
I did say "no machines". But to be fair there might be a place or two where one of the rubberized abrasive wheels in a Dremel might be the right tool for the job. But for the rest of this work a small hard/fine slip stone is the weapon of choice. And on the narrow riding surfaces of things like the rails of the bolt using it so the surfaces are smoothed evenly.
It's still not the right way to do it. You don't want shiny, you want "flat and even". For mechanical fitting like this there's a world of difference between the two things. The leather belt will reduce the peaks of the surfaces in a very uneven way leaving shiny waves of various heights in the surface. Also it's hard with things like the edges of the rails to get into the inside corners and work the surfaces evenly. Here again you want a hard flat abrasive such as a well shaped stone.
I did say "no machines". But to be fair there might be a place or two where one of the rubberized abrasive wheels in a Dremel might be the right tool for the job. But for the rest of this work a small hard/fine slip stone is the weapon of choice. And on the narrow riding surfaces of things like the rails of the bolt using it so the surfaces are smoothed evenly.
Speaking if which, where the heck do you get Cratex these days? Back in the day ("when God was still in short pants") the local Dremel distributor on Main St. in Vancouver also handled Cratex, but that's long gone now. Then there was a sales outlet somewhere in Burnaby. Even Hardware Sales in Bellingham doesn't have it. I guess "for everything else, there's Amazon" (or Brownells)
Edit: Went looking online. Nowhere local so far but yes, Amazon.com, Midway, and you can order right from Cratex. Plus a useful place I'd seen before, Boride Abrasives, which has an interesting gunsmith's kit of selected stones.
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KBC tools also carries the Cratex line. They've got wheels, cones and cylindrical shapes. Prices look good too.
Truth be told I'm still working my way through the small assortment I bought around 30 to 35 years ago....
DOH! For some reason I thought KMS didn't have Cratex or I wouldn't have asked. I see from the Cratex website that they also make abrasive "sticks."
And yup, my Cratex stuff is about that old, bought when I worked for Woodward's hardware in Vancouver!
That's KBC, not KMS. Easy to get confused I know. KBC is a more industrial place that has their west coast office out on Annacis Island. They have a store front and sell to anyone that has money or a valid credit card...
I suspect Acklands-Grainger has Cratex or equivalent as well. But they won't sell to folks walking in off the street. You gotta have a company name. I've made one up on occasion on the spot and they seemed happy enough. Maybe talk to your boss and ask if it's OK to use your own company's name to buy stuff for yourself. A-G is rather stuffy on the point.
I suspect Acklands-Grainger has Cratex or equivalent as well. But they won't sell to folks walking in off the street. You gotta have a company name. I've made one up on occasion on the spot and they seemed happy enough. Maybe talk to your boss and ask if it's OK to use your own company's name to buy stuff for yourself. A-G is rather stuffy on the point.
That's KBC, not KMS. Easy to get confused I know. KBC is a more industrial place that has their west coast office out on Annacis Island. They have a store front and sell to anyone that has money or a valid credit card...
I suspect Acklands-Grainger has Cratex or equivalent as well. But they won't sell to folks walking in off the street. You gotta have a company name. I've made one up on occasion on the spot and they seemed happy enough. Maybe talk to your boss and ask if it's OK to use your own company's name to buy stuff for yourself. A-G is rather stuffy on the point.
Ooops, my bad. Yes, I know about KBC. I think I ordered a few oddball taps/dies from them years ago. (As I recall, a rather dense, slightly frustrating online catalogue!)
