Think it would be good to have a Gunsmithing Forum on this site; lots of serious talent here.
Alex, PA24 and others have given some very good advice on keeping the temps low.
As an example of this: recently got a Winchester 1886 in; customer called me saying that he had it CCH by another company, and his gunsmith had broken the buttplate trying to assemble the gun.
He asked that I weld up & CCH the BP, and assemble his 86. Gun came in and I could tell immediately that the CCH parts were quenched at too high a temperature (Colors were way too dark). Then when trying to assemble the gun, found that the frame was warped enough that the bolt would not fit in the frame, hammer wouldn’t fit in the lower tang (that bad).
Called the customer up, gave him the bad news, and told him that the frame was repairable but; I wasn’t about to fix the frame without annealing it first.
So annealed the frame, about 5 hours straightening the frame and then re CCH. That inexpensive CCH job cost him some serious $$$.
In my guesstimation here is what the first …Expletive.. did wrong:
Did not anneal frame before CCH
To hot & too long soak at hardening temp
Did not properly block the parts
Quenched at too high a temperature.
Quenched in a weak Brine solution (which cools much faster that straight water)
FYI: For those of you that may not know, Ebonex is the only manufacturer of Bone Charcoal in the country… So no matter who supplies the Bone Charcoal ie.. Brownells, Midway etc. Ebonex manufactured it. You can call them directly and order straight, generally at a better price if you buy in quantity & open an account. Might be good for commercial & institutional consumers.
