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Chinesium stains! Would something like a small OD brazing rod work?
HomeSmith Trainwreck: Bottom Feeders
- Thread starter Shotguncoach
- Start date
OP
What a pain in the keester this turned out to be…
The alloy used by Kimber is different than what Smith & Wesson used, so its rusting properties are different also. I had everything happen: water spots, streaks, stains, discoloration, you name it. Every piece was sanded back to bare metal at least once, a couple several times.
I’ve lost track of how many cycles these pieces have been through. If it’s not 20 then we’re pretty close. We should be in the oil bath by Saturday…
The alloy used by Kimber is different than what Smith & Wesson used, so its rusting properties are different also. I had everything happen: water spots, streaks, stains, discoloration, you name it. Every piece was sanded back to bare metal at least once, a couple several times.
I’ve lost track of how many cycles these pieces have been through. If it’s not 20 then we’re pretty close. We should be in the oil bath by Saturday…
Last edited:
OP
We finally went into the oil bath last night, so assembly will happen tomorrow. Here’s a sneak peak after 12 hours in the oil…
OP
The 24 hour mark in the oil bath came up while SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) and I were at dinner last night, so all the pieces were hung up to drip overnight. The fun began after church this morning…
To get ready for the plunger tube reinstallation, I put a ball mill from the rotary tool of destruction into a pin vise and gently turned it on the inside of the plunger tube holes to give myself just a bit more expansion room.
Some jobs can be done with the tools at hand but others require specialized tools…this is one of them. The tool I use supports the full length of the plunger tube while not making contact with the outside of the frame. Lining up the staking pin is the most difficult part of the operation.
Sigh….I used to be able to do that without magnification.
After restaking the plunger tube it took about 15 minutes to reassemble the rest of the gun, including resetting the ejector tension.
I was planning on experimenting with different extractor tensions over time, but I realized that I had an example from a master-of-the-craft in the safe. Nelson Ford tuned my very first Kimber for me in 2001 and it has gone 24 years without a hiccup.
That seemed to be a good one to copy.
Using my home made tension measuring tool on the Nelson gun I got a value of 48 ounces of extractor tension - twice what I set it to. (And yes, I did notice that 48 ounces is where I set the hammer tension on a K frame…..that’s convenient) A few minutes with the big vise in the garage and a ball peen hammer had the extractor tension at 48 ounces.
Once the first one was together I got to do it all over again for the second gun.
Since I had my other Kimber out of the safe, I included it in the pictures for a comparison against an original finish. I’m sure that I’m more than a little biased but I think I like mine better…
If you subtract the week I spent in Kentucky with grandson #4, this project took just over a month to complete, with the majority of the time spent on finishing. Next week they’ll both go to the range for a final function test. This was different and quite a bit of fun.
Next up are a couple of Model 67’s that need some love, a Model 19 that has seen better days, a Model 10 that looks like it spent the last decade under a truck seat, and something completely different just for a surprise.
To get ready for the plunger tube reinstallation, I put a ball mill from the rotary tool of destruction into a pin vise and gently turned it on the inside of the plunger tube holes to give myself just a bit more expansion room.
Some jobs can be done with the tools at hand but others require specialized tools…this is one of them. The tool I use supports the full length of the plunger tube while not making contact with the outside of the frame. Lining up the staking pin is the most difficult part of the operation.
Sigh….I used to be able to do that without magnification.
After restaking the plunger tube it took about 15 minutes to reassemble the rest of the gun, including resetting the ejector tension.
I was planning on experimenting with different extractor tensions over time, but I realized that I had an example from a master-of-the-craft in the safe. Nelson Ford tuned my very first Kimber for me in 2001 and it has gone 24 years without a hiccup.
That seemed to be a good one to copy.
Using my home made tension measuring tool on the Nelson gun I got a value of 48 ounces of extractor tension - twice what I set it to. (And yes, I did notice that 48 ounces is where I set the hammer tension on a K frame…..that’s convenient) A few minutes with the big vise in the garage and a ball peen hammer had the extractor tension at 48 ounces.
Once the first one was together I got to do it all over again for the second gun.
Since I had my other Kimber out of the safe, I included it in the pictures for a comparison against an original finish. I’m sure that I’m more than a little biased but I think I like mine better…
If you subtract the week I spent in Kentucky with grandson #4, this project took just over a month to complete, with the majority of the time spent on finishing. Next week they’ll both go to the range for a final function test. This was different and quite a bit of fun.
Next up are a couple of Model 67’s that need some love, a Model 19 that has seen better days, a Model 10 that looks like it spent the last decade under a truck seat, and something completely different just for a surprise.
AJ
US Veteran
They look pretty, hopefully they shoot well too!
Looking forward to see what happens next...
-BTM-
Member
Something different, you say? I have some ideas.The 24 hour mark in the oil bath came up while SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) and I were at dinner last night, so all the pieces were hung up to drip overnight. The fun began after church this morning…
To get ready for the plunger tube reinstallation, I put a ball mill from the rotary tool of destruction into a pin vise and gently turned it on the inside of the plunger tube holes to give myself just a bit more expansion room.
View attachment 779778
View attachment 779779
Some jobs can be done with the tools at hand but others require specialized tools…this is one of them. The tool I use supports the full length of the plunger tube while not making contact with the outside of the frame. Lining up the staking pin is the most difficult part of the operation.
Sigh….I used to be able to do that without magnification.
View attachment 779780
View attachment 779781
After restaking the plunger tube it took about 15 minutes to reassemble the rest of the gun, including resetting the ejector tension.
I was planning on experimenting with different extractor tensions over time, but I realized that I had an example from a master-of-the-craft in the safe. Nelson Ford tuned my very first Kimber for me in 2001 and it has gone 24 years without a hiccup.
That seemed to be a good one to copy.
Using my home made tension measuring tool on the Nelson gun I got a value of 48 ounces of extractor tension - twice what I set it to. (And yes, I did notice that 48 ounces is where I set the hammer tension on a K frame…..that’s convenient) A few minutes with the big vise in the garage and a ball peen hammer had the extractor tension at 48 ounces.
Once the first one was together I got to do it all over again for the second gun.
Since I had my other Kimber out of the safe, I included it in the pictures for a comparison against an original finish. I’m sure that I’m more than a little biased but I think I like mine better…
View attachment 779783
View attachment 779784
View attachment 779785
If you subtract the week I spent in Kentucky with grandson #4, this project took just over a month to complete, with the majority of the time spent on finishing. Next week they’ll both go to the range for a final function test. This was different and quite a bit of fun.
Next up are a couple of Model 67’s that need some love, a Model 19 that has seen better days, a Model 10 that looks like it spent the last decade under a truck seat, and something completely different just for a surprise.
