I Have to Give My 1-1/2 a Hand

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,


I acquired a couple of 1-1/2's and one has problems. First off
the cylinder stop bolt didn't work. Investigating the problems,
I found the cylinder stop bolt spring was a crude home-made
thing made from a hand from a pocket watch (I think). I made
a replacement for it.


Now that the spring has been replace, I notice the cylinder would
not revolve all the way to the stop when cocked. I removed the
the hand compared it to a known good hand and from the pics
one can see just how short the hand is. I will have to make a
new one.


Cheers,
Webb

 

[mmaher94087]

Webb, don't throw away the broken hand. The tip can be welded and reshaped. Advanced Welding, Mountain View, CA, has micro-welded small parts for me in the past. I believe their minimum charge is $125 so I send them several parts at the same time with VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS as to what I want done and what to avoid. They have welded chipped trigger sears, hammer sears and tips of hands. Of course, I have to reshape and/or cut new sears. Their micro-welding has been perfect so far.

 

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

Webb, don't throw away the broken hand. The tip can be welded and reshaped. Advanced Welding, Mountain View, CA, has micro-welded small parts for me in the past. I believe their minimum charge is $125 so I send them several parts at the same time with VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS as to what I want done and what to avoid. They have welded chipped trigger sears, hammer sears and tips of hands. Of course, I have to reshape and/or cut new sears. Their micro-welding has been perfect so far.

I'm intrigued by the process but I think I am going to make a-
nother one. It isn't a difficult part in design to make. The only
question in my mind is what steel to use? I would guess that a
medium to high carbon steel was used. Still, I don't think it will
make a whole lot of difference so long as the finished part isn't
too hard (as it could scrape metal off the cylinder ratchet.

I definitely will not throw away the old one. It might be handy
for another project.

Cheers,
Webb


P.S. I can hardly wait 'till my S&W #3 1st Issue comes in
later this week!

 

[mmaher94087]

I save the broken parts until I either need the part or have a few needing welding and then send them off. That helps to take the bite out of the minimum charge.

I resurrected a nice condition, but mechanically junk, New Model #3 that I originally thought to cannibalize for the few good parts. I had a change of heart and decided to fix it. I made the handspring, straightened the extractor cam and sent off the hammer, hand, cylinder stop and trigger for welding. I now have a nice example of an unmarked, Japanese Navy NM#3 shipped to Takata in 1896.