| Horological hints & tips | May 2003 |
Hardening palletsHaving read frequently of pallets being re-faced with spring-steel, it seems to me that no-one re-hardens the steel ‘glass hard' before soldering in place.My method is to bend an oversize piece of spring to the correct curve to start with in its 'as found' state. Then anneal by heating to red heat, slowly withdrawing from the flame. Tinsnips distort thin sheet so I prefer to saw the facings almost to size with a piercing saw - this is fiddly but worth the effort. To harden, simply hold the facing in fine iron wire, head to red heat and quench in water (engineers may advise quenching in oil). Avoid overheating when soldering in place and you will have oallets at least as hard as the originals. Dennis G Pickup, UK |
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