I have an Optimus 8 which arrived missing the clip inside the lid to hold a pricker / multi-tool. After some trial and error I have fashioned a replacement from a strip of tempered spring steel: As luck would have it, the clip on the other Optimus 8 that I was using as a reference popped off this morning whilst I was putting a pricker into it so now I have two clips to fix in place. My plan is to hard solder them in place with a high silver alloy. I am wondering, however, what that process will do to the hardness of the original and the temper of my replacement. Do I need to do anything do harden the new piece, or will the soldering process be sufficient? Similarly, might the heat of the soldering be detrimental to hardness of the original piece? -R
Great metalworking! As often, the answer isn't simple. The spring steel you've been sold is ready to be a spring if it is sold as tempered. To achieve the required state of baddass epic springiness in the steel, it will have been hardened then tempered. This is possible due to the medium/high carbon content. It will have udergone the following: Harden: Heat to non-magnetic, quenched straight in oil or water. It will now be very hard but very brittle. Temper- trade off some of the hardess for flexibility to the required degree. Furnace heated to somewhere in the 300-350C range. Trouble is hard soldering is now going to destroy this heat treatment and turn it back into just a bendy piece of metal. This is why spot welding was originally used- very briefly puts the heat in one place without affecting the temper. Somebody local to you will have a spot welder- car bodyworks, restoration?
Thank you both. @kerophile, I had seen your previous thread, but that approach on the top of the case is more troublesome - stacking boxes becomes a problem. @Blackdog answered my next question, which is why you’d take an approach like this rather than hard soldering. I will scout around and see if somebody is willing to swap a bit of spot welding for a pint or two (happy St. Patrick’s day!). -R
I have just realised I got my terminology mixed up (). The spring steel is annealed, rather than tempered. Am I right thinking this doesn’t change much - hard soldering would still leave me without a proper ‘spring’? -R
Spot on. You'd need to do the heat treatment first then spot weld if you want a proper spring*. But a clip the right shape might do the job for occasional use even in soft annealed state? You'd have to make a mock up and see if you can get a proper repeatable wedging action... *In theory you could hard solder the clip to the case, get it red hot in situ, plunge into liquid, anneal. But the heat would badly distort the case so not an option.
If your stoves are not shelf queens, I would be tempted to cold rivet them in place. You'd need a 3 mm / 1/8" drill to make a hole through the clip and the box lid, a short piece of metal rod of the same size, a small ball pein hammer and something to act as an anvil. With a bit of practice and patience, it's possible to get a reasonable finish. Brass or aluminium rod are easier to work but I find that after heating to red heat and allowing to cool naturally an ordinary nail can be used as the raw material. If that is too much bother a pop rivet with its head on the outside of the lid would do the job too. Regards John
Thank you all for the suggestions. Cold riveting sounds like something I could have a go at. I have some sifbronze and some brass rods to hand and some steel sheets to practice on. Do I need to consider anything like potential interaction between the different metals? @Jeopardy - your mention of shelf queens - is that because the repair would be a clear departure from the original or is rhetorical case likely to take (literally) a beating? -R
@IRM some people get extremely precious about making any changes to the original design. In this case it doesn't matter unless you're planning on doing a complete restoration back to out of box condition. Even then only of you were to sell it while claiming it was pristine. Mine are all users and I expect them to show signs of use. I forgot to say earlier that a small countersink is sometimes helpful when cold riveting. It gives the riveting material somewhere to swell into. Also hold the metal rod vertically in a vice with just enough material above the jaws to go through the parts to be connected and to make the head of the rivet. Gently hammer the rod end into the first rivet head. Too hard and you risk the metal cracking rather than deforming. Remove from the vice then cut the excess rod leaving enough to create the other rivet head and then rest the original head on some form of anvil to allow hammering the second head into shape. Sorry if I'm telling grandma to suck eggs but someone who doesn't know any of this might find it helpful in the future. Regards John
Advice and instructions are always welcome. I appreciate you taking the time to share them. Looking further into cold riveting I found this to be a very useful and well presented tutorial. Very much in line with your guidance above. Riveting & Cold Connections For Jewellery Making There are several other tutorials I plan to watch when time permits. -R
You can also do the fastening in one shot. Just shoot a hole in the case, and a hole in the clip, select a proper sized Pop Rivet, attach the tool [pliers] and 'POP' your rivet is set. No heat, no hammers. $10.99 USD @ Amazon
Hi. All the advice above is definitely worth considering. Blind rivets are a method I’ve used in a few projects. It’s pretty easy, and with a little care, it looks quite neat. I bought standard 2mm aluminum rivets. From what I remember, I had to cut the female part (?) in half—that is, the sleeve with the flange— (so there wouldn’t be too much material left for finishing) Just gently knock out the pin, cut the sleeve to the desired length, and reattach it to the pin. Perhaps they’re available with a shorter, suitable sleeve? In any case, good luck. Greetings Stanislaw
They make Pop rivets with shorter sleeves. Knee's modification is good if you can't find the right size.
Something like JB weld would no doubt do the trick, but would be an opportunity to try something new missed. I had a crack at cold riveting some pieces of scrap today and am pleased with the result: I will practice some more and also try hard soldering some test pieces to see how it affects the temper of the spring steel before trying it on an stove case. -R
