sanding mistakes ?? or not

[marlin93]

i'm in the proccess of preping all my 1893 lever action parts for case hardening and blueing. i noticed that when sanding the finger lever on a flat surface it is very easy to put a rather significant flat on the outer edges all the way around the part. the factory edge almost comes to a point . any sanding will immediatly put a flat on it. from viewing other peoples restorations i noticed they also have done the same. if i were buying an expensive rifle or a collectors gun i would consider this a black mark on the restoration. am i wrong in thinking this? perhaps a flat plate for sanding is not the way to go for this part as it was never perfectly honed dead flat.i want to do the best restoration job i can and not make any amature mistakes. thanks bill

[Jim D]

Bill,

I'm not sure what you're talking about. The thin side face is rounded slightly, inside and outside the loop, and the trigger guard portion of the lever. The sides of the lever should be flat. I polish the rounded surfaces first, then the flat surfaces. That will leave a sharp edge at the corner. I don't know if that's what you're asking. If not, posting a photo would be helpfull.

-jim

[marlin93]

sorrry jim i cant post a photo yet but im working on it. what i am talking about ,is if you layed the lever on a flat surface and give it a birds eye view the edges all along the finger guard are supost to be almost sharp.( maybe a thirty second of an inch flat) any sanding on a lapping plate will increase that width dramaticly in no time. i hope that discription helps. -- bill

[Jim D]

Bill,

I guess I'm still confused. The sides of the lever are flat. The top and bottom faces of the lever are slightly rounded. Are you talking about flattening out the top and bottom faces of the lever that should be rounded? If you are, then don't do that. If you're talking about rounding the sides of the lever that should be flat, then don't do that either.

-jim

[Jim D]

Bill,

After scratching my head for a bit, I think I understand what you're asking. Forgive me, I'm sometimes a little slow on the uptake! OK, I think you're talking about the thickness of the edge on the loop part of the lever, and what happens if you sand the sides of the lever to remove pits, dings and scatches. Yes, the edge will become slightly thicker. But, I presume that you will be sanding the rounded top and bottom portion of the lever as well. I would think that would cancel out the increase of sanding the sides. Plus, you shouldn't be taking off more than a few thousandths from the sides, otherwise the lever will be loose in the trigger plate. If the lever is that deeply pitted, just get a new lever.

-jim

[marlinman93]

I would agree with Jim. If you need to take enough off that the side flats become wider, you're lever should be tossed. Even a lever with some pitting doesn't usually have much of it on the edges. I've had a few that were pitted, and seems like it's almost always the bottom outside edge that gets the worst pitting.

[marlin93]

yep you understand what i'm talkin about. i can can bring that edge back by sanding the slight round top and bottom. I understand what you are saying about only removing a few thousands so the lever isn't loose. i think i'm ok with everything but it is easy to over sand and not accept knowing when to quit because there will always be flaws of some sort. thanks jim and vall----bill