Much of my email relates to the vintage Benjamin/Sheridan videos that have been posted at our youtube channel here;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKkdp1jlZDmBxHvPD41itNw
And many of those emails relate to the valve tool that is necessary to remove the valve retaining nut and the valve itself. Quite a few people have asked about the dimensions of the valve tool, with the idea that they would make their own tool.
So that’s what this two part video is about. First, we take a look at the dimensions of the tool. Included at the end of this blog are my (childlike) drawings, which should be enough for a person to work from. Then we make the tool, taking it through the Logan lathe and Sherline mill to complete all machining operations.
Finally, we heat treat the tool, to both harden it so it won’t deform in use, and to make it tough so the brittleness caused by hardening doesn’t result in the tool breaking. We used our little heat treating kiln for the hardening process, first hardening by quenching after the part reached its critical temperature (1475 degrees F), and then tempering at a lower heat (475 degrees F) and cooling slowly.
Some might ask why not just temper at 475 degrees and be done with it? Well, you can’t get there from here! To get the proper combination of hard and tough, you first have to fully harden the tool. Then you can ‘soften’ it a bit to make it tough by tempering at the lower temperature.
I hope you enjoy the videos and appreciate the work that can go into making the valve tool. It puts into perspective the price to buy one. At $15+/- it seems pretty reasonable.
Feel free to leave comments here at the blog, or contact me at nwa@northwestairguns.com, or use the ‘contact us’ function her on the blog site. Here’s Part A;
And if you need help finding it, Part B;
Enjoy!!!
