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Help Choosing TIG filler

4575wcf

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 16, 2020
Hey all
I am coming up on installing this trigger plate in my LC Smith Featherweight project. As you can see it has had it's side drilled a bit in a past life. The kid at work will TIG it, he is pretty handy with TIG welding. This part will get case-colored to match the receiver toward the very tail end of the build. Does anybody have some input on proper TIG filler to get a good match? Thanx.


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Thanks Illinoyance
I was aware of this rod from Brownell's but thought it was an Oxy\Acc product. I guess filler should be filler though. I have my license on file with them from many moons ago, I will ring them up.
 
Probably nothing wrong with the nickel filler but like as not the steel is simply plain carbon steel, and not very high carbon content, if the factory was case hardening it.

Personally, I'd just grab some mild steel filler and be done.

Any variations in the finish will be lost in the case colors. I'd be far more concerned about getting a good fill of the holes, so as to not leave any voids.
If your welder is in any way competent, then that latter is a small worry indeed. To put it in perspective.
 
Thank you trevj for your input. I have noticed that while Brownells touts their 3 1/2 Nickle rod as being very friendly to blue, they do not to seem to say much about case-coloring it. I think your mild steel filler is probably the best idea. This repair is so minute that the exposed area will be very small. Also since this will be my first attempt at color-hardening, but using every trick and every other bit of advice I have ever read about the process, a slightly less than perfect job will be acceptable, so long as I learn something.
 
You do sometimes get strange case colours in weld deposit......pink ,green,are two Ive seen that stand out....I have assumed the filler rod has many additives to make it produce a bead ,and these ,or maybe the gas ,make the odd colours..........Just a talking point ...nothing to worry about.
 
In the old days, people would use the old black painted coat hanger wire for filler material because it was just plain steel. Modern filler rod, besides having the copper colored anti-rust coat, have other additives to make better welds. For just cosmetic repair, baling wire might be a good source of plain steel.
 
clean it out real good either make a screw or pin
out of 1018 put it in the hole leave it a bit proud
then just blend it in with the tig torch no extra filler.
then file it to shape.
good clean piece of 1018 real clean could be used as well
 
I like this idea. I have both tap and die in #4-40. Would this also work with A36 hot rolled? I have access to all manner of shapes and sizes in this material.
 
you're over thinking it
that isn't going to be a highly visible spot
case color isn't monotone
any old good and clean mild steel will do
plain old ordinary tig filler rod would do as well.
 
Okay, I am on it. I'm gonna make up a screw from A36 mild, clean, drill and tap the spot, leave some screw sticking out, and have the kid TIG it. Thanx for the input, always better to ask the question when you ain't sure. I hate doing things twice. I'll post a pic when I get the weld dressed out.
 
I'll throw out a differing opinion. Worth what you paid for it. :)

I'd rather fill the hole solid with weld, than insert a screw in the hole and weld around the top of it as a filler, in a thin piece like that.

If you are in there with a TIG torch anyways, welding it solid leaves you with a solid part. Installing a screw and welding it over the top, leaves you with a void, however small, between the installed screw and the parent material.

Admittedly long odds that anyone will ever try to bend the part in that area, but someone did drill a hole in it, so who knows...

For such as burying a set of botched up ring screw holes in a part that you cannot afford to throw a lot of heat at, a plug and weld would be my first choice. For something that is going to be in the furnace for a case color, I would rather have a solid fill.

Your Mileage May Vary! :-)
 
Good point I think. Not much room for threads in there anyway. i will drill the hole out to clean all around, give it a light weld chamfer, and press in an A36 plug. This section of the part drops flush into a matching cutout in the bottom of the receiver once fitted, so no danger of bending and 90% of the repair is covered anyway. This is good practice for my bigger, badder, older, and much cooler LC Smith receiver that needs a much more extensive TIG repair on the action bottom. That one has to finish good,
 
Hey all
Finally got my rotary bolt completed for the LC Smith project and now ready to proceed with getting my trigger plate TIG welding. I have the hole drilled out, plug made and pressed and everything degreased per instructions. Should parts that are previously case hardened be annealed before given the treatment again? Annealing would help with the fitting, what is the approved method? I tried spot annealing, did not do much. Thanx
 

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That part doesn't look like it's hardened so mild steel won't hurt anything. It's likely you welder friend will just fill around the outside with some .045" ish wire & clean it up.

The 3 1/2Ni is really 48xx (3 1/2Ni with .25Mo) best guess is Brownell's is selling 4810 rod. This stuff is tough, especially in cold weather, under a tig torch it will puddle down like solder. Any surface treatment for steel will work the same (slightly slower to rust BTW).

Good luck,
Matt
 
This old trigger plate is surprisingly hard. I would guess 55 to 60 Rockwell. The center drill made a few tiny chips, but the point went away almost as quickly as the material did. I finished the cut with a 3/16 carbide end mill. The plate will respond to filing, but just barely. I would like to anneal if possible, either before or after welding. I did try spot annealing to blood red with the torch, and it did not soften things much if at all. I have no electric furnace, only torch and lime box. Any body got some input on the correct method to anneal this critter without destroying it? I don't know what they used to first drill it, perhaps a hard metal drill, I doubt it was done with HSS.
 








 
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