Candace

I've got a 301 that has a slightly bent and or twisted take up lever. Would heating the part on the stove burner help the odds of it not snapping when I try to bend it back into shape?

oldsewnsew

I should know more about metallurgy than I do, considering my trade. But I think you would need to get it hot enough to turn color in order to anneal it. (thinking red hot) I may be wrong. That would involve something like a propane torch, at least. SteveH?

Candace

That's what I was thinking too, but I thought I'd ask .

SteveH

sorry for the "sorta" reply here but...

It depends on a bunch of options. most likely it would not be of assistance. If you DO decide to use heat to remove stress in the metal, use the oven not the burner.

Cast metal? Cut/milled metal? Plated? Amount of bend to be fixed? Tool(s) used to unbend?

I default to.... pics?

Candace

The top of the lever looks to be plated. I'll probably just try to do my best without heating and see what happens. I'll just use some pliers and work slowly

Rodney

If it's made of stamped steel you won't have any problem except the possibility of the plating coming off. Pot metal will most likely break. Usually that stuff will only bend once.
See if a magnet sticks to it.
Rodney

J Miller

I have replaced the broken TU lever on a 66 and have the remains of one that came off our FW. Both of them show what looks like crystallized metal at the point of breakage. I would say from that, the take up levers are made from a very hard borderline brittle steel.
They'll bend once, but break when you try to straighten them.

I'd make sure to have a replacement handy just in case, then I'd heat it cherry red at the bend to soften it before I straightened it.

Even then, with my luck it would probably break on me.

Joe

Candace

Yup, me too. I don't know of any take up levers that aren't brittle. I've warned my friend(the owner) there's a 50/50 chance she'll have to get a replacement part.

SteveH

What "I" do is to lay the metal on a piece of thick leather, and using a rawhide hammer apply gentle strikes in the appropriate direction. (Mostly I use the weight of the hammer falling, and do not actually swing the hammer in these cases) and yes, be mentally prepared for it to snap.

Or you can mail it to me and I'll fix it for you.

Candace

I do appreciate the offer, Steve! But, I think the only way to get it "right" would be to have another 301 handy to compare to. It's really the way I was able to pin point what the exact problem was. It's quite easy to compare both machines and see the slight bend, but it would be very hard to get it to the correct angle without something to use as a guide.

I've had luck bending other parts back into shape, but I don't have a good feeling about this one.