Dan,
Depends on what the linkage is made out of.
Most likely it is a low carbon steel. Not heat treatable.
You could "case harden" the steel a little.
One "old timers trick" is to carbonize the steel. Take
a very acetylene rich flame, and "coat" the piece in carbon
(from the soot of the flame). Once coated, heat the piece
to a nice red until the carbon is burned off. The surface
will be a little harder, and wear longer.
Pretty much the same is done to camshaft, but in a very
controlled environment.
I've been making my own tools from "oil hardening rod" that
has a high carbon, and other elements. Makes for a nice
custom cutting tool. Trick is to heat the rod up between
"white" and "red" hot... then quench in an oil bath (doesn't
boil away from the surface like water does). Then to get
the right temper, I'll heat it to a nice "brown to dull
red" and quench it once again.
Darn... pretty sure I learned both tricks from Guy Lautard's
"Bedside Reading" series of books, but can not find any
reference to either. (recommended reading for those winter
nights when the shop is too cold... or for summer reading
when I darn near blistered my hand from grabbing a wrench
in the full sun light.
Yippee.... My JD Squared Tubing bender arrived today. Need to
start having a little more fun when, now that it is cooling
off. ;-)
Cheers,
Tom Walter
Dan and Louise Yates wrote:
> I was rebuilding the clutch linkage on my work truck today (rebuilding the
> rod ends and turning slots back into round holes) and I started to wonder if
> a welded part that is cherry red will wear longer if it is left to cool
> naturaly or if it was quenched?
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