Fun with salt lava!
I can’t think of a better way to hang out in the Michigan cold than next to a 1500° vat of molten salt.
Yesterday I fired up the salt-bath kiln to harden some of the steel parts for the new clocks. This kiln does a really good job of evenly heating up delicate parts. With a torch I always had a tough time heating it up to the right glow without melting off the delicate thin areas. Also, since the parts are immersed, there’s no carbon buildup or scaling. A little soap & water and the salt and oil comes right off.
Next steps:
For the torsion springs it’s off to a second type of kiln to spring-temper them.
For the escapement pallets it’s time to start polishing. Like….lots and lots of polishing. Maybe forever.