[AT] Make repairs or payments

[toma at risingnet.net]

Occasionally I run into points in a magneto that are of solid material, be it tungston or platinum. I reface these with a dremel tool and have very good success. I try to stay away from plated points if possible.
I suspect they cheapened points back in the 70's after hei came out. They wanted all the old stuff to die off.
--
Sent from myMail for Android Tuesday, 30 January 2018, 08:27AM -08:00 from Gene Dotson  gdotfly at gmail.com :

>The favored material for point contacts made in the 1950-1970 was 
>tungsten. Tungsten is the material used in light bulbs. Good conductivity 
>and resistant to burning and pitting. Tungsten during an inactive period 
>developes tungsten oxide, a thin hard coating and nonconductive. They should 
>be cleaned with a contact burnishing tool and not sand paper. This 
>burnishing tool leaves a very fine smooth finish and removes very little of 
>the parent contact material. Grant is right on the cheapening of the 
>materials of both the contact and spring material.
>
>                    Gene
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message----- 
>From: Grant Brians
>Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 10:28 AM
>To:  at at lists.antique-tractor.com
>Subject: Re: [AT] Make repairs or payments
>
>When people talk about how "they don't make points like they used to",
>there is a very specific reason for the comment. In the 1930's points
>were sometimes still made with platinum contacts. They were not plated,
>the contacts were actually a piece of platinum. This was true of
>Studebakers at least. After the Platinum days, the contacts were still
>made of unplated oxidation resistant pieces for the contact itself. Then
>the switch was made to plated contact points and thinner and thinner
>plating. While in some cases the plating material was substantially
>superior in both burn and oxidation resistance, the issue has been that
>the thin material can be consumed easier and that it cannot be touched
>up by filing or scraping like the older contacts.
>      The other factor I know I rarely think about is the "spring"
>material. I recall in my first decade of working on motors (the 1970s in
>my case), I saw thicker spring material in the points that I replaced
>and also in the replacements I used than in recent times. In the days of
>slow engines (our antique tractors for instance), the material needed to
>flex less than it would on a faster motor. I cannot speak with any
>authority on this, but I wonder if as thinner material has been used
>could the resistance to breakage have been reduced? While Metallurgy has
>dramatically improved since the 1930s, so has the pressure to use
>cheaper and cheaper materials and amounts of material on low price
>items. It would be logical that the spring steel in points would have
>undergone "cost-saving modifications", especially since all of them are
>in the cost competitive aftermarket for all of the items we work on.
>                 Grant Brians - Hollister,California farmer of
>vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, nuts and fruit
>
>On 1/29/2018 8:29 PM, Ralph Goff wrote:
>> On 1/29/2018 9:39 PM, Jason wrote:
>>> They don't quite make points like they used to. Electronic is really a 
>>> good
>>> way to go.
>> I really can't complain on the service I get from points and condensors.
>> I really can't remember when I last put a set of points or condensor
>> in the Cockshutt tractors. I think I replaced them in the IH Loadstar a
>> few times in the 34 years I've driven it but its been a while.  The 52 
>> Merc
>> old flathead is running great on whatever points and condensor were in
>> there when it was parked in the early 1980s. I did shine them up a bit
>> to get it started the first time. I remember adjusting the points once
>> on the Chevy II (six) and might have eventually replaced the points.
>> On the other hand, I don't think I have spent anything on electronic
>> ignition repairs on my GM engines in the 81 and 97 engines. So yes,
>> electronic
>> has been good to me too.
>>
>> Ralph in Sask.
>>
>> ---
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