A simple but time-saving pin peening tip

Edit: Glen covers this in his illustrated how-to, which I only found after it was too late. Oops.

To save a lot of time (and avoid driving others insane with hours of repetitive tapping), file the end of the pin flat, and leave no more than 1/32" sticking up, before you start peening. Wire cutters leave a pointed end when they cut. Peening this without filing first will take 4X as long as filing. I know this seems stupid and obvious...but nobody ever accused me of being smart.

Here's my re-pinning procedure from start to finish:

-- Cut a small piece of 1/16" brass rod.

-- File one end flat. Leave the other end pointy.

-- Hold the pin with needlenose pliers. Place the pointy end on an anvil, tap the flat end with a balpeen hammer until it mushrooms enough to hold a washer (doesn't take long).

-- Slide a washer onto the pin, assemble the pivot so the pointy end is facing up, put another washer on top.

-- Trim the pin with wire cutters, file flat, keep filing until there's no more than 1/32" excess length.

-- Holding the bottom against the anvil, start peening the top.

-- Flip the work over periodically as you peen it tight, so both sides are mushroomed about the same.

Actually you added more to it Johnny the needlenose pliers trick will help for those that don't have a bench vise :D

Another tip that really helps is to drill a small, shallow hole in your peening surface. I have a cheap little 2 lb. bench anvil that I use, and I made some divots in the surface with a 1/8" drill. These indentations help encourage the part of the pin that's resting on the anvil to form a dome instead of flattening out. You work the dome on the top part of the pin with the ballpeen hammer, and the bottom of the pin gets rounded by the anvil. Flip it back and forth and peen both ends evenly. :tu

Josh