What are Breaker Points Tipped With?

[aquasonic]

Usually, when working on a magplate, I take the points apart and clean/polish them. I can see that the points are made up of several different metals with the actual contact being of a different metal than the base of the contact.

Some of the points polish up to a shine while others remain dark gray like an amalgam silver dental filling. Are points tipped with silver, and why is there a difference in coloration?

[Mumbles]

Usually they are tipped with tungsten which is hard and resists eroding away from the spark arcing across the points surfaces. Here’s where a smooth polished surface and proper condenser is needed to help keep the arcing to a minimum.

You can see the laminations in these pics.

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[olcah]

What is the best way to touch up worn points? Usually I just use a points file and maybe polish with wet or dry paper but maybe there is a better way?

[garry-in-michigan]

I like the 600 grit wet or dry paper lubed with WD-40 . . . 😀

[jeff-register]

I prefer to remove then take the points set apart then wire wheel the points contact area. Next I inspect the assembly. I use a butter knife in a vice to wrap the blade with 1000 wet & dry sandpaper, then sand as little as possable to get a nice contact mating. Next I use a cap full of acetone & Q tips to clean the assembly. I lube the pivot point being sure not to get too much lube, then add a very small section of lube behind the cam rubbing block to lube as it spins. Then I use my ohm meter to check for no resistance between the contact surfaces. I enjoy building the magneto so I may go a little overboard doing the process.

[49hiawatha]

A side bar on breaker points. I rebuilt a set of OMC tower points by robbing the equivalent breaker points from a Koehler set. Prior to that I sourced equivalent breaker points and found 90% were now manufactured in China . Additionally , one had to order thousands and thus , not cost effective for a hobbyist.

[RICHARD A. WHITE]

So…. What about a point file??? sufficient or too much?

http://www.richardsoutboardtools.com
classicomctools@gmail.com

[Mumbles]

A point file leaves a rough surface on them which will work in a pinch but they should be polished with fine wet/dry paper after filing to get the best results.

Instead of using a file, I’ve been using small diamond boards to do the initial cleaning. It’s fast and works pretty good cutting through the hard surface material. ☺

[johnny-infl]

This reminds me of when I was a kid back in the ’60s . . . .
my dad’s friend bought several hundred WWII spark plugs at
a surplus sale for like 3 cents each. They went to some of the
prop driven aircraft. The electrode tip was made out of platinum ….
so, he sits in his yard recliner popping off all those tips to sell.
Don’t know what the value of scrap platinum was back then but am sure
it was more than 3 cents each !!!

[green-thumbs]

Early 1900s ignition points were also Platinum. A little expensive but technology
to produce Tungsten metal had not yet evolved. When it did light bulbs and ignition
points changed over to tungsten. Platinum points have an advantage over tungsten
in that being one of the noble metals resists corrosion. A friend who serviced antique
magnetos showed me a set of NOS platinum points that were bright and shinny even
after a century on shelf.
Louis .

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