Need some help with some furiously stuck screws...

[J Tiers]

GREAT!....

[michigan doug]

The end of the story:

Acetone and some carborundum grit did the trick handily.

i tried the Acetone on a new screw and it dissolved the magic stick tight coating easily.



Thanks for all the help!

[A.K. Boomer]

Don't ignore it, think about it. It's not an insult anyway, it's the truth. You have a habit of acting like you know more than everybody else, even when it's clear that you don't. That's not a beneficial quality for this forum.

I like your insight and can even for the most part agree with it... but there's more too it - for one he's right "most" of the time, and for how much ground he covers that's pretty good...

I said this once before - there was another guy on here who tackled just about any subject that came up - and again was right "most" of the time - when you think about it it's a pretty tall order, His name is Evan and be it a coincidence or not JT picked up allot of slack when Evan backed off some, so even though your kinda right I think these guys also deserve allot of respect for the time they put in (and have put in) to get as close as they do with so much stuff,,,

I for one have learned allot from both over the years - and yeah dished out my occasional spanking too when they cross into my realm and i know better, and sounds like with what you do you might have the edge here - but that's only in this topic so keep in mind there's plenty of others and give the bennie of the doubt instead of calling everything else rubbish, the place keeps itself in check, no one guy has the patent on all topics and never will, and if he steps out of line too often he will get his ass handed to him - over and over till he loses all credibility - that's not JT... at least not so far,

one not always have to talk to have foot in mouth, sometimes people just content to suck on foot in corner of room

(sorry - drinking again and don't even know what that means - thought I did for a second but it got away from me)

[danlb]

MEK availability may depend on location. Many organic volatiles are no longer available to consumers in Calif. I can burn 50 gallons of gas a day driving in circles, but I can't buy a good quick drying urethane spray.

[misterfxt]

MEK is still available, at least in the gallon size for around 8 dollars.
Jerome

[Yondering]

I'll ignore the ad-hominem insult.

Don't ignore it, think about it. It's not an insult anyway, it's the truth. You have a habit of acting like you know more than everybody else, even when it's clear that you don't. That's not a beneficial quality for this forum.

[Rustybolt]

Nylon patches are usually set in a hole in the screw, solvents don't do much to them.

The more usual type is just painted on, and allowed to dry. Those can be softened by the same solvent that was used to carry the material when applied. Vibratite, for instance, is a material carried in MEK, and used like that. Other materials may be different. You only need the solvent to do a little softening to get them out.

heat can work, but if you are too enthusiastic with the heat, you can really get stuff stuck together. And, those machines have a lot of plastic in them so heat may not be the best. Can be bad if the screw is in a metal insert that is in a larger plastic piece, for instance. (so can solvent, for that matter, but solvent may affect one plastic and not another).

Today they use a nylon powder that is blown onto a heated screw. I make the machines that do this. The other is a 3M priority product called "vibra seal" used almost exclusively on Harley screws. Heating up either one will loosen the bond. "vibra seal" can be loosened with acetone as well.

[J Tiers]

Jerry, you sure seem to assume you know more about every subject than anyone else.

The painted on lock patches are often nylon, or polyester depending what the supplier provided. I deal with specs for these on a regular basis; I'm not just guessing.

I'm not sure on nylon, but if the polyester is baked to cure it, it's not easily dissolved by solvents any more.

So have I dealt with them, pretty recently. The ones we used were a solvent type, baked only to evaporate, not "cure".

If it is "cured on" then, no, it is crosslinked and solvent won't affect it, unless it attacks the bond to the metal. Polyester might bond very well, might not be affected by most solvents. I have not run into any "melted on" types, but they could be similar, if the basic plastic is not susceptible to solvents.

You must be dealing with a higher level of fastener than we did, ours had "patches" that were dissolved or at least softened by solvents. That's good to know, our vendor did not offer any non-solvent types, and we could have used them.

I'll ignore the ad-hominem insult.

[flylo]

I've welded hex wrenches to bolt heads so I wonder if you could epoxy or solder the bit to keep it from stripping while you really put some torque on it?

[Yondering]

Nylon patches are usually set in a hole in the screw, solvents don't do much to them.

The more usual type is just painted on, and allowed to dry. Those can be softened by the same solvent that was used to carry the material when applied. Vibratite, for instance, is a material carried in MEK, and used like that. Other materials may be different. You only need the solvent to do a little softening to get them out.

Jerry, you sure seem to assume you know more about every subject than anyone else.

The painted on lock patches are often nylon, or polyester depending what the supplier provided. I deal with specs for these on a regular basis; I'm not just guessing.

I'm not sure on nylon, but if the polyester is baked to cure it, it's not easily dissolved by solvents any more.

[J Tiers]

Nylon patches are usually set in a hole in the screw, solvents don't do much to them.

The more usual type is just painted on, and allowed to dry. Those can be softened by the same solvent that was used to carry the material when applied. Vibratite, for instance, is a material carried in MEK, and used like that. Other materials may be different. You only need the solvent to do a little softening to get them out.

heat can work, but if you are too enthusiastic with the heat, you can really get stuff stuck together. And, those machines have a lot of plastic in them so heat may not be the best. Can be bad if the screw is in a metal insert that is in a larger plastic piece, for instance. (so can solvent, for that matter, but solvent may affect one plastic and not another).

[Yondering]

Heat the screw with a soldering iron until the first whiff of burning. Dip the driver into fine Clover compound, and twist away! ;-)

Cal has it right.

Doug, the lock patch you describe is generally either nylon or polyester. I don't think you'll have much success with solvent on them, but heat applied the way CalM suggested should help, along with lapping compound on the screw head.

Those nylon/poly patches work by just taking up all the loose fit between the male and female threads, and jamming steel against steel. When over-applied, I've seen them bind up bolts and nuts badly enough that the bolt had to be cut or broken to remove.

[metalmagpie]

If the workpiece is shaped appropriately, saw off a screwdriver blade and catch it in your drill press vise. Clamp the work to the table and use the quill handle to force the screwdriver blade down into the screw and turn the screwdriver blade with a wrench, or Vise-Grips if you have to.

metalmagpie

[michigan doug]

Will try the various suggestions tonight.

Thanks for the help.

michigan doug

[dmartin]

One way of getting stuck Phillips head screws out that works well for me it to drill the head off. Use a drill bit that is the same size or slightly bigger than the threaded part of the screw. Drill down through the head and when you are through the head and into the screw itself the head will pop off. Then remove the propeller and remove the screw with a vise grip. I've done it many times with Phillips and other screws and it works well. Good luck.

Dwight