doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How to turn frozen screws?

Rockdoc
YOU ARE the man for today !!!
This IS Rockdoc day

All hail the chief



Mike

Steve, your contributions are always welcome, do not restrain yourself!

Surely Der Ami's post is lacking a smiley.

JC

Sorry, I'm afraid I'm being overly sensitive. As for Der Ami's missive, he may be right. I grew up to be 6'5" in high school and I was strong as an ox, I didn't work out, I just came by it naturally. On the downside, I was clumsy and awkward as hell. I do have a long history of twisting off lug nuts, splitting sockets, breaking T-wrenches and breaker bars. So maybe Der Ami's comment was well founded. At 65 I'm still pretty strong, not like I once was, but probably stronger than many guys my age, especially if I'm pissed-off and my adrenalyn kicks in. The Hulk comes to mind (LOL).
Steve

Rockdoc,
Believe me, you aren't in any trouble with me. You young lads know how to add the smiley faces, but us computer illiterate old farts don't. I was 5'8" in high school,but am 5'6 1/2"now.If I have any more back and neck operations I will be 5'4".
Mike

Sorta like those 9.3x72R's changing dimensions....

Here is the best method I have found. As long as I am not too close to wood, I hold a hair dryer about an inch over the screw for about a minute. I have an icecube ready to press on the screw head and surrounding metal until it melts. Then do it again.

grouse guy,
Here is a simple method to free slotted screws used by English gunsmiths.Grind a turnscrew to fit the slot in the screw head, make sure that the driver blade bottoms out in the screw slot.With the driver located in the screw slot,using small mechanics hammer give the top of the handle of the turnscrew several sharp downward blows.This will in most situations free a rusted in screw, prior to normal turnscrew removal.

Hello All:

Thanks for your varied advice.

Presently the screw heads and tips are being doused in Kroil for a few days. I then plan to shock the screw heads with a light hammer, and perhaps 100 rounds of targets.

And I may even heat the screws with a soldering iron, keeping a bucket of water nearby, should ignition occur!

I'm also going to order a replacement set of action screws in the event any snap or bugger. I really like the drill press approach, but not having a good press and cradle handy I'll leave that technique for a pro should I need to ship it away for service.

You guys are a great resource.

Regards,
GG

Hold the gun in a padded vice .Use only correctly ground screw drives ,I don't use turn screws never have and never will .
Penetrating oil,heat ,cold what ever but a good size screw driver handel that you can get good grip on is half the battle in my opinion . If its a flat bladed driver then a spanner can give you the extra torque needed .Please also remember that some guns have hidden locking screws on cocking dog screws and top lever pins for example .

All good advice. Couple observations based on 50+ years amateur machine work.

Kroil is awesome.

Time is awesome and just be patient.

Heat and cold and mild mechanical shock help Kroil get in there.

The drill press idea is very good and works well. I use it a lot to start taps - but I manually turn the v-belt pulley at the top of the spindle. That gives me enough leverage - more than enough. It's more than one need to loosen a stuck screw. Long lever-arms and wrenches on the chuck are unnecessary and can cause damage.

Fifty-plus years ago I had a drill press with a handwheel that fit over the splined shaft at the top. Incredibly useful - never seen one since. So I use the big V-belt pulley to turn the spindle instead.

Anal-compulsive attention to turnscrew fit to the slot is absolutely important. Precision grind your tips to fit.

Very good and helpful thread!