Stuck gib screw question?

What type of head?

Keith Newton

Is it Allan, hex or slotted?

I like heat. If you have an old or cheap wrench that you can torch to transfer the heat down to the head is worth a try. Or if you have a big soldering iron might be worth a try.

It's a hex head....

Barry Irby

and I am afraid I am rounding it off.

I do have a cheap old wrench and a soldering gun.

Are you suggesting to heat the head and let it cool/contract or just try it while it's hot?

Logic says to heat the surrounding metal to expand it. I will try heating the cheap wrench.

Re: Stuck gib screw question? *LINK*

John in NM

As to replacement, when you get them out, all the blade gib screws I've come across were square head set screws with a jam nut. Should be easy to find replacements - should be, but you never know.

Various people recommend Kroil, PB blaster, or ATF + acetone for penetrating oil. Hard to say what is best. Tight fitting wrench and a cheater? I've used needle nose vise grips with another pair clamped across the needle jaws to keep them from flexing so much.... but that might not be as good as a nice tight open end wrench in this case.


Square head set screws

Re: It's a hex head....

John in NM

Easy to replace then, just get some of the right pitch and file or grind the heads to the right thickness. You'd probably have to do that with the square ones I linked as well.

I like square head since there is less risk of rounding.

Re: Stuck gib screw question?

ebd

I bought a used planer and found several screws seized and one broke off. Heat from a torch + WD40 (and a drill & screw extracter for the broken one) worked just fine. It didn't actually require that much heat. I used screws with an internal hex (allen wrench to tighten/remove) as replacements for all the screws. Much easier to deal with and little chance of rounding off.

Counterintuitive

Clifton C

A favorite trick of mine for a stuck fastener is to tighten it. Hopefully it will move about half a skosh, that's all you need. The movement is so small that it shouldn't make a difference but it does. Then loosen it. Why this works I don't know, but I've had it work so many times it cannot be a coincident. Any one else heard of, or used this trick?

Re: Counterintuitive

Barry Irby

These little bolts are jammed in between the gib and the head. Tightening them loosens the knife. Loosening them jams the knife even tighter.

I will try your idea in the morning. Right now they are soaking in

WD40 ad brake fluid.

I would like to replace them fearing I have rounded them.

Tried heating the wrench....

Barry Irby

Did not work, Still stuck.

Also tried a soldering iron. Did not work.

In the morning I may heat the area directly with the torch.

I also tried the needle nose Vice Grips. They just popped off.

Re: Counterintuitive

Clifton C

Well, I would have lost money... I thought mine were square. I knew what you were saying but I had to go look. So, to try my trick, you would have to loosen, then tighten to loosen the gibs/knife. Hopefully the overnight soak will do the trick.

Yes, counter-counterintuitive

Barry Irby

I will go give it yet another try in a little while.

This something of a mind bender. If I heat it, it seems the bolt would expand in both directions, diameter and length, making it tighter in both senses. So, I can't wrap my head around how that would help.

I am trying to figure out some other type of wrench that might help. Like one of those crazy looking ones with the asymmetric jaws that you can ratchet on the bolt. Would that reach under the bolts and get a grip on a facet that has not been rounded?

Is there a way to freeze the bolt and shrink it? Perhaps dry ice on the bolt and head on the roller head?

Re: Yes, counter-counterintuitive

Clifton C

Hope things are working in your favor. Found this guy in a search and thought, that's an easy mod to a pair of six inch needle nose vice grips.

So here is Mark 1 mod 0 quick and dirty... A little grinder work with a cut-off wheel

and you will have a dedicated gib screw extractor device.

That's a good idea

John in NM

Probably going to need to replace the bolts anyway.

Re: Yes, counter-counterintuitive

Larry Rupprecht

Can you apply a fine-cone flame to just the nut? Heat transfer may be slow enough through the threads to expand the nut without an equal expansion of the bolt body. And even if the heat transfer is too fast, the heating of the nut alone may cause a breaking of the thread bond. Might be worth a try before resorting to cutting/grinding.

Good luck.

We have a winner/loser...

Barry Irby

I tried dry ice. Nope

I tried PB Blast. Nope

Called Grizzly, they suggested using a block of wood and try to tap the gib down. Nope

Bought some metal cutting blades for my Multi tool. Tried to saw through one of the heads to leave enough head to remove the screw. Nope. Gave up and sawed

through the shaft of both. SUCCESS!

So this 30 minute job took a day and a half. Except its not finished. I Just ordered replacement bolts from Grizzly and they will be here in a few days.

Oh, to me the most amazing part was I was sure the remnant shafts of the bolts would be stuck in the gib and I would have to get out the easy outs and left hand twist drill bits to get them out. Nope. They were so loose I turned them out with my finger tip.