Put a torch to a plane?

Re: Put a torch to a plane?

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>I believe the torch will assist in getting the screw out. I have a friend with a block plane that had a frozen screw in it. I torched the screw until it was hot but hadn't discolored yet and was able to remove it safely after it cooled enough to add some penetrant.JR

Try this

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>If you think the torch is overkill, use a soldering iron to heat just the screw. It should be hot to the touch, but not glowing red. Let it cool and the screw should *jump* out of the hole at the slightest provocation. Good luck.

Thinking backwards might work

Nemo Tools

>I've never tried this, but I wonder if putting the plane in the freezer for a while and then letting it warm up would jiggle things loose enought to get some penetrant in. It shouldn't hurt anything to try and it might be less disaster prone.

I have put a pressed on fitting in the oven at 350°F and the shaft in the freezer to get it on. That worked. SWMBO gave me a funny look.

Would you consider putting the whole plane in the oven maybe while stripped of all removable components? At a low temperature. I've never tried this either. It'd be an interesting experiment.

Does anyone here know how hot you could heat a plane body before you affected the temper? Keep in mind this is the body, not the blade.

There's several other things you could try, depending on how crazy, er I mean motivated, you are. You could run hot water from the faucet on the plane for several minutes and see if that got enough expansion to jiggle it loose. I'd want to dry it off and oil it down after that. Ya think?

Another idea just occured to me. You could heat the plane in veg oil in a pot on the surface of the stove. This could get way hot, but the rust issue wouldn't be there.

Somebody stop me. I'm getting way to far into this! I've spent almost an hour just thinking up ways to get a dad-gum screw out! First of all, in a hour I didn't come up with all that many ideas and second, I've got to get a life!

Re: Thinking backwards might work

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>The corrosion that locks a fitting or screw into a female (sorry Pam) part is like little meshed gears of particles interlocking the surfaces. Differential expansion is what tends to break the corrosion down and help loosten the parts. In heating the stuck part the screw or fastner expands and crushes the softer corrosion. When the fastner cools it shrinks to normal size in an enlarged bore. Adding some penetrant into this area further breaks the corrosions ability to lock the part. Remember to let the part cool to normal temp before any robust attempts to remove it are applied because the hot part may have compromised strength and may wring off and become much harder to get out.

Note this game plan is not intended to get crossthreaded or galled/siezed parts out. That type of stuck part requires a completely different approach and will probably require replacment of some parts at the minimum. JR

Re: Thinking backwards might work

Dale Stansbery

>If you aren't in a hurry, the best appraoch is a looooong soak in wd-40 or the likes. I had a very badly rusted depth adjuster screw with the brass nut locked on. I didn't try heat, but WD-40 and force with vised grips over leather on the nut wouldn't budge it. I didn't use extreme force because I didn't want to destroy it. I put some WD-40 in the recess last fall, put it aside. then forgot about it. This spring, when I discovered it where I had left it, the nut came off with finger pressure only.

I also like the suggestion of using a big tip soldering iron to heat the screw. You're not likely to warp a casting or anneal the cutter that way. That also works with screws that are rusty and tight in wood.

Re: Thinking backwards might work

Todd Hughes

>Cooling the plane will make the metal contract around the part and instead of loosing it probably would make it worse. In cases like this I always try to heat up the area around the screw which cause it to expand and freeing up the screw instead of heating the screw,[though of course the screw does heat up some]. Helps if you spray a good penetrating oil like Blast Out or the like on it while hot as i think it draws it in. WD40 is better then spit but not by much.

.... You are dealing with cast iron here so no such thing as a temper to worry about. Cast iron can not be hardened so how can you temper it?. May have to worry about the Jappaning. On some things like a gun where you can't put a torch on it I have heated the screw up by putting a red hot screw driver in the slot then use the penetrating oil and had that worked. In this case you are heating up the screw but you don't have any choice..

...I've delt with many many rusted screws and never had one beat me after I used a propane torch on it as long as it had a head that could be turned.I always try to get the screw out while the piece is still hot and never had any trouble.....Todd

Re: Todd, I just figured the nicker itself was

Dale Stansbery

>hardened and overheating it may soften it.