Removing A Rusted In Thread

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C08

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Could be but not boaty. The thread is a siezed toggle screw in an old vice with a swivelling base (Record Vice). I have dosed it with Plusgas for a couple of weeks and used heat (on the vice not the screw) to try and unscew the two toggles. One came out eventually ok and it looks to be about 1/2" diameter and a very coarse thread, Whitworth perhaps. The other is not budging and although Plusgas is seeping right down the thread and out of the other end it still will not budge. The little tommy bar is just a short length (5") of flat plate. I cannot be too brutal with it as the likely outcome would then be to damage the slots that the toggle swivels within and I do not want to have to make another toggle screw.

It would be easy eniough to drill out the tread but I want the toggle and screw intact. I am wondering whether the time has come to try a chemical solution but what would be best to seep down and disolve the rust and free the thread?
 
I've had a few recommendations of using a mix of old ATF and acetone as a penetrating oil. Might be worth a go.
 
lpdsn said:
I've had a few recommendations of using a mix of old ATF and acetone as a penetrating oil. Might be worth a go.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the suggestion but as the Plusgas is seeping through it looks as if it is the rust I need to shift?
 
If the Plusgas is running through then there is no other liquid solution which will make any difference. Heat and force are your only remaining friends. Often a repeated impact force is more effective than a constant large force. A rattle gun would shift it in a trice but you need a hexagon head for that to work.

Richard
 
If you can get a stilson wrench on it that often works. Stillsons better than mole grips as, the more force you apply the harder it grips. Thanks to Captain Stillson.
 
Chemical attack would probably have to be something like phosphoric acid.
But first you will need to wash out the oil, probably with an alcohol?

You are sure it's not LH thread?
Is it a square section or buttress thread as used for vices and lead screws?
 
I get the feeling that you can only get at one end of the screw, but if both then I'd be tapping each end moderately hard with a light hammer axially to try and compress the rust/crud as well as break the stiction. (I prefer the acetone/thick oil mix because it's a better lubricant once it is actually in the joint).
 
I'm assuming what the OP calls "toggle screws" are the two screws that that clamp the revolving base. First few minutes of this video show one way of doing it. I think it's American so turn off your H&S and PPE radar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLIeWvCR0OE

If the penetrating oil is running right through, you could try blocking one end with something that's easy to remove - Plasticine? Flood it and let it soak.

Edit to add: Patience! Don't rush it and break something.
 
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Eventually got it out using lots of heat and a steady pressure from a 2ft length of tube. It is probable that the toggles were too springy for me previously. Thanks for all advice.
Spookily the video referenced by penberth3 is a Record 75 Vice just like mine and in similar condition. His gas torch looked rather better than mine!
 
C08 said:
Eventually got it out using lots of heat and a steady pressure from a 2ft length of tube. It is probable that the toggles were too springy for me previously. Thanks for all advice.
Spookily the video referenced by penberth3 is a Record 75 Vice just like mine and in similar condition. His gas torch looked rather better than mine!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update, well done!

I've also got a Record 75, unused at the moment and unrestored - you've inspired me to
do something about it. I've also got a Record Imp - the little table-top vice which like the 75 also has an anvil, pipe jaws and a pipe bender. These obviously aren't suitable for the heaviest work but useful for odd jobs.
 
Next time another option is to soak it in Citric acid, you can get crystals from a home brew shop, just make a up a strong solution and leave it soaking for a week. I dissolved a broken off tap in 316 stainless, it doesn't touch the stainless but dissolved the tap.
 
A good one and usually last resort is weld a nut on to it, the larger a nut you can get on it the more weld you can pool into it and get it glowing, gives you something to undo the bolt with and im your case could cut it off after
 
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