Frozen screw in Frog

[Doug Mason]

I bought a 28 inch transitional plane on e-bay; it's in decent shape and I'm going to put a new sole on it. However, the screw in the metal frog, onto which the chipbraker is clamped down to, is frozen solid in the frog--I can't get it out (unscrew it). What would be my best option to extract it--with a drill & bit?

[jonathan snyder]

Doug,

Have you tried WD40 or some sort of penetrating oil. I had one the other day, that I thought was frozen, but a bit of WD40, with the frog in the vise and the right sized long handle screwdriver, and it came loose.

Good luck
Jonathan

[Ken Werner]

like jonathan said. penetrating oil and a few hours of penetration.

[Wilbur Pan]

penetrating oil and a few hours of penetration.

Too.....many.....jokes.........Must.....resist.... .typing......... ;)

[Pat Zabrocki]

Yeah, what Wilbur said :)

[Josiah Bartlett]

Doug,

Have you tried WD40 or some sort of penetrating oil. I had one the other day, that I thought was frozen, but a bit of WD40, with the frog in the vise and the right sized long handle screwdriver, and it came loose.

Good luck
Jonathan

WD-40 isn't penetrating oil. It is a water displacer. It is good for drying things out and preventing rust but not freeing stuck stuff.

You need an actual penetrating oil. Kroil is the best. PB-Blaster is ok. Liquid wrench is better than nothing.

Also, get an impact screwdriver. It is a special tool that takes screwdriver bits that you hit with a hammer. They work very well.

[jonathan snyder]

WD-40 isn't penetrating oil. It is a water displacer. It is good for drying things out and preventing rust but not freeing stuck stuff.

Josiah,

Agreed it is not a penetrating oil. Hence I said "WD40 OR some sort of penetrating oil" It may not be designed for freeing stuck stuff, but its all I've got on hand, and have successfully used it to free rusty parts several times.

I bit of heat from a hair dryer might help, but no too hot, or how about putting it in the freezer for a bit. I don't know if these ideas will work or not, but I think I would try lots of options before I took a drill to it.

Just my two cents worth!!

Jonathan

I would be careful with an impact wrench, as the frog may break if hit too hard!

Jonathan

[Wilbur Pan]

Also, get an impact screwdriver. It is a special tool that takes screwdriver bits that you hit with a hammer. They work very well.

Using a brace with a screwdriver bit in it is a great way of generating a lot of torque when screwing or unscrewing a screw in a very controlled manner. I had no idea how well this works until I tired it for the first time. It kicks my cordless drill's rear in terms of hard to drive screws.

Besides, this is the hand tools forum, after all.

Wow -- I did have something useful to add to this thread, besides pithy jokes. ;)

[Ed Breen]

In addition, after applying the oil (marvel???) you might take a light tack hammer and tap the head of the screw to help the oil do its job and loosen rust particles.
Ed

[Ken Werner]

Wilbur- thanks wotta great idea.

Ken

[Jake Darvall]

frozern solid ?...you mean its rusted on. If so electrolysis may help.

or maybe drill it out. retap for a different bolt.

[Stephen Pereira]

Make sure the screwdriver bit is a good fit.. you don't want to distort the slot in the frozen screw. Use a good quality screwdriver

As others have said, try soaking in Kroil or other good penetrating oil, diesel fuel is good also. If it still won't come loose try to apply a little judicious heat to the the frog. Only as a last resort would I drill out the screw.

Steve

[Greg Crawford]

Heat might help, so might placing in the freezer. Get the metal moving around a bit. I wouldn't put it in the oven with penetrating oil on it, though.

[Josiah Bartlett]

An impact screw driver is not an air powered impact wrench. It is basically a screwdriver with a hardened heel that you can tap with a mallet, and a mechanism for putting the torque to the screw.

I have a classic 1950 Chevy pickup. I use the impact screwdriver to save screw heads that would just get mangled using a screw driver. I have yet to damage anything, even using it on a pot metal carburator and the sheet metal dash.

[harry strasil]

sometimes just holding the right size slotted bit the kind that the impact driver uses in the slot with a pair of vicegrips and tapping on the end will have a tendency to break up the rust lock tight and you can put a small amount of pressure on it sideways at the same time. Its a little gentler than the impact driver on fragile things. FWIW