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Thread: Ugg. Have crud in a tiny hole that needs to come out. Please help.

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Ugg. Have crud in a tiny hole that needs to come out. Please help.

    I got a new joinery plane off back order from Veritas today. I am ecstatic to have it in the shop and am not going to ask for a different one. It is a skew rabbet plane.

    A bit cold here today, the delivery person left it on my front porch as requested. When I got home I took it out of the box, let the metal come up to ambient, wiped it down with a dry cloth and then slathered it up with jojoba oil for proactive rust prevention. Plan is to put it back in the OEM box until I can make a working stand for it, which could be Feb 2022, but well oiled.

    I am ready to put it back together, except there is some crud down in the hole for the screw that holds the knicker on. I don't think it is a metal shaving. It seems sort of cardboard or pasty something, kinda grey/white in color. The screw came out just fine, and measures nominal 3mm diameter. The screw was fully seated with the knicker in good position when I took it apart. So I need to get some crud out of a hole maybe 2mm diameter, preferably without pushing the crud to the bottom of the hole.

    I have some canned air for computer keyboards, but the extension tube for the spray nozzle is far too wide to get past the crud to blow it up and out, I could only blow the crud back down into the hole with that.

    I was thinking about spraying some WD40 or similar onto the nearby flat metal and then trying to fill the hole with WD40 using a toothpick to float that little rascal out. Sounds time consuming, and then I would be comitted. So asking for helpful advice first.

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Sewing needle and a steady hand? Also, have you tried any solvents? I'm wondering if it's the rust preventative Veritas puts on their tools.

  3. #3
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    Vacuum? Might just be some assembly lubricant. Or at the worst remnants of production. I would try and get it for piece of mind, but I dont think it will hurt anything

  4. #4
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    Pipe cleaners are one of the regular cleaning tools that come in very handy.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
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    I use carb cleaner for such things. Keep it off any paint (and out of your eyes), and use the little straw. One quick blast would probably clean it right out.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    A variety of dental picks are an important part of my tool collection. Dentists often recycle them, so you might be able to score a couple for free.

  7. #7
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    Strip down one of those twisty paper or plastic ties that you pick up at the grocery store when you bag your own produce and put a little hook on the end, though I think the vacuum will likely do the trick as well.

  8. #8
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    I do think it is some remnant of the manufacturing process. The wee screw holding the knicker down was torqued a little bit tighter than I want to maintain and it seems like whatever the goop is got pulled up into the threads when I took it apart. Appreciate all the ideas, I ought to be able to get this solved without having to distract the manufacturer from making more tools.

  9. #9
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    That's a tapped hole, correct? Sometimes you can run a tap through to clean up stuff caught in the threads. You may need a bottoming tap if it is a blind hole.

  10. #10
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    A small twist drill just a size smaller than the hole in a pin vise can be used to remove the debris. If it pushes it to the bottom of the hole, the cutting edges should catch on it and bring it up out of the hole. Do this be hand, not with any power tool. It won't hurt the threads.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

    My advice, comments and suggestions are free, but it costs money to run the site. If you found something of value here please give a little something back by becoming a contributor! Please Contribute

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Dental Pick? One of the tricks I learned in the Army is take the plane into a very hot shower with you - assuming the crud is organic and not metallic. After cleaning out the hoke after the shower, a second bath in oil would be useful.

  12. #12
    Join Date
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    Small gauge hypodermic needle to stab or scrape out the gunk?, with syringe to blow or flush it out?

    If you need more air pressure, compressor w/ inflation needle used for filling basketballs, etc?
    Hobbyist woodworker
    Maryland

  13. #13
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    Small gauge hypodermic needle to stab or scrape out the gunk?, with syringe to blow or flush it out?
    There are syringes available for various uses. They can be handy at times like this or even for shooting glue into cracks.

    One that comes to mind is one given to me by a dentist to irrigate around some dental surgery.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  14. #14
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    I started with a wire size drill bit up in the 50s for size number. It fit in the tapped hole just fine, and twisting the bit between thumb and forefinger did get a little bit of the goop into flutes (threads? hollows?) of the drill bit. However the same operation pushed more of the visible goop into the trheads, making the screw even harder to drive in.

    I switched to a solvent containing petroleum distallates - and read the manual that comes with the plane. "comes treated with a rust preventative. Remove this using a rag dampened with mineral spirits. Clean all machined surfaces." From the spray dispenser I used short squirts directly on the problem threaded hole, and then wiped the overspray around on the rest of the plane, gently knocked the goopy threaded hole over a paper towel once for noticeable results and then a second time (spray, wipe overspray over entire plane) for adequate results. The exact product I used (because I had some in the shop) was Birchwood Casey bore scrubber with petroleum distillates and monoethanolamine on the the active ingredient list.

    I don't have anything visible recovered on the bright white paper towel. My best guess it was a remnant of of the lube for cutting the threads after the hole was drilled that dissolved in the petroleum distillate solvent and poured out. I could only find three blind holes on the entire unit and the other two I could see bare metal at the bottom.

    Thanks for the pointers, solvent worked, problem solved.

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