Hey all, Been trying, very unsuccessfully, to unscrew brass chandelier parts. It should be simple - turn one part one way, the other part the other way and you have 2 parts. nope ... not for me.
I have tried soaking parts in kerosene, acetone, some-kinda-spray-on-BLASTER-stuff (cant recall the name right now), heating the parts - nothing budges. They are 2 different parts, ha ha, one is straight-up brass, the other iron/steel. theres a bit of rust, not much. I've used my hands on the brass (pliers and wrenches on the iron), mostly, since I don't want to damage the brass (the iron will be replaced - its damaged - that's why I want to get them apart). I have wrapped the brass with tape/rags and used large plumbers pliers. nope ...
Anyone have any other suggestions ?
Unsticking old metal parts
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StoneHouseGuy
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Casey
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Re: Unsticking old metal parts
Heat the female threaded piece with a MAPP gas torch, apply ice to the male piece, use vice-grips.
The artist formerly known as Sombreuil
Re: Unsticking old metal parts
PB Blaster and a torch always works for me. 
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1918ColonialRevival
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Re: Unsticking old metal parts
Put the iron piece in a vise. Then, soak it with penetrating oil and let it sit for a while. If that doesn't work, use a torch as suggested above. But having the iron piece held snugly in a vise is critical.
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phil
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Re: Unsticking old metal parts
If you can access the nuts use a cut disc in a dremil it will heat them up as you cut ( so put a drop of bolt loosened if you have it) but more importantly it will weaken them
It’s ok if you go at an angle but stop before you reach the brass fastener
Once you cut most of the way through the nut you’ll be able to unscrew it from the brass bolt with less torque since the cut weakened it
Aside from that if you strip a screw, maybe aphilips head or small bolt head -cut a slot with the disc then use a screwdriver in the slot.
If you have stripped screw heads in plastic cases things you can heat the head with a soldering iron to soften the plastic near the screw
Heating and cooling helps iron bolts shrink and stretch and sometimes that can get them apart but the expansion rate is directly related to size so heat might help get the bolt loosened or oil in to the threads but the expansion rates are very minuscule when trying to heat and shrink using heat on a small item. This theory holds true in bigger fasteners than tiny fasteners since the actual amount of growth or shrinkage also relates to size, as well as temperature change
Another thing to be aware of with copper and brass. Most ferric metals ( iron) get hard if you heat then quench quickly
Brass and copper react the opposite so if you heat your brass or copper and then quench it gets softer. Try that if you ever try to bend hard copper pipe. You can restore the hardness by hearing then allowing to cool more slowly
If you try playing with a piece of copper pipe with a torch and a bucket of water you’ll see that the cooling rate changes the malleability considerably.
Heat and quench you can bend it with your hands. Heat and cool slowly then you’ll see it is much harder to bend with your hands. Brass is partly copper so the effect will be similar
You can heat and quench to soften copper and you might do this if you were trying to blacksmith a shape. As you hammer and bend it gets harder through work hardening. Then if you heat and quench it will soften it so you can continue working on the shape by hammering on it.
Using a dremil to cut bolts is easy but the danger is that you might damage parts you don’t want to scratch up. You might use a couple of layers of duct tape to protect nearby surfaces so that if you slip up it will help prevent scratching. Like if you accidentally put some twist against the disk it will shatter as they are very fragile and can’t take being twisted during a cut
If you have access to a dremil try using it to cut some stuff you don’t care about first just to practice before you attempt tiny nuts in a confined area near stuff that’s precious to you.
If you have clear access you can use a hack saw to cut part way through the nuts rather than a dremil. If a hacksaw won’t fit they also have the little holders that will hold a hacksaw blade so that you can cut in tight spaces
Like this
https://www.amazon.ca/Allied-61926-10-I ... 4706163279
It’s ok if you go at an angle but stop before you reach the brass fastener
Once you cut most of the way through the nut you’ll be able to unscrew it from the brass bolt with less torque since the cut weakened it
Aside from that if you strip a screw, maybe aphilips head or small bolt head -cut a slot with the disc then use a screwdriver in the slot.
If you have stripped screw heads in plastic cases things you can heat the head with a soldering iron to soften the plastic near the screw
Heating and cooling helps iron bolts shrink and stretch and sometimes that can get them apart but the expansion rate is directly related to size so heat might help get the bolt loosened or oil in to the threads but the expansion rates are very minuscule when trying to heat and shrink using heat on a small item. This theory holds true in bigger fasteners than tiny fasteners since the actual amount of growth or shrinkage also relates to size, as well as temperature change
Another thing to be aware of with copper and brass. Most ferric metals ( iron) get hard if you heat then quench quickly
Brass and copper react the opposite so if you heat your brass or copper and then quench it gets softer. Try that if you ever try to bend hard copper pipe. You can restore the hardness by hearing then allowing to cool more slowly
If you try playing with a piece of copper pipe with a torch and a bucket of water you’ll see that the cooling rate changes the malleability considerably.
Heat and quench you can bend it with your hands. Heat and cool slowly then you’ll see it is much harder to bend with your hands. Brass is partly copper so the effect will be similar
You can heat and quench to soften copper and you might do this if you were trying to blacksmith a shape. As you hammer and bend it gets harder through work hardening. Then if you heat and quench it will soften it so you can continue working on the shape by hammering on it.
Using a dremil to cut bolts is easy but the danger is that you might damage parts you don’t want to scratch up. You might use a couple of layers of duct tape to protect nearby surfaces so that if you slip up it will help prevent scratching. Like if you accidentally put some twist against the disk it will shatter as they are very fragile and can’t take being twisted during a cut
If you have access to a dremil try using it to cut some stuff you don’t care about first just to practice before you attempt tiny nuts in a confined area near stuff that’s precious to you.
If you have clear access you can use a hack saw to cut part way through the nuts rather than a dremil. If a hacksaw won’t fit they also have the little holders that will hold a hacksaw blade so that you can cut in tight spaces
Like this
https://www.amazon.ca/Allied-61926-10-I ... 4706163279