Screws that won't budge, soldering iron?

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May 23, 2005
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Okay, I have a good torx set, but I have some knives from which I can't loosen the screws, such as my PM2. Even holding it in boiling water for several minutes doesn't help. It is driving me crazy!

So I was thinking about buying a soldering iron, to heath the screws/pivot and break the bond. Will 60W be enough for this job? Any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance,
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That should be plenty, but others can chime in here. I know that is frustrating!!
 
Instead of getting a soldering iron, get you a heat gun. If you have a harbor freight in your area you can get a heat gun for pretty cheap. I bought mine there and it has two heat settings, 500 degrees and around 1100 degrees. I have used it on plenty of knives with red loctite.
 
Go with a low-wattage soldering iron with a small-as-possible tip. There's NO REASON to apply 1100°F to a small pivot screw on a knife, or any of the surrounding material. A lower-wattage soldering iron, or one with adjustable temp control, is designed to work at least below 400-500°F, which will still be hot enough to loosen up a loctited screw, and also less likely to do collateral damage to other parts of the knife (handles, plastic/nylon washers/bushings, etc). A small tip, just small enough to fit within the recess in the head of the torx screw, will focus the heat exactly where it needs to be, without spreading too much heat beyond the head of the screw itself. If using an adjustable temp control, start with a very low or lowest-possible setting; if not adjustable, keep the tip as small as possible, and don't hold the tip to the screw for more than maybe ~2-3 seconds at a time, before trying to loosen the screw. All you're wanting to do is loosen up the loctite enough to break it free, and reaching actual soldering temperatures of 300°F+ isn't likely necessary anyway.


David
 
Have you tried a hair dryer ? I've never met blue loctite a hair dryer couldn't break. I've got pretty creative in breaking loctite in the past , holding a driver in a candle then applying to a screw, lighter on the screw (don't do that!!), boiling water etc.

Hairdryer has worked everytime. If your having that much trouble I suggest using much less loctite . It only takes a drop like a drop on a toothpick to hold, even then I haven't bought threadlocker in a long time and don't really use it anymore I don't need it .

Teflon tape is another option.
 
I did not apply the loctite myself, it was the manufacturer! So tell them! :biggrin: I will try a hair dryer first. Thanks for all the useful tips and hints!
 
i once had a PM2 camo/satin blade version,and i couldn't budge the torx screws no matter what i did! even with proper fitting torx bits didn't help,so i ended up pulling out my soldering iron about 60 watts,it took about 60 sec.per screw!but that did the trick,use caution when working around the G10 scales because they will tend to melt with to much heat!and i really don't no why they used red locktite thread locker my PM2! as they don't on all of them,the heat gun seems like a better 1st choice to try.
 
A heat gun applies heat to a large area. That isn't needed to loosen a screw.
 
Spartan00 said:
Have you tried a hair dryer ? I've never met blue loctite a hair dryer couldn't break. I've got pretty creative in breaking loctite in the past , holding a driver in a candle then applying to a screw, lighter on the screw (don't do that!!), boiling water etc.

Hairdryer has worked everytime. If your having that much trouble I suggest using much less loctite . It only takes a drop like a drop on a toothpick to hold, even then I haven't bought threadlocker in a long time and don't really use it anymore I don't need it .

Teflon tape is another option.
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I've never used Teflon tape as threadlocker but it helps stripped threads grip sometimes.
 
I've only used it on pivots personally on my job though they are used for tiny screws the size of handle screws for easier maintenance
 
Yeah it's more of a thread lubricant. I use tape and dope on screwed pipe.
 
Bradb4178 said:
Instead of getting a soldering iron, get you a heat gun. If you have a harbor freight in your area you can get a heat gun for pretty cheap. I bought mine there and it has two heat settings, 500 degrees and around 1100 degrees. I have used it on plenty of knives with red loctite.
Click to expand...
If it's like the one I bought from Harbor Freight, it's 500 and 1100 WATTS, not degrees. 1100° is close to melting aluminum.
 
Using a heat gun is akin to throwing your knife in a fire.
 
Instead of heat try hitting the back of your screwdriver lightly with a nylon mallet (like an impact gun) sometimes it helps to break it free.

Also even though it sounds wrong I have gotten stubborn screws loose by trying to tighten it a fraction of a turn (makes it break free a Lil? ) it works well when you have almost stripped the head trying to reverse it .

If you can apply enough downward force to where the bit doesn't want to rise up and strip the head I would say use a bar for more leaverage.

You could move anything with a big enough lever
 
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