Soldering Iron, how many Watts to break Loctite?

A

Ad58

Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
373
Ok, I want to buy a soldering iron to break the loctite on the different screws and pivots on my folders.
I noticed there are available in different Watts.
How many Watts do you need? Will 80 be too much?

Thanks,
Ad
 
As long as they're not RED loctited, zero watts should suffice. Seat the bit well, and twist hard. Presto.

If you insist on using a soldering iron, I'm sure any of them would do. You aren't touching the blade, so no worries about destroying the heat treat.

Most handle material will hold up better than blue loctite. You'll know when to stop.
 
Any wattage will work. These screws are so small that there's virtually no mass. This means they heat up very rapidly. I'd use whatever you can lay hands on and once it's up to temp just touch it to the screw head for a few seconds. If it doesn't come loose, try a few more. Repeat until it's out. I wouldn't leave it in contact for more than five seconds at a crack or you might damage meltable handle materials or those that might discolor.
 
If it were me I'd go with a heat gun rather than a soldering iron. In the long run for this kind of use you will find a heat gun much more useful.
 
All depends upon which grade Loctite.

Blue grade 242 or 243 no heat required.

Red grade 262 needs 250 F for release

Red grade 271 approx 325 F

I much prefer a soldering iron with small tip inserted into the Torx or hex hole.
This will allow the heat to travel down the screw and directly into the threads.

Regards,
FK
 
I have a 150W digital Weller that I use, and I crank it up to 700 deg. and just hit the screw for a few seconds at a time. Higher heat, less time means less heat transfer to the surrounding areas. G10 is pretty tough stuff but I do not want to risk melting it (I'm sure it's a high temp but other materials maybe not).
However, I would just as gladly use my 25w pencil iron no problem. I have other hobbies that require a good soldering iron so the solder station is always set up. Go to any hardware store and grab the orange Weller 25w soldering iron for $20 or so and go to town. I also use Wiha bits, a good quality bit and driver is important too. These are the only methods I have used and I'm sure other recommended ones would work.
 
Heat gun isn't a good idea for this. They give very diffuse heat that will heat up everything in the area and it takes too long for the heat transfer to occur - translation: lots of stuff gets exposed to high heat that you don't want exposed to high heat - like handle materials. A soldering iron touched to the head of the screw will heat almost only the screw, and very nearly instantly. That said, having a heat gun is handy for all sorts of other things as well.
 
I use a cauterizing pencil for burning away stray hairs when I am fly tying. Although many years ago, I once taught soldering. I subscribed to the forum because I am also into sharpening. Heating up a screw or rivet can have an effect on the material around it. Especially laminated items. If you have to do it, make sure you clean your tip every time before you start so that every time you do it you only apply the heat for the same amount of time and as short as possible.

Learning a lot about knife making. My wife will kill me if I start a new hobby. My greatest fear is that I die before her and she really finds out what I spent on this stuff. Lol
 
I am very busy these weeks with some home-improvement.... still have to order the right soldering iron! :)
 
Have you tried just using hand pressure? No knives that I know of have red loctite on them anywhere. Blue should be easy to break from hand pressure alone and a good bit, well seated in the screw.

No soldering iron required.
 
For most knives I don't need it indeed, but the screws from my PM2 won't come loose by hand. Even not when I keep the knife in boiling water.
 
Boiling water is not hot enough to loosen red Loctite.
There's no "right" soldering iron for this task, any will do.
 
AntDog said:
Have you tried just using hand pressure? No knives that I know of have red loctite on them anywhere. Blue should be easy to break from hand pressure alone and a good bit, well seated in the screw.

No soldering iron required.
Click to expand...
I don't know what Benchmade is using these days, but all 5 of the original AFCK's that I've owned new from the manufacturer had red loctite. The first and only screw I ever stripped on a knife was a screw on one of those knives.

From what I've read on this forum some knife manufacturers use very cheap, soft screws and lots of loctite. That's a bad combination. Whether it's actually needed or not a few seconds with a soldering iron is a lot less hassle than dealing with a stripped screw in a knife.

My soldering iron is a Weller soldering gun with 100 and 140 watt settings. I bought it at Home Depot. I had tried a cheap 3M soldering iron from Walmart but it was a piece of junk that wouldn't heat up enough to melt solder.
 
killgar said:
I don't know what Benchmade is using these days, but all 5 of the original AFCK's that I've owned new from the manufacturer had red loctite. The first and only screw I ever stripped on a knife was a screw on one of those knives.

From what I've read on this forum some knife manufacturers use very cheap, soft screws and lots of loctite. That's a bad combination. Whether it's actually needed or not a few seconds with a soldering iron is a lot less hassle than dealing with a stripped screw in a knife.

My soldering iron is a Weller soldering gun with 100 and 140 watt settings. I bought it at Home Depot. I had tried a cheap 3M soldering iron from Walmart but it was a piece of junk that wouldn't heat up enough to melt solder.
Click to expand...

That's the case from what I've seen, more often than not. Inspecting the heads of screws under magnification shows a lot of mis-shaped and distorted recesses for the driver, making a secure fit with any driver difficult. Many often blame the poor fit of 'inexpensive' torx drivers for stripped screws, but it's more often the screw that's the problem. It's not surprising when shopping for new screws and a bag of a 100 can be had for a few dollars. QC has to be pretty minimal to support that. This is why it's a bad idea to just try to force a loctited screw loose with brute strength, without a little heat to loosen it up first.


David
 
Might be worthwhile investing in replacement screws for some stuff. Holo-Krome brand screws in the yellow box are absolute top notch quality.
 
AntDog said:
Have you tried just using hand pressure? No knives that I know of have red loctite on them anywhere. Blue should be easy to break from hand pressure alone and a good bit, well seated in the screw.

No soldering iron required.
Click to expand...

Ad58 said:
For most knives I don't need it indeed, but the screws from my PM2 won't come loose by hand. Even not when I keep the knife in boiling water.
Click to expand...

Spyderco, for whatever reason, is now using red loctite on the knives coming out of Golden.

I have no idea what wattage my soldering iron is (it's very cheap), but I held it on the screws for 30 seconds or so without any damage to the G10. I was then able to get the screws out. Still required considerable force though. Make sure you push hard INTO the screw as your twisting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top