Why you do NOT put red loctite on any small screws.....

Steel_Addiction

Steel_Addiction

Joined
Jun 10, 2011
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I decided to take my pocketclip off of my 3.5" hinderer last night, since I was going to get a belt sheath made for it.....

A 1 minute project turned into a few hours....

The small allen wrench rounded out in a hurry, next up was a t5 hammered in, not even a budge....on to t5.5 up to t8....finally got mad and got the smallest easy out I could find, but couldn't get enough meat to pull it out....

So I sharpened up an old buck style knife to a real toothy edge, and started to saw a line in it to allow for a straight blade to fit, sharpened up an old screwdriver and pushed it in hard, it moved about a hair and then ripped out, so back to sawing away another 5* off, resharpened the screwdriver and tried again, moved a hair again.

This went on for about 2 hours, until I could finally get a needlenose pliers to bite in, and turned it out the rest of the way...

There was so much red loctite in the hole I couldn't believe it!!!

Who in their right mind would use the red stuff on such a small screw....

Moral of the story, if you MUST use loctite, please use the low strength purple stuff....and ONLY the purple stuff....

But there is no need for loctite on a system like the hinderer pocketclip, where it is recessed and has two screws!

Picture of the aftermath.

Cropped.jpg
 
That is a ton of Loctite.Next time regardless of what Loctite might be in there try heat.
 
That would have and must have been an upsetting experience.

I hope several see this and avoid the red.

I lean toward avoiding the use of loctite on any of the screws. And if I were to use some purple on the pivot screw, it would be done very sparingly.
 
Oh that is just SO wrong!!!!!! :barf: I feel for you and commend you on your tenacity.
 
Wow, what a pain. Next time try a blow dryer on the hottest setting, if not the a little flame from a lighter to the screw itself, careful don't let it get too hot, you don't want to anodize the titanium..
 
For the benefit of those "New" to the Forum. Do Not use Lok-Tite on anything other than (light/medium duty) on the Pivot screw IF you think you need it (I personally have never felt the need).
As for ANY screw that one suspects has Lok-Tite on it, touch a soldering iron tip to the head of the screw for a localized heating and breaking of the seal, I have always found that to work well.
Sorry to hear about your tribulations SA, always a lot of work un-doing someones handy work when they don't know what they are doing.

Tradesman quoting a Job to the un-initiated, " IF you think my price is High now, just wait until you have me come back after you give it "a try".
 
You know what they say about red loctite..... only use it if you NEVER plan on removing the nut/bolt/screw. I wouldn't have even used blue loctite on any of my knives, but if I did, it would be a tiny smudge of it on one side of the thread.
 
It crossed my mind to use heat. I've always been nervous to use it on any knife since I know heat can alter metal in negative ways.

But I have heard lots of people have luck with soldering irons. I will def. give that a try if this ever happens again.

I still can't believe how much they put on such a small screw.....

Luckily that was the only screw that had any on it.
 
Steel_Addiction said:
It crossed my mind to use heat. I've always been nervous to use it on any knife since I know heat can alter metal in negative ways.

But I have heard lots of people have luck with soldering irons. I will def. give that a try if this ever happens again.

I still can't believe how much they put on such a small screw.....

Luckily that was the only screw that had any on it.
Click to expand...

Typically the way to extract a bolt that is held in by red loctite is to torch the crap out of it.... or drill it out. Seeing how much red loctite you used I would say tenacity and a tad bit of luck was what got the screw out.

BACK AWAY FROM THE RED LOCTITE SIR! I don't see a reason for anybody to use it on anything unless it's for a machine/structure where if the bolt falls off it would cause massive catastrophic death to many human beings and/or furry creatures.
 
I use Loc tite Thread Locker Blue 242. I've only used it on one knife, but like other people have mentioned, use heat, although I don't know how good heat would do on that red loc tite.
 
Steel_Addiction said:
I didn't put it in there. It was whoever I bought it from.
Click to expand...

I think your lucky that the screw head didn't break off in the frame, I've bought a XM used once & the screw head for the clip was broken off, luckily there was no loc tite so the vibrations from the ultrasonic cleaner actually unscrewed it for me which was weird because I spent a good 20 min trying to put a notch in it with my dremel, couldn't make the notch big enough though.
As far as heat doing bad to steel, it's true but you got to get it up there pretty high, at least 300*, the Titanium frame on the other hand can deal with extreme temps with no internal structure weakening.
 
Perhaps it is your patience and skill, perhaps the great tumbled finish on your knife, perhaps both - but I see no stray marks from slipped screwdriver/pliers/etc. Kudos for keeping your head on tight through 2 hours of agony.
 
What a drag. I agree no loctite necesarry. As the owner of a KLR 650, I have plenty of the blue around though...that stuffs maneagable. No way would I put Red on anything like a clip! :eek: That stuff WORKS!
 
A small smear of clear fingernail polish will hold any pivot in place and can be easily reset when broke loose with a little fingernail polish remover. I use this on my four wheeler exhaust bolts, never on my knives but its the same concept. The purple lock tight should be enough for anything on a knife. Not sure why it would be needed on clip screws though.
 
EVer try just a drop of super glue in a place like that.?


the soldering iron is a great tip, thanks.

Also try a little Acetone to loosen it up, let it soak some.
 
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