Seized Stainless Nuts - Nut Splitter?

[KWKloeber]

Can you use a pencil torch on the acorn, or too dicey?  Heat rules.

[Stu Jackson]

Can you use a pencil torch on the acorn, or too dicey?  Heat rules.

I'm pretty sure that if you have wooden handrails they are above the headliner down below and heat rises.    I considered heat, but determined that since I didn't want to burn the headliner, transfer heat UP through the bolt, and then potentially damage the base of the handrail itself, that a mechanical means of doing so would be far superior.

I utilized Steve's idea, so well presented.

I still have to remove the acorn from the second nut, and then get a nut splitter to remove the nuts.  No heat involved.

Nut splitter on sale today at Canadian Tire, 45% off, only $12.50 + tax.  Thanks to my friend Len who alerted me to the sale.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : What I've done with success, is to hacksaw a slot in the bottom of the threaded bolt. 
Put an box end wrench on the nut, then put a screwdriver in the slot to hold the nut and back off the nut with the wrench!!

Works much better than the vice grips approach.

A thought

[Stu Jackson]

Ron, the vice grips were to remove the "head" of the acorn nut.

I got the second acorn nut partially cut through, and got the nut splitter on the first nut.

I used the small vice grips to hold the nut splitter up to the nut while I tightened the splitter.

Steve's "snipe" idea really came in handy.

[Craig Illman]

Stu - I see plenty of duct tape, but where's the baling wire? 

[J_Sail]

I'm pretty sure that if you have wooden handrails they are above the headliner down below and heat rises.    I considered heat, but determined that since I didn't want to burn the headliner, transfer heat UP through the bolt, and then potentially damage the base of the handrail itself, that a mechanical means of doing so would be far superior

Actually, it's not true that heat always rises. Hot air rises because it is lighter than the surrounding air, thus "convective" heat flow is normally upward. Heat movement by conduction and radiation shows no preference for direction. For heat that is conducted through the bolt, it does not matter that the handrails are above vs below.

That said, I would think torch-applied heat is probably best kept as a last resort due to the proximity to delicate materials and the challenges of shielding them.

I would go with either the nut-splitter approach or carefully drilling the head of the bolt from topsides.

Jeremy

[Stu Jackson]

Both nuts are now gone.  POP!  POP!   

It was a very good day. 

[KWKloeber]

Stu,

I would guess that there are all sorts of quality/robustness of nut splitters -- what was your source?

Would you recommend foregoing messing around with other methods, and go right to popping them off?


ken

[Stu Jackson]

Stu,

I would guess that there are all sorts of quality/robustness of nut splitters -- what was your source?

Would you recommend foregoing messing around with other methods, and go right to popping them off?

Yes, I'd guess there are all different sources of tools, and quality, too.

Given Steve's suggestion that he had purchased a Harbor Freight tool, I opted for price vs. quality, inasmuch as it was a two-shot deal for me.

Conclusion: The tool I bought worked.  On BOTH of the nuts I needed to remove.

I did not begin with "messing around with other methods," because the excellent report from Steve led me directly to the appropriate solution.   Why would I go to heat when it was not warranted given the assembly?  Jeremy's comments were helpful, but I'd been well into nut #1 when he commented.

Once I learned how to apply and adjust the tool it was a lot less time & effort for the second one.

The tool is pretty simple, and anything more elegant (and expensive) would fail to suffice for the brute strength required for the intended purpose.

Gee, $12.50 US from Harbor Freight or $14.01 including tax on sale at Canadian Tire, for something that actually works, seems fair to me.

[Noah]

No need to split hairs over splitting nuts!

[KWKloeber]

Stu

I wasn't thinking of any particular method (e.g., heat) but I recall you said you tried a Dremel and was looking for a drill cutter, and others said an angle grinder.  That's the types of "other methods" I was referring to that eventually lead you to splitting the nut.

Good to know that a cheapo splitter did the trick, oftentimes the HF type cutting tools that seem to be made of something just a little bit harder than annealed aluminum just don't "hold an edge" to the more professional tools.

k

[Craig Illman]

At that price, I probably should just have one handy in the garage. As long as I can find it when needed! Thanks for the pictures Stu.

[Jon W]

I've got the same tool on the boat. I'v used it to split from 1/4" SST nuts up to 1/2" SST heavy hex nuts.

[Stu Jackson]

Success.

Gratifying, too.

Butyl tape after leveraging the handrail up by loosening but not removing the screws from down below.

[KWKloeber]

Stu

It's good to see another who has gone au natural.  I hated teak varnishing so badly I stripped every inch of it off the boat.

I am wondering why you didn't remove the rails so you could at least countersink both the deck and rails?  Or go the whole route and epoxy seal the fastener thru holes?

Are you using a stainless anti-seize such as Locktite C5-A to prevent the bolts/nuts from galling again?

Not that I am saying one way or the other, just throwing out for general info how some C30 guys have dealt with rails:

1) Epoxied-in hanger bolts (including in the screw positions)
or
2) Epoxied-in bolts (with a deformed head so that they can't slip)

No more bungs, no more slipping bolts .........  no more teacher's dirty looks.

k