Shopsmith Forums

When I hear the snap, it is most of the time with the allen screw attaching a saw arbor to the spindle. I change blades, sometimes tow to three times an hour, so time and corrosion are not a factor there. Many times there is no snap! There is one screw in particular that I have had trouble with. The screw in the arbor holding the rip blade has actually come loose a couple of times, allowing the blade to spin. This is also one of the screws that snaps quite often when I get a good hold on the spindle. I am guessing when there is a good tight connection the screw is likely to make a snap when released.

Like Dusty, I find it is a good practice to keep full diameter on the wrench by filing or grinding down the ends every once and a while.

The time I can remember when a set screw was really stuck, a metal to metal rap on the wrench with a ball pein hammer while under hand torque, worked to free the screw.

Dusty - have you seen any sparks since you had your eyes worked over?

a1gutterman wrote:Hi Bruce!
I have seen some tire shops over-tighten a lug nut that way, and have been the victim of such work, in the form of a busted lug bolt. But, it is possible to use the pneumatic wrench to save time, but knot tighten the lug nut all of the way down, and then use a torque wrench to correctly set the torque on the nut. This is how the Costco tire shop does it for me.

I think all good tire shops now torque wheel nuts. I know most new cars require it and if it isn't done the brake rotor will probably warp. I know my shop has a set of torque tubes each torque is a different color. One end goes on the Impact wench and other is wheel nuts. I watched and at the right torque the torque tube looks like a rubber band being wound up just giving but not doing anything to the nut.

When you can't loosen a screw by hand and if you don't want to get it hot with a torch or oven you could try an impact wrench with the appropriate bit. The hammering will frequently jar the screw loose. You can get long hex bits with 3/8" drive and an inexpensive impact wrench at HF or better ones from Sears or even better ones..., how much can you spend?

I use either Vibra Tite or Anti Seize compound on most screws depending on how frequently it needs to come apart. I have had Loctite seize up screw threads in alloys and just about destroy the alloy removing the fastener.

Now there's a dandy idea, Jim! Buy a 5/16 allen wrench on a 3/8" drive socket. Affix a shaft to the socket - then put it in a drawer for the next time there is a 'stuck' allen screw. If you have a small impact wrench or even a clutched hand drill. use one of these to loosen that little bugger.

BTW, I changed blades 3 times today and noticed a snap at each loosening!

And...

Some of us are very smitten with the Mark 5. We "see sparks fly" even when not loosening Allen screws.

georgek1 wrote:I have what should be a simple problem, but I have not been able to solve it yet... In trying to square and align my 520 Pro Fence, according to Ricks directions on the Journals DVD, you are to loosen the 4 screws on top of the fence. I can get 2 of the screws loose, but have been unable to loosen the other 2. I am about to twist the long hex wrench out of shape and I am afraid to strip the screws. Anyone have any ideas on how to loosen them?

Thanks in advance for any tips

George

George - did any of this conversation help you to get those little screws to come loose? Although I've never tried this - a sawed off allen wrench attached to a clutched drill may work. I'd start low on the clutch and move to a higher torque as needed. Also a little penetrating oil should help.

I went to our local auto supply store and brought a long 5/32" S&K 3/8" drive hex key. I have a B&D 18V Impact Driver with a 3/8" drive adapter. I find this has loosen any 5/32" set screw that my normal "L" handle 5/32" cannot do. The impact driver seems to work much better than my clutched 18V drills and was one of my better tool investments (from a Christmas suggestion). So far, the hex key has not rounded off on the end from doing this task. I only use it on the very difficult set screws. I use Kroil first on these set screws.

charlese wrote:George - did any of this conversation help you to get those little screws to come loose? Although I've never tried this - a sawed off allen wrench attached to a clutched drill may work. I'd start low on the clutch and move to a higher torque as needed. Also a little penetrating oil should help.

"...you could try an impact wrench..."

I have an old tool given to me by my grandfather that I use whenever I can't get a screw to loosen. It's also called an impact driver -- but it's not a power tool like what Bill describes. It looks like a screwdriver, but is meant to be hit with a hammer. You simply set the tool to loosen or tighten, then each time you hit it with a hammer, it causes the bit to turn clockwise or counterclockwise a fraction of a degree. The best thing about it is that you can easily adjust the impact by how hard you hit it with the hammer. I usually start out with light taps and slowly increase the force behind each blow until the screw begins to budge. If the screw is rusty, I give it a shot of penetrating oil before I start. Works about 99% of the time.

Sears has something very much like my grandfather's old tool for $25 -- http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 921x00003a

With all good wishes,

Nick wrote:"...you could try an impact wrench..."

I have an old tool given to me by my grandfather that I use whenever I can't get a screw to loosen. It's also called an impact driver -- but it's not a power tool like what Bill describes. It looks like a screwdriver, but is meant to be hit with a hammer. You simply set the tool to loosen or tighten, then each time you hit it with a hammer, it causes the bit to turn clockwise or counterclockwise a fraction of a degree. The best thing about it is that you can easily adjust the impact by how hard you hit it with the hammer. I usually start out with light taps and slowly increase the force behind each blow until the screw begins to budge. If the screw is rusty, I give it a shot of penetrating oil before I start. Works about 99% of the time.

Sears has something very much like my grandfather's old tool for $25 -- http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 921x00003a

With all good wishes,

Nick
I had almost forgotten about those impact drivers. I use to work on Dirt Bikes (motorcycles) and after a weeks of hot, cold, mud, water, sand and corrosion we often used these tools to get into the motor cases.
Worked fantastic and to the best of my knowledge never rounded off a screw or bolt enough that we couldn't eventually get it out with the tool.
Ed