Heating Loc-tite?

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pinkfloyd101

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Sep 24, 2008
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Hello. On one of my knives I decided to put some very low strength loc-tite on one of the screw threads because it was always coming loose. My problem now is, I want to take the knife apart to clean it, but i can't loosen that screw because it just spins in place with the female part of the stand off. Would heating the screw let me take it apart without it spinning in place? How would i go about this? I don't have a torch so would boiling water work?
 
Try a soldering iron to heat the screw head. Just make sure not to get things to hot.
 
What kind of Loktite did you use?

You might have to also heat both the male and female sides with the iron. Although it seems like common sense, be careful when you hold the female end to unscrew the pivot--it will be hot!! I received a nice blister in my haste!
 
I used a very low strength loc-tite. Less than blue. It looks purple. I am a college student and i don't really have any tools to heat it. Any ideas on how to heat it with everyday home things?
 
You really have to heat it. Do you have any friends with a soldering iron?

Boiling water could work. I have never tried it, but if you used the soft stuff, then it might work. If you put it on really heavy, you are going to have a difficult time. You could try a blow dryer on high to heat it. A curling iron might work if you could get it on the screw.

When you put loktite on the pivot, you only need to use a little bit on the tip of a toothpick, just a spot on the thread.
 
Try hitting it with a wrench. :p

Seriously though, try running it under hot water while genlty turning the screw. Might not work but It won't hurt anything either, that's how they say to get it loose when you get your fingers stuck together. Heat will loosen up the strength of the glue
 
Get a nail and a pair of pliers and put the nail on the stove. Then hold the tip of the nail to the screw head.

Might also be able to take a twist tie or some thin metal wire and wrap around the standoff and then use the pliers to twist and tighten it down. Might provide enough grip to stop the spinning.
 
I'm not sure how heat-sensitive the rest of your knife is, but you could try putting it in a ziplock bag and boiling it for a couple minutes. Just be sure to wear some heavy gloves when you take it out. This method is commonly used to defeat loctite in flashlights.

You could also check for an electronics lab in your school, though you may want to check their regulations on knives first.
 
Its the screw/standoff on my umnumzaan. I must of put too much loc-tite on the screw to begin with. I tried a lighter on the screw for about 3 min straight. Half of the whole knife was hot, but i still could not break the screw loose. It still wants to spin in place. I'll try the twist-tie idea. Thanks for the input so far.
 
pinkfloyd101 said:
I used a very low strength loc-tite. Less than blue. It looks purple. I am a college student and i don't really have any tools to heat it. Any ideas on how to heat it with everyday home things?
Click to expand...

I was in the same boat, until I realized that a soldering iron is only 8 bucks at a electronics (Radio Shack)......
 
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