Need a Knifemaker Trick!

Balislinger

Balislinger

Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
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Hey guys, I'm trying to disassemble a Cold Steel Arc Angel butterfly knife, and the pivot screw insists on turning the bushing or whatever it's screwed into on the other end, so I can't back out the screw. I've tried everything I know, from using strong pressure on the bushing side, to using grippy rubber mats to try to keep the back end from turning, and no luck. What are some knifemaker tricks to separate screw form turning bushing? Thanks!
 
Hit the socket of the screw with a soldering iron.

Every production folder I have seen has some form of loc-tite on the screw.
 
Another thought I had was to glue the bushing to a piece of metal locked in vise, then dissolve the glue with a solvent after backing the screw out. What type of glue/solvent combo would work under that method? Super glue and acetone maybe?

Gorilla tape method sounds the simplest if it works. I need to save the bushing, so cutting a slot in it isn't an option. Melting the loc-tite with a soldering iron is a neat trick. I may try that if the tape doesn't work. Let me know what you think about the glue bond/solvent method.
 
Or how about soaking the pivot area in acetone? Would that dissolve any loctite in the screw thread or is heating the bushing a better method?
 
George, if it has red loc-tite. hold a soldering iron to it to heat it up, then squeeze handles together very tight. this will put pressure on the pin to keep it still while you back the screw out.
 
George
+ 1 for Shawn suggestion..loc-tite hold's up to 250 degrees ,using a soldering iron put the flattened tip on the screw for about 5 min bind up the pivot by squeezing the handles tight back out the screw. (advice) is use a super tight fitting torx driver. it should come apart , Arc angel's are smooth on the pivot so they only hold because of the loc-tite.that is why they spin so freely ,not like the B.M which has "Knurl's" to prevent it spinning
 
OK, it was a stubborn screw. I made up a new tip that worked so I thought I would share it. The heat trick of using a soldering iron for 5 min didn't work. I didn't have a brass punch to hit it with, so I tried super gluing a 1/4" bit to the collar, but my super glue wasn't good enough to bond those two. Then I tried super gluing the back of the pivot pin to the metal side of my ladder, but again, my super glue was not good enough for that type of thing. So here's how I finally got it. I dropped a little Gorilla super glue down into the sides of the pivot around the collar. Not enough to prevent me from punching out the collar later, but enough to bond the outside of the collar to the inside of the blade holes. That allowed me to back out the screw fairly easily. I had to push a little hard to get the collar out, but not too hard. Then, a quick acetone bath for all the parts got the super glue off of all areas. A good trick!
 
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