Seized Depth-of-Cut Adjustment Knob
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Sorry in advance for my long-windedness.
I recently acquired a rusty old Stanley No 5 1/2 Jack plane that I was pretty excited to make operational again. I am now less excited. The depth of cut adjustment nut/knob was seized, so after nothing but a couple days of letting a few coats of WD-40 soak in, I put the frog in the vice, padded the knob with leather, and applied gentle force with some channellocks. The knob turned very easily… as did the threaded post that it is still very much attached to.
Fast Forward: After lots of penetrating oil (PB Blaster) soakings and a few attempts at removing the brass nut/knob from the bolt/stud (which is now free of the frog), basically all I have managed to do is mess up the threads on the bolt. Yes, despite trying to pad the vice jaws with leather, wood, rubber, plastic, and all combinations thereof, I have not been able to grip the stem well enough to spin the knob off without damaging the threads. The knob seemed to wiggle back and forth a little on a few of the attempts, but the stem wouldn’t stay put enough to really crank it off. As it sits now, the threads are pretty embarrassingly messed up on the bolt, but it (miraculously!) can still somehow be threaded back into the frog. Regardless, even if I got the knob off, I wouldn’t be real excited about ramming those threads into the frog and possibly destroying it as well… if I haven’t already…
At this point, I think my next move would have to be buying a new left-hand threaded adjusting nut bolt/stud, and probably a new brass nut/knob to go with it. Seeing as I feel like a fool for purchasing this plane in the first place, I can’t stomach the idea of investing any more into it at this point, but I am curious if any of you have any advice on how I might proceed from here.
Thanks!
T.BirdYou could heat the parts and then soak in oil, its strange that brass and steel fused them selves so tightly, could be some past user put the wrong nut on the stud. You could clean the threads up with a triangle file enough to not ruin the frog but the nut still must turn.
May be best to get a new bolt and adjuster nut depending on the extent of the damage
Can you lock nuts onto the bolt and clamp them instead of clamping to the threads directly
If it was mine I’d probably just clean the threads up with a thread file (available from Amazon and other sources), reassemble and use it as is.
Alternatively you could try to find a junker (any Stanley with a LH threaded depth adjuster) and try to get the stud out of that.
Dave
While double nutting sounds great, the thread is #9-32 Whitworth left hand. Good luck finding those nuts. ( one source says #9-34 LH ….not any better)
Another thing to try is derusting the works.
First wash the parts in a 1-2% detergent bath to get the oils off. You can even boil the parts for a couple minutes.
Use a toothbrush or small brass brush to clean what you can. Then use a derusting bath. Evaporust, citric acid or vinegar will all work.
Leave the parts in the bath for maybe 24 hrs. Wash again and clean the threads up with #0000 wire wool or your brass brush. The threads should look pretty clean at this point.
If the adjuster nut still isn’t freed up, try a couple heat&cooling cycles. You don’t have to get too hot. Even boiling water and an ice bath will free up any stuck rust.
You can use chanellocks, but only gently – certainly not hard enough to further damage the parts. At this point you could try your penetrating oil again. This time let it penetrate for a few hours.
And use some locktite to put the screw back into the frog. Blue if you want to ever remove it or red if you want permanent. ( both types break down with enough heat)
And if you don’t have a tread file, a small triangular file and patience will restore the threads for use.
Good luck
Thanks for believing in me everyone! 🙂 You have all given me lots of encouraging ideas. Back to work!
Tom
[quote quote=542148]Can you lock nuts onto the bolt and clamp them instead of clamping to the threads directly[/quote]
That did cross my mind, but I didn’t think I’d have much luck finding left-hand threaded nut with whatever thread pitch it happens to be.
This seems to suggest that this might be what I’d need.
I don’t know if this will work. I had inherited a Stanley 45 which was stored in the cellar of an old farm house, and had rusted so the fence on the two rods would not move. I used plumber flux (for soldering copper pipe) on the rods and put a propane torch (typical of what a plumber would use), gave a little heat to the far side (the other side of the rod where no flux was applied) and the heat drew the flux into the “joint”. This greatly helped get the fence off the two rods on the Stanley #45 multi-plane.
You can use less drastic methods by just immersing the whole plane in vinegar or citric acid overnight to remove rust. The weak acids won’t harm the rosewood handles and will free up loose bolts and nuts. It will turn the brown rust ( Fe2 O3) to a black film (Fe3 O4) which comes off easily.
Then rinse the parts with water and a little detergent to wash off the acid ( add a little baking soda if you wish ) and clean the parts up with a metal polish like Autosol of Maas to get rise of the black.
Heating the parts and then soaking them in oil might work. It’s odd that the brass and steel became so tightly fused—maybe a previous user used the wrong nut. Try cleaning the threads with a triangle file to avoid damaging the frog while still allowing the nut to turn. Depending on the damage, it might be better to replace the bolt and adjuster nut. Roof Replacement Alexandria Va
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