Aluminum bound bolt

Ted in NE-OH

Well-known Member
I am rehabbing a small band saw. The base is held to the rest of the saw by steelhousing. bolts into the aluminium housing. I have twisted off 1 bolt already. Does anyone have a trick for getting steel bolts out of aluminium? Considering heat what is the melting point of aluminum as compared to steel?
 
One of those hand held impact tools you hit with a hammer MAY work. When I was working at a tractor dealer, we worked on a lot of v-4 wisconsin engines. They were bad for snapping off head bolts until we tried the hand impact. Almost eliminated any breakage.
 
at the shop we will heat the bolt red, then let it cool. do it 3 times, then after it cools try and remove it. the heat cool cycle will break the bond and generally you can remove the bolt without galling the threads in the aluminum. for the broken bolt, drill it out and install a thread sert, the are stronger than a heli coil.
 
Not to hijack this thread,but do you by chance have a picture of this tool you mentioned ? We run several v 4 Wisconsin engines and the twisted off head bolts for head gasket changes are a big problem !
 
I don't use mine often but it works well. I dug mine out a few weeks ago to break free some bolts on an Onan engine, worked perfect. joe
 
Dissimilar metals fastened together sounds like galvanic corrosion to me. Heat should work well, but if that's not an option you can try soaking in a mild acid like vinegar, CLR or toilet bowl cleaner. I would try those two methods above before using physical force methods.

To help with future corrosion, use specific fastener compounds, coatings, or anti-seize compounds. The best type of anti-seize is nickel type, it not only has better corrosion protection over copper, it also has a higher temp rating, but either one is better than none.
 
I've had one like glennster posted for 40 years. Used it on motorcycles. About 20 yrs ago I got this one. It stops you from wracking the web between thumb and index finger when you get careless. Had a few tears and blood blisters there. Ouch. But the red one is a little longer, doesn't always fit where needed.
Impact
 
(quoted from post at 11:26:42 03/28/23) ANYBODY that's ever worked much on motorcycles have them in both 1/2 & 3/8.


Yes! I remember you couldn't even remove a side cover on a three year old bike without one.
 
We use them almost daily removing the Philip's head machine screws that hold the brake rotors on the cars we work on. Would just round out the screw heads without an impact driver. Put the bit in the screw head, push straight in on the handle, give it a crack with a hammer to seat the bit in the screw head and help loosen the screw. Let the handle back out with the bit still in the screw, twist the handle in the direction you want it ot turn, give it another rap with the hammer and the screw comes loose.
 

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