# I need a rescue!



## saltytri (Nov 19, 2009)

Help!!  

Here's a little 1xAA light I made out of 416 stainless. To turn the deep grooves in the body, I screwed the head onto the body and put the head in the chuck. Some of you are already shaking your heads, right? So, now the threads are seized. I can still use the light but it just ain't right to have it screwed up, so to speak.

I've tried holding the body in an aluminum jawed vise and grabbing the head with a clamp wrench. The head didn't budge.

Any bright ideas?


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## greg_in_canada (Nov 20, 2009)

Heat one end, cool the other?

Nice looking light by the way.

Greg


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## vestureofblood (Nov 20, 2009)

greg_in_canada said:


> Heat one end, cool the other?
> 
> Nice looking light by the way.
> 
> Greg


 
That was my thought, I have not done this to a flashlight but an acetalene torch on car parts comes in handy. Like when someone uses red locktite on things that shouldnt be.


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## SFG2Lman (Nov 20, 2009)

i once watched and old car mechanic heat a rusted nut/bolt combo (till it was glowing) and smush a candle on the area where the threads meet the nut, he said it sucked the wax into the threads and that acted as lube, he spun off the nut with a gloved hand...just an interesting way, dunno if it will work in this instance.


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## Linger (Nov 20, 2009)

1>Put the light back in the chuck and crank on it with a _really_ long lever. If you can't get a long enough wrench, make yourself an extension handle. You can have your lathe hold the light still while you basically climb over the 4ft long lever you've made. 

2>What happens when you put it back in the head back in the chuck and set it to turn the other way? I'm not sure if you set-up is safe enough to do this, but -> I could conceive of you locking on a set of grips and turning the lathe on reverse, the handle will turn till it runs into the table at which point something has to give. Again, possibly a ridiculously unsafe idea - OR - if the control gives you enough control this could be a very safe operation.


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## 65535 (Nov 20, 2009)

Rubber jaws on aluminum backing. 10x the grip of a aluminum jaw. If not, I doubt you can heat it enough without ruining internals.


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## ducat (Nov 20, 2009)

Heat the head, cool the body in ice water, then try again.


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## KowShak (Nov 20, 2009)

When you were cutting the grooves the lathe was applying a lot or torque to those threads so they're going to be pretty tight. The light is also made from stainless steel, which is notorious for galling where the two parts wear off each other's oxide layer and weld themselves together. Heat might help, but if the thread has galled the thread isn't going to look pretty when it comes apart....


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## precisionworks (Nov 20, 2009)

You may want to look at machining a pair of full contact soft jaws, one for the head & the other for the body. The easiest way to make both is from aluminum round stock.

One will be drilled & bored to a size that's about .001"-.002" larger than the OD of the body. After boring, split the body lengthwise with a hack saw - you've just make a split bushing, but soft jaw sounds so much more technical 

Make the next one the same way to fit the head. Insert the *body* in a 4-jaw chuck & tighten it really tight. The body goes into the chuck because it's smaller which makes it harder to apply heavy torque. On the aluminum ring surrounding the head, use the longest pipe wrench you have & add a 3' cheater bar (any pipe that will go over the wrench handle).

Should unscrew without much drama.


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## Mirage_Man (Nov 20, 2009)

Go to Horrible freight and get yourself the cheap 2-piece set of the rubber strap wrenches. I use them all the time for this exact purpose. They smell like hell when they're new but the smell will fade over time.  The strap wrenches work best on flat surfaces and since the body is heavily grooved I'd hold the body in your chuck and work on the head with the wrench. The best thing about the rubber strap wrenches is they will not mar the finish.

BTW that is a very nice looking light. What's she gonna have inside her?


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## TranquillityBase (Nov 20, 2009)

Clamp collar on the body, chuck the head in your lathe chuck (protect the head with some paper, use a center in the tailstock to hold the body, clamp a Vise grip on the clamp collar and smack the Vise grip with a piece of wood dowel.


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## saltytri (Nov 20, 2009)

Thanks, for all the good suggestions, guys. I'll attack it tonight beginning with the easiest and least destructive and move along to more and more brutal methods until the job is done. Failure is not an option. :scowl:


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## StrikerDown (Nov 20, 2009)

saltytri said:


> Thanks, for all the good suggestions, guys. I'll attack it tonight beginning with the easiest and least destructive and move along to more and more brutal methods until the job is done. Failure is not an option. :scowl:



Stainless on stainless without lubrication! Visions of galled threads are swimming in my head. 

If you can heat the outside part that will make it expand and loosen slightly and freeze/cool the body making it contract and loosen more you will reduce the chance of galling which is almost as tight as welding it together!

Nice looking light, hope it works out for you.


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## saltytri (Nov 20, 2009)

Got it! I got a bigger strap wrench, put the body in the 6-jaw and reefed till it popped. There's no damage to threads or anything else, which is a pleasant surprise.

After final finishing, I'll do some photos and post them on Homemade.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, gentlemen!

David


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## Mirage_Man (Nov 20, 2009)

saltytri said:


> Got it! I got a bigger strap wrench, put the body in the 6-jaw and reefed till it popped. There's no damage to threads or anything else, which is a pleasant surprise.
> 
> After final finishing, I'll do some photos and post them on Homemade.
> 
> ...



:thumbsup:


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## wquiles (Nov 20, 2009)

Great news


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## saltytri (Nov 21, 2009)

Here's the finished product:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3169245#post3169245


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