Sunday 5 February 2012

Gear and Tool Review: Sticky Stuff That Unsticks Other Stuff

                      "I wanna make you move, because you're standing still..."
                                                  -Finger Eleven












           DonorBoat destruction has meant unbolting and unscrewing hundreds of , er, bolts and screws.  And nuts.  And washers. All bedded just as they left the factory.

     Stainless screws and bolts installed through aluminum cleats and tracks, all bedded with caulking that was still tenaciously goopy all these years later.








  All of it was removed without a single stripped fastener.
  Not one.
   I'd love to be able to take credit for this fortuitous feat of fixture and fastener finesse, but it weren't skill.  It was Screw Grab.

Screw Grab® - Woodworking


   I am not a chemist or an engineer, and I have no idea what the actual secret ingredient or process is, but, in simple terms, Screw Grab Friction Drops is a grip enhancer.  Got a recalcitrant screw?  Squeeze a drop or two onto the screw head, insert the tip of the screwdriver and turn.  It is that simple.  And it really works.

   A little goes a long way.  I bought a bottle of Screw Grab from Lee Valley Tools  almost a decade ago, and  have more than half the bottle still remaining.  It might be the best $6 you invest in your toolbox.
   There was one casualty of the Fabulous Fastener Follies- one Phillips screwdriver.


    Busted the tip unscrewing backstay chainplates.
       
     Like I said, this stuff GRIPS.





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3 comments:

  1. That crappy tire screwdriver can be exchanged for a new one. Lifetime warranty yo.

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    Replies
    1. Better yet, take a grinding wheel to it and put a slotted screwdriver head on it or a pointy end for numerous uses.

      -Caleb D.

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  2. Not only have I done this myself ("repurposed" a Mastercraft screwdriver into a slotted or an awl punch/crew threatener), but I've burnt out a Mastercraft grinder I bought at a mispriced $19.99 doing it, returned it for a replacement, got the regularly priced $69.99 one, complete with about a dozen disks that the "on sale" model didn't have!

    Steel boats eat grinders. I keep a Makita 4.5" for "fine" work, but I just wreck the Mastercraft ones. So I fully support the "hand me a new grinder, buddy" CT policy.

    ReplyDelete