Most of the nuts came out with minimal force, but the last one just spins in place. I tried rubber gloves, painter’s tape, and duct tape to get a better grip. I’d rather not cut a slot in the domed nut if there’s another good strategy.
The rest of the restoration underway:
If you’re doing this type of stuff, I’m assuming you have some kind of dissolvable glue.
Protein based wood glue stops being glue if you add vinegar for example.
So use wood glue to glue a nut to domed back part of the bolt, or just throw a big glob all over the blot and saw handle.
Obviously make sure youve thrown a bunch of anti-seize on the other side first. This will stop it from spinning, but might not be enough to break it loose.
You could also try rigging something up with clamps and a piece of stuff rubber against the domed bolt to keep it pressed up against the inside of the handle.
But honestly?
Carriage bolts fucking suck, and you can just drill it out and find an era appropriate replacement. I grew up working on classic cars that always used them, and it’s worth looking around to see if you can just buy a dozen to keep on hand. Depending on how old the saws are, I doubt they’re original anyways.
This man knows how to handle stuck nuts!
I just rewatched Community, so read that comment in Keith David’s voice…
No he fucking doesn’t
Wood glue isn’t going to hold on metal at all.
Anti-seize to stop spinning? What? No. Anti seize is shit you put on threads so that when you come back years later, they still move.
Long acting lubricant.
And drilling out a bolt that’s already spinning isn’t going to be a fun time
Anti-seize to stop spinning?
You didn’t understand the comment
There’s no glue or epoxy on earth I’m aware of that will hold on metal well enough to handle the force of unscrewing a bolt.
You might solder nuts to either side, that might hold and be reversible.
The suggestions of drilling it out also won’t work well, if it’s already spinning in place, it will spin faster.
I know you don’t want to, but cutting a slot is your best bet. If you do it clean, it’ll just look like a screw. You could replace with a rivet if you really need a non-screw look for the finish
This reply is the closest thing to good advice in this thread.
The only thing that’s going to get that out without cutting a slot is a tack weld. Which will likely burn the wood. Just cut a slot. You can find another aged carriage bolt to replace it.
Also, I get it’s a restoration project, which are fun and wholesome, but Fuck push saws.
Pull saws are where it is at! Easier to keep on target, less work, and you can’t crease the blade on a cut and ruin the whole fucking saw
Though, I’ve never seen a pull saw you can play with a bow
Try clamping a piece of wood to the handle on the domed nut side with a bit of neoprene rubber or a ball of duct tape wedged in between. If you need a stronger bond that is still removeable, try something like hot glue, silicone caulk, E6000 glue, or super glue.
The clamping approach worked great!
It’s the nut recessed? If not, you can use a splitter on it.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Mutternsprenger_0610.jpg
I’d get a dot of rubber a bit smaller than the nut, and a hammer impact driver on the screw.
https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-impact-screwdriver-kit-9-piece-58151.html
I don’t know what the other side of this looks like, but if you could drive it with an impact driver on the lowest setting (assuming you used copious amounts of anti seizing spray), the constant hit from the impact driver is great at loosening stuff up. Also, try get painters tape between the wood and the domes head. Then flip it over, apply weight to the domed head by pressing it against your bench top (more tape on the bench top), and that gives a surprising amount of friction.
