removing iron/steel bolt from aluminium

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panthera

panthera

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I first saw the Presto 2 1/2 quart pressure cookers at a Goodwill back in the 1970's. Should have bought one.

Didn't.

It wasn't until August, 2016 that I found one again. I'd been looking for over 40 years!

Bought it, took it home, the bolt promptly broke off whilst I was cleaning the handle. Sigh.

No way to tap it out or reverse drill or whatever - and too scared to damage the cast aluminium, anyway.

Read and read and asked questions. Finally found the 'Alum' method.

Tried it and it worked!

Anybody curious about how to dissolve steel/iron out of aluminium? I'll be happy to post on it. 
 
Ralph,

Your wish, my command.

There are several youtube vids. on this - I suggest you watch them.

I'll link to one here.

 

First, buy 1 pound of Alum. Walmart.com carries it. The 'mordant' kind is good enough, it need not be food or medical grade.

Second, get a hotplate and glass or enameled pan (no scratches or dents or chips) big enough to hold the area with the broken bolt completely immersed.

Third, mix the alum and the water thoroughly. Put in the part, cover to reduce evaporation and bring to a boil, then keep at a high simmer.

Mine took two days to loosen, but that's because it only got about 4 hours of real heat - we were gone a lot and I won't leave something like that unattended.

 

You don't have to eat the whole thing up, it's enough just to chew enough off the bolt for it to loosen in the threads. 

Warning - this will eat any steel or iron exposed to it long enough, so if the hotplate is valuable, better not use it - go get a junk store special. Ditto the pan.

 

Oh - 'AVE' has a vocabulary to make mine look like a nun.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pN-fnUeA3o
 
I am glad for your success

I remember the people at the Atlanta Presto Service Station warning me about that in the 70s when I replaced the wooden handles on mom's Model 40. Fortunately, I dripped lots of Rust Buster or similar product down the handle screw before I tackled the problem and was able to remove the screw with no disasters. It is amazing in retrospect because I tend to destroy anything I touch.

 

Thanks for the instructions.
 
Tom,

I learned - the hard way - to assume the worst about these bolts on any Presto using them. One of the very few arguments for the switch to stainless steel - less corrosion.

I've always been able to break them loose with R12 or ether, but this one went before I had even got that far.

I understand (but have never tried it) that this is an old watchmaker's trick - works with brass and steel/iron, too.

Right now, the 2 1/2 quart is sitting in a bath of ketchup. I was so excited to find it - forty plus years of searching is a long time. I did have a very small Sicomatic in Germany, in porcelain for 30 years. Loved it. It was a bit higher, but smaller in diameter - 1.5 liter? There's so many things for which these pressure pans are ideal.

[this post was last edited: 10/29/2016-20:09]
 
Ralph,

You're welcome. I should have mentioned that this will cause some discoloration (which polishes out), so take note of that.

Interestingly enough, a standard American 1/4" coarse thread 5 1/2" bolt fits perfectly into this pressure cooker. That's quite different to what I had expected, but the insert was obviously factory placed.

National Pressure Cooker obviously learned a lot during the war, I think this may have been one reason they survived the pressure pan competition afterwards, despite being among the most expensive.

 

I don't recollect ever having one of my Mirro handles seize on me, let's hope this was just an interesting side note for everyone.
 

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