Rusty Hardware

[PeteG]

I have heard of this trick to loosen a rusty nut but have not tried it yet, heat the nut red hot and press a wax candle to the nut where the threads of the bolt protrude through. The theory is as the wax melts the heat from the nut will pull the wax in and lubricate the threads freeing the nut.

Has anyone tried this? Or is this just the old tried true heat and beat but you get to piss off your wife by ruining her candles?

[lacoda56]

This really does work, just not every time. Like any other method, you've got to break the rust bond to free tings up. Sometimes, the rust gets too far along to let go easily.

[halftracknut]

I removed almost every bolt from my track with an air impact and did not mess up too many nuts...