Disassembling brass fuses

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi all :tinysmile_fatgrin_t

I am trying to disassemble some Japanese fuses that I have lying around. I used a heat gun (Chinese made) at highest setting which is supposed to be 600 deg. C. I then dunk the fuse into freezing cold water. It doesn't loosen up the threads so am now thinking of firing up the Kerosene Blow Torch :hmmmm2:. That should do the trick. These fuses are spares that I want to disassemble to remove internal parts before sectionising.

Do any of you out there have any special techniques that can be shared with us all.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE :tinysmile_shy_t:

 

[gothica7]

Hi again Rob,

have you thought of using ice cubes on the heated parts instead of plunging into water? May help. I have used this on Mills grens and after several attempts have been able to unscrew the internals.

Andy

 

[navyman]

Hello,
I've successfully managed this by submerging the fuze in WD 40 for at least 14 days, then after mopping up the WD 40 rinse in cold water and then apply heat. Requires patience, if it doesn't work first time just repeat the process. It took three attempts on one of mine, but successful then and no damage caused.
This tip was given to me by an elderly collector who I had asked how to unscrew a well seized Queen Anne, cannon barreled, turn off pistol. 14 days in to soak and it came free with no undue force.
Worth a try.
Cheers,
navyman.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Many thanks for that tip Navyman. I will give that a try and see how it goes.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Diesel oil

A good looonnng soak in Diesel fuel usually does wonders for "frozen" articles as it gets into every nook and cranny imaginable and also stops rust :tinysmile_fatgrin_t
If the long soak is not enough it can be warmed and tapped with a plastic hammer as this will usually free even the most stubborn of items.

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Gee thanks Chris,

This is the kind of tip that I was hanging out for. I recieved a PM on simmular lines with the slight variation of boiling it carefully, (outside of course and not using my wife's pots or she will kill me).

It sounds as if diesel is the way to go.

Cheers,:cheers:
BOUGAINVILLE

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Caution !

Just one important thing BOUGAINVILLE do be absolutely certain that they do NOT have any pyrotechnic/explosive residue/contents remaining in them-this is almost impossible to assess unless dissasembled, so if in ANY doubt do not use heat at all.

The good thing about Diesel is that it will get in everywhere no matter how tight a fit any item is.
Good luck and take care with these items.

 

[John D. Bartleson Jr.]

Try Wintergreen;

Try soaking the fuze in oil of Wintergreen, it is better than WD-40.
You can get it at your local drugist.
Regards.
Bart

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

Hi Bart,
Thanks for the tip. I checked it out and managed to find it at a health food outlet. I decided not to buy any though as down here in Australia it costs AUD$68 for just 200ml.(.2 of a litre). Comparing it with the price of Deisel or WD40 it is quite inhibative. I'll try diesel first up and see how that goes.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

Try soaking the fuze in oil of Wintergreen, it is better than WD-40.
You can get it at your local drugist.
Regards.
Bart

 

[ozziammo]

Fuse stripping

How did you go with this excercise? Any result yet?

 

[BOUGAINVILLE]

I still have the fuzes soaking in diesel. Giving them a real loooong soak. As soon as I take them out and hopefully get them undone I will let you all know.

I had gone to the trouble of getting some C spanners made up specially for the fuzes. The trouble was that the engineer shop used shanks of drill bits for the pins on the C spanners and they are to brittle. I have now got to get them replaced with something stronger. I have just heard of another engineering outfit that does work for the local gun club, so I will give them a try.

Cheers,
BOUGAINVILLE

How did you go with this excercise? Any result yet?