Fastening Removal Hardwood Caps

I have hardwood beltings and transom caps fastened with bronze slotted screws and capped with hardwood plugs and epoxy glue.
I need to remove a section of transom cap, I have exposed the slotted screw heads but try as I may I cannot budge them, I have tried a geared brace with the screw driver bit to no avail and am concerned about shearing the heads off. Any suggestions as to how to loosen these suckers apart from drilling and using an "easi Out"

Are you certain they are not bolts, with nuts on the back? Can you see the back of the boards? I would expect to have to take one to the limit of shearing it off to find out how much leverage is needed. I have a tool that you hit with a hammer, and it transfers the downward thrust to a twist. Sort of shocks fastenings loose. http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/lis...7J3N7DbDEeU1m5pxcwW8JtqDOfxiLGVUC4aAi138P8HAQ
hopefully the link will work for you. They aren't too expensive. And you only use them once or twice in your lifetime. BUT they are quite handy at what they do. You do have to remember which way to twist the tool each time. Or you tighten the screw instead of loosening it.
If you have to drill, use a piece of bearing sleeve to put the drill bit into, to keep the bit centered in the hole. Just drill enough to cut the head off the screw/bolt. That way, there will still be a bit to get a pair of vise grips on to remove when you do get the rest of the board off.

Do you have any idea what they may have been bedded in with?I know that when I remove screws set in epoxy,I use a soldering gun to heat the head of the screw.I hold it there for a minute or two and then try to unscrew it.Repeat as needed.

This a unit similar to mine.

This is what cappy is speaking of.It's a manual impact driver.

Sometimes turning the screw as if to tighten it wil break the grip. You do not need to 'tighten' much, just get it to move and then back the screw out.

I have also successfully used a hammer blow with a beeeeg screwdriver, even to the point of grinding it to fit a too small slot, and smacking the modified screwdriver. You want the shock transferred to the screw, not to bend the screwdriver, thus a big one. The shock will often break the bond. If that loosens the screw then use a properly fitted screwdriver to remove.

If you just use a drift you may close the slot. Just be sure the ground tip won;t damage the slot by being too fat. Also fitting an overside driver to the slot will virtually guarantee the blow is centred.

fastened with bronze slotted screws and capped with hardwood plugs and epoxy glue.

If someone was silly enough to epoxy plugs , perhaps they did the screws too?

The proper seal for plugs is VARNISH.

Then a steel screw can be driven into the center of the plug whick will rip it out , without destroying the rest of the wood.

Greetings,
I recently purchases an impact driver as pictured for less than $30.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...ch_impact+driver_-1_750&keyword=impact+driver
I bought my first impact driver some 40 years ago and paid in the neighborhood of $5. By golly, the price has doubled! You only have to use it once to get either your $5 or $30 worth. With the removable bit holder you can use a 3/8" socket as well. I would suggest a large hammer with either a VERY good aim or a stout leather glove.

A very good aim, good gloves OR a Good trusting friend! Modern drill chucks can also be used to ratchet also. BUT first I would ascertain whether they are screws or nuts/bolts. Is there any inspection ports on the inside to look through?

Out of curiosity: are you doing this while hanging over the transom? It is easy to get the rotation mixed up when you are hanging working backwards over an edge. Make sure you are turning them to loosen, not tighten. Ask me how I know about this phenomenon!

Lefty loosey, righty tighty.

If you have access to an cordless impact screw driver, they work very well at shocking old bolts loose.

You need to get at least one out or at least loose enough to find out what you are dealing with. Proceed slowly until you do as there are multiple possible gotchas. One of which is that those are in fact bolts in which case they either have nuts on the underside, or more likely is a nut insert held by rather fragile prongs. When you break them loose, you will have a very hard time, especially if you can not access the blind side. Using a hammer impact can help free a fastener, but you first need to understand if it may also result in a worse situation. Railings can be a real bear because of this.

I suspect as others that somebody used an adhesive where they should have used a sealant, but then wood can lodge fasteners with a little corrosion all on its own. Sometimes a fastener can be removed if you can break the tension on it, as then you are only working against the twisting resistance. If you drill,or beak the head off and expose the remaining fastener you can get vice grips on it, but of course thus only works if you can actually remove the rail and implies that only one fastener was at issue. Heat works, but wood limits how much you can apply.

Rails tend to turn into all or nothing affairs. That's why I don't so much as look sideways at mine. When its time, the I'll go with the nuclear option and refit every single fastener. So don't feel alone, it's not just you!

Thanks very much for all the help
They definitely are large gauge bronze or brass screws through hardwood cap and into timber carlin. Vessel professionally built by one of NZ's prominent timber boat builders aprox 20 years ago but I do not know if the screws were beaded in dry or with sealant/adhesive

SomeSailor said:

If you have access to an cordless impact screw driver, they work very well at shocking old bolts loose.

Click to expand...

Yes and they are not expensive. I bought a set of the impact driver, drill, charger and two lithium ion battery packs at Home Depot for under $100.