How much is too much...

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FelixS

FelixS

Member
Sep 15, 2019
1,203
401
Rogue River, Oregon, United States
...Loctite

This much...

glue.1621912918.jpg


The pellet probe came loose immediately after the last barrel change, so I applied less than 1/2 drop of blue to the grub screw- just a touch. Then today, I could not remove it; the allen key slipped.

I ended up using a solder iron to heat up the grub screw and soften the Loctite, and then an easy-out extractor to remove the screw. It was still tight and the allen key was still slipping, so luckily the extractor worked.

Be careful; a little might be too much!
 
i agree with jim AND orings, AND any plastic or nylon .. loctite devastates those materials even the gases from it continue to damage things for long after its applied .. using loctite around precise mechanisms is a bad idea almost every time .. truth is your gun isnt falling apart .. if things are getting loose something isnt right, over-tight usually, and loctite on a set screw heh, most people fail to realize how a set screw works .. things dont loosen because a set screw threads back out, its the point where the set screw digs in so loctite does 'nothing' to keep those things tight .. fresh sharp set screw and proper setting is the answer ... loctite is an abomination unless absolutely necessary on fine mechanisms, cause way more damage than it prevents ..
 
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I'm curious what "bad things" loctite does to aluminum - the company recommends the use of primer with aluminum, but offers no cautions.

On another note, here's a guide to which loctite to use: wdarc.org/Loctite Guide.pdf

GsT
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Man, im getting old, lol. I found myself looking forward to reading up on this locktite guide; definitely the signs of age. 

I wonder if my 24 year old son would be receptive to reading up on locktite and it’s proper use, ha ha! 

Thanks for posting this, Gene
 
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I'm curious what "bad things" loctite does to aluminum - the company recommends the use of primer with aluminum, but offers no cautions.

On another note, here's a guide to which loctite to use: wdarc.org/Loctite Guide.pdf

GsT
Click to expand...

Man, im getting old, lol. I found myself looking forward to reading up on this locktite guide; definitely the signs of age. 

I wonder if my 24 year old son would be receptive to reading up on locktite and it’s proper use, ha ha! 

Thanks for posting this, Gene
Click to expand...


I always find myself looking forward to guides like that (but I'm no spring chicken, either) - it's amazing how much better stuff works when you use the *right* stuff. 

To add to the thread, I'll throw out that the current pestilence of low-quality fasteners and tools exacerbates all these problems - poor fits and cheap metal make stripped fasteners much more common than they should be! 

GsT
 
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Gene, I myself started evaluating the fasteners that tend to get removed the most frequent, like stock removal screws, I the impact it would be all 12 screws along the top tie in plate along with the three scope rail bolts, on the marauder the stock screws along with the four on top of the receiver block- as an example to those I am leaning towards torx fasteners, especially when converting over to the softer stainless bolts. Less likely to round off any socket corners with torx head.
 
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Gene, I myself started evaluating the fasteners that tend to get removed the most frequent, like stock removal screws, I the impact it would be all 12 screws along the top tie in plate along with the three scope rail bolts, on the marauder the stock screws along with the four on top of the receiver block- as an example to those I am leaning towards torx fasteners, especially when converting over to the softer stainless bolts. Less likely to round off any socket corners with torx head.
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I'm OK with hex - but they need to be quality. And I'm not smearing FX - I don't own a single FX gun and can't say anything about the quality of their fasteners one way or the other. BUT, and it's a giant "BUT" - the fasteners found in big-box hardware stores, much major manufacturing, and probably a lot of other places, are garbage. I buy a fair amount from mcmaster.com because they still list a spec. I don't buy anything unless it conforms to a stated standard. In fact, I buy import toolholders for my lathe and buy quality fasteners after the fact, which, imo, results in a toolholder to match any other in performance, if not in spec.

With respect to tools, sadly, many American companies have given up and gone to garbage. German made tools (Wiha, Wera, NWS) maintain high standards and can still be relied on to produce 'on spec' wrenches and the like. They *are* a lot more expensive, due to punishing import costs, but well worth it, imo.

GsT
 
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You really need quality tools to work on guns. The smaller the screw head the higher the quality necessary to work on them. The RC guys have surpassed the US and Euro premium tool manufacturers for hex fits and rival the Euro's in strength IMO. The best brands for fit and strength I find are MIP, Hudy, and Arrowmax. For 2mm and under I really like the screwdriver handle as I can put more torque on at the best angle. They also allow me to better take out those tiny screws without it falling on the floor never to be seen again. Small hex tools are not the place to cut corners.

The wife got me a nice large set of hollow ground screwdriver bits from Brownells 15 years ago after I buggered up a screw on a real nice old gun. After inventing several new curse words I sulked for the rest of the night then spent God know how long looking for a replacement. Being cheap working on guns is expensive.


 
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I found that lock tight will gall aluminum when I ruined an expensive set of radio control airplane retractable landing gear. That was a several hundred dollar screwup. It could have been a multi thousand dollar error had it not been discovered and rectified before flight. The 36 pound, 55cc gas powered warbird does not forgive mistakes near the ground.
 
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I like purple Loctite and have used it quite a bit. Make sure both parts are clean and use only a drop. 

Jim, I am sorry to hear about your landing gear, but as a blanket statement regarding Loctite or copper anti-sieze being bad for aluminum, I don't think that is true in all cases. There is cast and extruded aluminum, and also many grades (2024, 6061, 7075, different hardness, etc). Aluminum will eventually react badly if you are installing stainless steel or carbon steel fasteners into it (dissimilar metal corrosion), but the rate of reaction will vary with the type of environmental exposure and preventative measures. When I worked on airplanes and helicopters for a living, there were times we had to install stainless steel into aluminum or titanium due to the design. The manufacture would sometimes require that we coated the parts with ...(I can't remember the product, sorry, but it looked like yellow mustard). We would also use "barrier tape," which was a lot like packing tape, between the steel Rivnuts and aluminum skin. Sometimes fasteners were installed after we dipped them in epoxy primer; sometimes we dipped them in sealant; it was whatever the manufacturer recommended. Sometimes we were required to use Loctite for certain installations. We went to a lot of effort to prevent dissimilar metal corrosion.

I agree with GeneT-low quality fasteners and low quality tools are a curse.

PS. I second McMaster-Carr, but I personally order more from their competitor, MSC Industrial. Both are great.
 
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