One of the most frustrating maladies in the shop is encountering a nut that's frozen. The following tips can help you loosen nuts and bolts that just won't budge. Spray the nut with penetrating oil (figure A), and let the oil sit for 10 to 15 minutes to penetrate the threads of the bolt. Then use a wrench to loosen the nut. Hold a hammer against one side of the nut, and hit the other side with a second hammer (figure B). That should loosen the nut so that a wrench can remove it. If the nut is badly rusted, pour hydrogen peroxide on it to dissolve the rust. If that doesn't work, saw through one side of the nut with a hacksaw (figure C ). Then loosen the nut by twisting it with an adjustable wrench. If the head of the bolt is buried in your work piece, use a hacksaw to cut a groove in the top of the bolt (figure D). Stick the end of a screwdriver into the groove to hold the bolt steady while you loosen the nut (figure E). A nut-splitter is a handy tool to remove nuts (figure F). It has a chisel inside its head that is screwed into the nut to pop it off (figure G).
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