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I’ve read through some old posts tackling this same issue, but after trying the various suggestions (except Coca-Cola) I’m at an impasse.

Tried (1) penetrating oil; (2) ultrasonic cleaner; (3) isopropyl alcohol in case of locktite; (4) heated kabob skewer tip and applied to screw head; (5) unscrewing clockwise as if crown screw.

Unrelated, but there is no tension from the mainspring if wound, so I assume it’s broken or has come off the arbor (guessing broken since the crown stem was sheared).

Some pictures in case it’s helpful

Thanks all!

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8 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Have you tried soaking it over night in penetrating oil? Or try soaking it in rust remover. 

I applied penetrating oil around the screwhead, with a small pool of it around the head, and left it overnight.  It was gone from the surface by morning and I assumed it had made its way down the thread.  I hadn’t thought to give the whole thing a soak, but I’ll give that a go as well.

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Just now, EastCoastChuck said:

I applied penetrating oil around the screwhead, with a small pool of it around the head, and left it overnight.  It was gone from the surface by morning and I assumed it had made its way down the thread.  I hadn’t thought to give the whole thing a soak, but I’ll give that a go as well.

Since it's going to be cleaned anyway, It can't harm.

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15 minutes ago, EastCoastChuck said:

I applied penetrating oil around the screwhead, with a small pool of it around the head, and left it overnight.  It was gone from the surface by morning and I assumed it had made its way down the thread.  I hadn’t thought to give the whole thing a soak, but I’ll give that a go as well.

Hi ECC. Be careful with your choice of proprietary rust removers if you are going down that route. Some are very caustic and will do serious damage if left soaking overnight. 

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12 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Hi ECC. Be careful with your choice of proprietary rust removers if you are going down that route. Some are very caustic and will do serious damage if left soaking overnight. 

Good advice, I bought some which is very gentle, takes longer to work but won't damage anything. 

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2 hours ago, EastCoastChuck said:

Thanks for all the suggestions and cautions!  It’s soaking in some mellow penetrating oil and hopefully that does the trick.
 

There are a few options if the penetrating oil doesnt work. Weakest to strongest also bere in mind some of these can be hazardous so precaution is needed. Gloves and ventilation. All will require neutralizing afterwards with water and then an ipa rinse, careful with shellaced watch parts with ipa. So first off citric acid either from lemons or a powdered form. Next acetic acid, vinegar contains around 5 percent which is enough to work well with a soak. Next up oxalic acid found in veggies, can also be bought in powdered form apparently but I've never used this. An old favorite next with the forum guys is coke cola with contains trace amount s of phosphoric acid. That is the last of the milder rust removers. So now the big guns and tbh I don't think I would ever use these, but worth a mention just for the hell of it. Sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid, extremely hazardous and caustic in their concentrated forms and will eat through most things including rust and watch parts and body parts. 🔥. Last but not least a good proprietary rust remover, evapo rust is supposed to work well. Not Rustins rust remover which works very quickly and is pretty aggressive. 

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According to a Harley Davidson mechanic that I knew many years ago, "bee's wax has a smaller molecule size than most petroleum based penetrating oils" and therefore should soak into tighter places.  I have never tried this but if this is true, used with the soldiering iron trick, it might work.  Repeated heating and cooling cycles.

Shane

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ok the would would do this is to sharpen a screw driver to the correct size of the screw head, and using a reasonable amount of downward force unscrew. if you have already  soaked the screw head i dont think you will gain anything by soaking the whole barrel im afraid. Again let us know how you get on.

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The barrel arbor might have a worn out hole and the last watchmaker used Loctite to secure the screw. I have done it before too.

Drip some WD40 on the screw and leave it for a couple of hours. Then using the closed tips of your tweezer to pick up some acetone by capillary action and drip it around the screw to soften any rust or threadlocker. After a couple of minutes, you can try turning the screw very slightly. Be careful that the screw might have a left hand thread, so turn in both directions very slightly and see which direction has more give.

I just removed a very badly rusted dial screw using this method this morning.

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In my engineering days we used to release screw/bolts fitted with loctite or rusted in, by giving the screwhead a tap with a hammer. 

Maybe try this by putting the barrel with arbor on a metal block, using a wide screwdriver with point dressed to have a flat end and snug fit (but not wedge fit) in screw slot and tap lightly with a hammer. Just a few gentle taps though, nothing heavy or the screwdriver might split the screwhead.

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5 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Let us know which method worked. 

Just a quick update.  The overnight soak did not work.  I’ve tried it carefully as both LH and RH thread and it simply doesn’t budge.  Later today I’ll try heating with a soldering iron tip, then on to coca-cola if needed.

Glad to know coke is okay for watch parts.  It certainly works with rusty tools and auto parts.

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Drum roll please….. 48 hour Coca Cola soak did the trick and I was able to unscrew it fairly easily.

Fairly easily because, new to me (as is so much with this hobby), the screw head split in half as I unscrewed it!

Thanks to all of your help I’m one step further toward what I hope will ultimately be a successful service and return to service.

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