I’m attempting to remove the hardware from my SP20 roller cores to ship them off to be recast. I’ve removed the tiny set screw from inside the larger, outer, screw on the end of the roller, but now I can’t seem to remove the larger, outer screw. I don’t want to turn it too hard and potentially break something. Is there a trick to this, or do I just need to use more force?
We here at City College of San Francisco recently encountered the exact same issue. Solution? Lots of WD40, two people, vise grips on the roller core, a sheet of steel that I “coaxed” into the slot on the screw, vise grips on that hunk of steel, and possibly a tap with a hammer on the vise grips.
We had no luck with the screwdriver alone — you need more leverage than that. I imagine that if one had a hefty slotted bit for a socket wrench that would work as well.
Applying heat often helps to break stuck threads, but the bearings are packed with grease–these are called shielded bearings where a side ring covers the actual bearings, so be careful with heat. I like Eric’s vise grips and large screw driver approach–may take two people, but these do come out with persuasion.
The pin Paul mentions pushes out the split end of the bolt when the set screw is tightened and that keeps the bolt from backing out.
There are places where Loctite is used to keep threads from loosening, but I doubt this is one. Heat is used to break a Loctite fix.
But here you probably just need more force, both in how the roller is held as well as how the screw is turned. I use the largest screwdriver that will fit in the slot, and if stuck, turn the screwdriver sideways to get more leverage. (I suppose Vandercook used some spanner wrench or extrawide screwdriver.) If that isn’t enough torque you may need to put a wrench or visegrips on the roller core.
Behind the set screw is a 3/16 x 1″ dowel. It should slip out, but there may be too much crud holding it in. Clean it and try shaking it out. The outer threads of the screw are probably gummed up. Can you loosen it enough to spray WD-40 or penetrating oil on the exposed threads? More force will be necessary in any event.