Bergeon screwdrivers

[watchthebear]

Hi folks, I have not been able to log-in for over a month. Thought it was the server problem. Yesterday decided to re-reg. OK now, Question: if you break the scredriver shaft right off at the base of the handle, how do you get the remaining part out? I took out the set screw and tried all kinds of pushing an pulling and nothing will move. Help would be appeciated. I have 3 down now. thanks, take care all………..b

[willofiam]

Hey b, I had accidentally split one like that, the really small one. I had a hard time with it too. but they should just slide out, it may possibly be caught up on the set screw hole, other than being persistent I dont have any other ideas, Keep on keepin on b. have a fantastic thanksgiving, William

[randy]

Can you bend a small piece of stiff wire through the set screw hole ?? Might be able to get at it enough to nudge it out…
Good luck !

Randy

[david pierce]

Watchthebear,
Put a few drops of Liquid Wrench around the frozen part and let it soak for awhile. Then try to blow it out with compressed air blown through the screw hole. Be sure to take safety precautions in case it works.
david

[watchthebear]

Hi all, have tried all but the liquid wrench. The pieces won’t move and the material that the ouside case of the screwdriver is made of is so light and soft that I am afraid it will just bend or tear. I guess jewelers and watchmakers don’t break screwdrivers. Pretty poor engineering. It’s almost like dealing w/ the US designed, Chinese manufactured tools. Just blame the Chinese because the tools act like throw-aways. I will get these fixed, but it is going to be a struggle. Any more thoughts. Thanks……………..take care……..b

[arutha]

Leave it to soak in pure lemon juice, it eats away the steel, It should not touch the handle but just check it after a few hours, if its still not moving then leave it overnight. Also a good way of getting broken steel screws out of brass as lemon juice doesnt harm brass.
Paul.

[watchthebear]

Hi all. Good idea Paul. I have heard of doing this w/ sulphuric acid, and i have a gallon of the stuff. Only thing is, you have to know exactly what the surrounding material is made of. Don’t want to eat it up also; plus some of the fumes can be downright lethal. I have the gear for dealing w/ class I material, but those days are behind me. thanks again all…….take care……………….hal

[arutha]

Maybe a daft idea but have you tried to heat the handle gently over a spirit lamp? It might just expand enough to let the blade drop out?
Good luck and let us know what works

[watchthebear]

Hello all, after 30 hours in straight lemon juice, one of the screwdrivers looked untouched, the other was darkened and i levered it a little and it snapped in two. Now I have 2 pieces stuck in one body and one stuck in the other. I should look up the specs on those blades. I just assumed they were acier carbonne; no reason for them to be Inox. It would not, however, be the first time I have made an assumption and been way off the mark. They could be using some special alloy. I just don’t see why, though. Any fresh ideas always appreciated. take care all…………..b

[arutha]

Sorry that didnt work
Have you tried gently heating them, the body should heat up faster than the blade and might expand enough to allow the blade to drop out?

[david pierce]

Watchthebear,
Holy cow, Liquid Wrench is just diesel fuel. Drop the entire screwdriver in a small dish full of diesel fuel for a few days and see if that helps.
david

[watchthebear]

Hello all. After 2 days in liquid wrench the blade parts did not move around inside the enclosure any more freely. I have to be careful that in trying to work them around I don’t enlarge the set screw hole. Of course, there are 2,and I have one plugged w/ the set screw. Getting nowhere except to closer to ordering a few more screwdrivers.

Speaking of which–Might as well get in a new topic–What type/size of blades do you get to work the screw on the balance wheel stud. I have run into some where i have only been able to make out the slot on a 10x glass. ?????? Would appreciate any info from you experienced hands. thanks……………take care…………….b

[david pierce]

Bear,
Try to blow it out with compressed air.
david

[metalsmith]

Try hanging it in an ultrasonic.

[watchthebear]

Good evening all (PST), I have tried the heat, and the air: no luck. Don’t have an ultrasonic, but I suppose that is not far down the road. This is becoming a case of “the more stuff I get, the more stuff I find I don’t have.” A self-exciting phenomenon I think it’s called. One thing might help. These are the set of screwdrivers Bergeon made for their small blades. They used to make another set for their tiny blades–in the 20-35mm range. I saw a beat-up used set, so it may have been a long time ago. Thanks for all the help…take care………b

[Author]

Posts