Jim Barber
10-28-2013, 07:47 PM
Does anyone make an indestructible revolver nipple wrench? I've just destroyed my 4th trying to extract the nipples from a used Rogers and Spencer.
Here's the story:
The first I'll put down to excitement and over-exuberance: this was my first revolver. I was overjoyed when I received it & had an irrational need to take it apart and put it back together. I'd purchased a very inexpensive nipple wrench, and managed to remove one nipple before I rounded it off-- I tried it on all 6, and one came loose. Next one I really bore down on rounded off the corners of the wrench. Crud.
Ordered some widgets and spares for the R&S, including another inexpensive nipple wrench. This time, I soaked the offending cylinder with WD40 overnight. Rounded off the replacement wrench after about 5 minutes of hamfisted cussing. So much for #2.
Realized (I thought) the error of my ways. More spares and stuff from S&S, including wrench #3. Soaked the cylinder in WD40 for a couple weeks, occasionally blasting it with more while it sat on an increasingly greasy towel on the workbench. Put on a pair of gloves, prepared for battle. Hit it with a propane torch, generated lots of smoke. Swiftly rounded off wrench #3, without a whole lot of effort. And for the record, I held the cylinder flat on the bench, tightly in my left hand while I pressed down hard on the wrench while turning.
Picked up some really nice widgets at Nationals, including a very nicely made nipple wrench (Tom Krone) and a can of Kroil. Soaked the cylinder (from both ends) with Kroil, let it fester overnight. Extracted three more nipples, with considerable effort. Tom's nipple wrench appeared to be indestructible-- finally, I could totally disassemble and really clean this stinkin' gun up! It's been a lot of work getting the breech area of the cylinders clean with the nipples stuck in there. Just a couple more to go! More muscle! You can do it, Indestructible Wrench! Well, on the fourth try, I bent the wrench. Not rounded like the cheapies-- I really broke it.
So. 4 down, 2 to go. I can't keep breaking tools.
For what it's worth, I've never had this problem with the long guns. I always very lightly grease the threads after I've cleaned everything up, and they're just snug upon removal. Also, the threads on the nipples I've removed from the cylinder are all straight and true-- none appear buggered or anything, and the one I removed originally always comes out easily, even with one of my mangled wrenches.
Titanium nipple wrenches? Tiny, tiny slide hammers? Incantations? Healthcare.gov? The fat of a hog culled during the Weaning Season? Any advice is very much welcome at this point!
Thanks gurus.
Jim B
110th OVI
Grove City, OH
ps: and btw, I intend on getting another of the Tom Krone-made nipple wrenches. It really is a good tool. I just gave it more abuse than it was meant to take. It fit MUCH better, and had more strength than, any of the really inexpensive wrenches I broke earlier in the year. Anything small enough to fit in there has a limit to its Power to Resist Hamfisted Stubbornness and Misuse.
Here's the story:
The first I'll put down to excitement and over-exuberance: this was my first revolver. I was overjoyed when I received it & had an irrational need to take it apart and put it back together. I'd purchased a very inexpensive nipple wrench, and managed to remove one nipple before I rounded it off-- I tried it on all 6, and one came loose. Next one I really bore down on rounded off the corners of the wrench. Crud.
Ordered some widgets and spares for the R&S, including another inexpensive nipple wrench. This time, I soaked the offending cylinder with WD40 overnight. Rounded off the replacement wrench after about 5 minutes of hamfisted cussing. So much for #2.
Realized (I thought) the error of my ways. More spares and stuff from S&S, including wrench #3. Soaked the cylinder in WD40 for a couple weeks, occasionally blasting it with more while it sat on an increasingly greasy towel on the workbench. Put on a pair of gloves, prepared for battle. Hit it with a propane torch, generated lots of smoke. Swiftly rounded off wrench #3, without a whole lot of effort. And for the record, I held the cylinder flat on the bench, tightly in my left hand while I pressed down hard on the wrench while turning.
Picked up some really nice widgets at Nationals, including a very nicely made nipple wrench (Tom Krone) and a can of Kroil. Soaked the cylinder (from both ends) with Kroil, let it fester overnight. Extracted three more nipples, with considerable effort. Tom's nipple wrench appeared to be indestructible-- finally, I could totally disassemble and really clean this stinkin' gun up! It's been a lot of work getting the breech area of the cylinders clean with the nipples stuck in there. Just a couple more to go! More muscle! You can do it, Indestructible Wrench! Well, on the fourth try, I bent the wrench. Not rounded like the cheapies-- I really broke it.
So. 4 down, 2 to go. I can't keep breaking tools.
For what it's worth, I've never had this problem with the long guns. I always very lightly grease the threads after I've cleaned everything up, and they're just snug upon removal. Also, the threads on the nipples I've removed from the cylinder are all straight and true-- none appear buggered or anything, and the one I removed originally always comes out easily, even with one of my mangled wrenches.
Titanium nipple wrenches? Tiny, tiny slide hammers? Incantations? Healthcare.gov? The fat of a hog culled during the Weaning Season? Any advice is very much welcome at this point!
Thanks gurus.
Jim B
110th OVI
Grove City, OH
ps: and btw, I intend on getting another of the Tom Krone-made nipple wrenches. It really is a good tool. I just gave it more abuse than it was meant to take. It fit MUCH better, and had more strength than, any of the really inexpensive wrenches I broke earlier in the year. Anything small enough to fit in there has a limit to its Power to Resist Hamfisted Stubbornness and Misuse.