Heard a shop teacher say a seized bolt can take over 1,000 ft-lbs to break free

Found it in an old trade school textbook from the 90s in my garage. That's way more force than my biggest impact gun can put out... anyone got a go-to method when heat and penetrant don't cut it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sarah3mo ago

Yeah, that number sounds crazy until you see how rust can basically weld things together. Makes you wonder how many other everyday things are secretly holding on with way more force than we realize.

the_tara3mo ago

Rust welding is wild, @the_sarah!

riley_coleman1mo ago

Honestly, that's so true. I had an old trailer hitch that looked fine but was completely fused together from rust, took a sledgehammer and a torch to break it loose. Ngl, it makes you realize how much force those little rust bonds are secretly holding.