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by **agaessco** on Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:56 pm

I've looked in the archives to no avail, but then I'm no EDT. If anyone has pictures of a Ruleta acorn finial that has been removed from the top section of a Ruleta, I would certainly appreciate them posting them. I've been heating and lubricating mine for several weeks now, as per my pic. Perhaps a few good pics of a finial that shows the transition between the cast aluminum acorn and the threads would give me a better idea of how to remove this one. Thanks all!

by **gwlreno** on Sat Oct 05, 2013 4:56 am

Hey Lary,

How about one of these?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#internal-pipe-wrenches/=osv3lv

by **agaessco** on Sat Oct 05, 2013 8:38 am

Thanks Gordon. My first attempt was with a rubber strap wrench but the rubber just stretched. I then bought a Ridgid strap wrench with a nylon strap. Then a friend brought over an exhaust pipe expander that works on the same principle as your idea, but it was a hair too small to grip the inside of the finial, so I really haven't tried that concept yet. I've now ordered a couple of 2" jam nuts to see if tightening one against the other would give me the necessary leverage. Anyway, pictures of a removed finial might tell me something I've overlooked. I assume Ruleta just screwed the finial in but maybe I'm missing something. Thanks!

by **Magnetboy** on Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:09 am

Lary, ...why not just blast the top and finial together and repaint it together? Normally I would remove every possible part when doing a restoration too, but it's not like you can just go to the corner store and get a new Ruleta finial if it breaks. The only downside is that you wouldn't be able to properly clean the threads of any corrosion that has built up due to the last 85 years spent outside. I guess I understand you wanting to remove it though because I would want it out too. I just know that once you restore the signal that no one else will have any reason to even mess with it for at least another 500 years because it's going to be a killer restoration. :thumbsup:

BTW....you didn't mention it so I have to ask.... Have you tried applying heat with a torch? If not, try heating it and letting it cool several times and see if that breaks the bond. Sometimes it works. :yes:

by **agaessco** on Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:41 am

This finial is the absolute last thing on this Ruleta that hasn't come apart. I even managed to remove all the broken screws without any damage to the cast parts that they were in. In the pic I posted above, that red liquid is Kroil and the presumably straight pipe threads are submerged in the Kroil. At least once a day for the past several weeks, I have heated the top/finial from the "underside" with a propane torch. The idea was the heat would expand the metal and as it cooled, hopefully the Kroil would be sucked down into the threads. When I'm heating, I keep a piece of cardboard on the "bottom of the top" to keep the Kroil from evaporating quite as quickly. Anyway, I can now see where some Kroil has soaked down through the threads, so I guess that's progress - but not enough yet.

by **EdT.** on Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:44 pm

Lary - did you drive out the retaining pin first?

Spoiler:

by **agaessco** on Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:07 am

Two weeks ago, when I first made this post, I thought that surely, out of 628 members, at least one of you would have a picture of a naked acorn Ruleta finial. Apparently and as usual, I thought wrong - again. Therefore, please let me ask my question differently. Does anyone here know of anyone who has successfully removed a Ruleta finial? If so and if you could tell me who that person is, then perhaps I can get my question answered by talking to that person and I wouldn't need to see a picture. Thanks!

by **vaughn** on Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:54 pm

Fantastic post right from the gate.
Keep on it, it'll break loose :yes:

Let that kril do its thing no matter how long it takes. every now and again hit it with some heat let it cool and repeat. Looks like the soak thing you have covered :shock:

very nice. It may sound weird but you have to wish it out :scratch:

talk to the threads and tell em they need to break loose and they'll listen :crazy:

It took me a month to get a screw loose from my down light and it was the last thing that needed to be removed before the resto. I figured it would never come out without sheering off the head until I wished it out :crazy:

Keith has a point with leaving well enough alone but when you wish it, things happen

by **agaessco** on Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:25 pm

LOL! I haven't tried wishing or praying it out yet, as I try to reserve those for more important things like pets and people. I already know better than to cuss at it so I'll try a wish or two, along with more heat and Kroil. And if it gets down to -20 or less again this year, I already have plans to put it outside and see if that will help. This is a picture from a few days ago. I came up with a couple of very thin nuts and those are locked in place behind the socket. I can't bring myself to really crank down on it yet and gravity on the handle hasn't worked. Since then I have tried an impact wrench set on the lowest setting - still without success. Ruletas are "tough" but there are enough of them out there - even if you only count Randy T's stash - that I thought surely, someone, sometime, somewhere, has to have removed a Ruleta finial.

by **SirMarbelot** on Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:48 pm

agaessco wrote:there are enough of them out there - even if you only count Randy T's stash

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