I am 'thinking' of buying one of these - expensive.

Anyone have experience of them please?

The main questions are, what are you going to use it for and how often will you need to have it to hand. Divide the cost by number of uses and see how long it would take to pay for itself…
OR How many seized studs,nuts, bolts do I have to curse before I get a professional tool to ease the spanner-rash?

If you'll be using it professionally it might pay for itself in the first week, in which case, it would be folly not to buy it!

That excuse has always worked for me!

Location: Ripon

Hi Ruairidh I have never even heard of such a thing, checked out YouTube what a brilliant piece of kit that I bet you would never regret buying.
On the downside you will have many wanting to borrow it, me for one if you were closer

Location: Bristol

I saw Fuzz Townsend use one to on a head stud last night on 240Z SOS.

Impressive stress reducer and likely to save much workshop time, so maybe not too expensive in the long run.

Bill

Location: Saumur

Just do it, treat yourself.

Just watched you tube with the draper induction tool, blimey its witchcraft ! Am all for making life a little bit easier and working on 80yr old nuts and bolts this is a must , I say treat yourself

Location: Close to Luton airport

My thoughts are that it will be very helpful in removing studs from the block...

I wish you wouldn't do this Ruairidh. The last time you brought our attention to some desirable tools it was those Whitworth ratchet spanners. I couldn't, really, justify the cost but, what the hell, bought them anyway and they're brilliant.

Now you've gone and done it again with this heating thing. Do I really need one? Probably not except, maybe, now and then when it'll save the day. Do I want one?

Daft question !

Steve

Location: North Yorkshire

Think of it as essential health and safety. Using flames to heat in a garage environment will always incur risk and the consequence of a fire when dealing with our cars is horrifying. So go get it!

For those who've never seen one there's a video here

P.S. although the link is a professional mechanic site, I'm very amateurish

Location: No longer in Sussex

Ruairidh
I've used one of these tools a number of times and found it a very useful piece of equipment, they provide localised heat and are ideal when removing seized bolts/studs and can also be used to heat casings etc. to assist in removing or replacing bearings, and they are often safer than using an oxygen / acetylene plant.
If you treat yourself I'm sure you won't regret it.

Location: Norfolk Broads

It may be witchcraft but I began my working life as an engineer at English Electric Valve, now called e2v, and I was engineer responsible for manufacturing vacuum triode valves used in industrial version of these induction heaters. They were, and still are, used to make steel tube. I spent many a day in Indian steel tube mills, the length of football pitches.

A huge reel of steel 'ribbon' about 20 foot diameter was rolled into a tube then passed at high speed through the induction loop.

The induced current was interfered at the join and so melted the steel, which was then pushed together to form the welded seam.

Take a look at any piece of scaffolding and you will see the seam.

There is truly little as terrifying as crossing an oily walkway over steel tube running at tens of feet a second below your feet. One kink and it buckled up the the air like spaghetti.

At the end of the run it was chopped into lengths which then swung from cranes back over your head. It was difficult to know where to look.

With this all going on at 50 degrees plus in Gujarat and H&S simply unknown it was a time I shall never forget.

Of course these ones are relatively child's play at a few watts when we were working up to 500kW, but the physics is tried and trusted. Providing the 'target' is ferrous it will take the induced magnetic field and generate heat. Simple.

Andy B

First time i saw one was when i was getting the tracking done on my Terrano, the boy tired to use it to loosen the track rod, but in the end we resorted to traditional blow lamp!

Would probably be good for smaller studs etc as you say on blocks or where you cant get the surroundings to hot.

That said, ive dismantled plenty of things without one!!

What one are you looking to go for? There was a good selection in the Sealey book

Location: Fife

This is a very useful tool even if you dont actually use it very often. When you do it saves a lot of time and as others have said is safer than gas. Of course you need a bit of room so not always ideal if engine is in car but ideal for stripping on the bench/engine stand. Mainly engine and suspension parts get the treatment in my experience.
A freind who rebuilds classic minis for a living swears blind by his, of course he can justify the cost more easily.
If you can afford it, go for it!

Paul N-M

Thank you all for your encouragement and advice - I will report back on how successful it proves to be...

Ahah, so you're going to get one… If only I lived closer, I could pop round and borrow it!

Location: Ripon

DO IT R,

i dont think you will regret it.

i thought about a simular service.

over the years most engine builders in the 7 world have charged £10 per stud to remove and repair BROKEN studs. and that price is from near 10 years ago.

when i was rebuilding blocks, i would often get up to 4 head studs brake, even all 7 exhaust.

i thought if something like £60 - £80 was charged, and it garanteed all the studs came out.

what a service to give for your growing customer base

tony

Location: huncote on the pig

If you put "Induction Heating" into Ebay you will find what you need for about 30 pounds (1000W), you just need a box for it and wind a coil the right shape to do head studs.

Location: Rokeby, Victoria, Australia

Super to hear about a new to me tool.
I have checked out the utube videos looks very interesting.
Cannot wait to have your report. If it works well on those rusty studs then its a no-brainer !

Location: Centre of the Universe

Yes, a useful tool, especially when fighting recalcitrant studs.
When I was manufacturing earthmover tyre valves we used this process to braze CDS tube to both steel and brass components. Properly jigged up it was really quick and we could get close to producing 200 units an hour. The finished product was clean, requiring only minimal pickling prior to electroplating.

Location: Melton Mowbray

Here are plans for making one, I might have to give it a go. In theory it's a very simple device. Be interesting to know how the professional ones compare.

http://www.rmcybernetics.com/projects/DIY_Devices/diy-induction-heater.htm

Simon

Location: Wellington

Thank you for the links and suggestions - very helpful and interesting.

You can buy the electronics cheaply on Aliexpress too. Search for "zvs induction".

The basic modules are very cheap (about $8US), cheaper than I can buy the components to make one. You need to supply a power supply but I think an old PC power supply (suitably modified) would work. You need something to supply up to 10 amps at 12 volts.

I bought this one to play with. Will let you know if it works when it arrives.

Simon

Location: Wellington

Very interesting Simon - thank you.

Cor, Simon, is there anything on the internet you have not discovered?

It is remarkable that much can be achieved with just 120 watts, equiv a quite small soldering iron.

Is the price decimal point correct! In the now apparent absence of old time international surface mail here, postage kills many transactions. What is the secret in this case?

Any idea what frequency gadget operates at?

Used to be hydraulic nut splitters available, but not for $8!

If copper can be induction heated perhaps could braze traditonal petrol line connections? And avoid hideous modern conduit.

Location: Auckland, NZ

Hi Bob, the unit works on the Tesla system of using high frequency. The target needs to contain iron and have the ability to be magnetised for the heating effect to be induced. The same method is used by the induction cooktops (standard copper based pans and stainless pans don't work on them)

Location: Whangarei New Zealand

There are 1000w ones on Ebay and probably Aliexpress. The commercial ones are about 1800w so I think 120w would take too long to heat and it needs to be quick to be effective.

Location: Rokeby, Victoria, Australia

The induction heat tool arrived yesterday (after a bit of argie-bargie because the first one did not turn up!).

It is very easy to use and heats up studs in a matter of seconds.

I chose a really rough looking block to try it out on first...



within 1-2 seconds of it turning on it was sufficiently hot to make it smoke...



within 8 seconds it was glowing cherry red...



After about 40 seconds of heating I was able to extract it without issue, I am certain it would have snapped clean off if I had not been able to heat it. The one in the photo is actually the second one, you can see the first extraction beside it.

I experimented of a few studs, the ones over the inlet ports required the shortest amount of heating, 40 seconds, (being in the thinest part of the block) and the ones around the outside required heating twice before they came out.

I tried it on the exhaust manifold studs, the first snapped clean off, I decided that I had not heated it long enough. The next snapped the tip of the stud off but wound out about 6 threads. Again, I decided this was because I should have heated it for much longer.

The stud only glows where it is inside the magnetic coil so to heat it well inside the block you need to keep at it. I was very impressed with this tool. I did not feel confident enough to build one as suggested above but would be very interested to see the results of a home made one, it would certainly save you a whole lot of money!

I bought an American designed and made "Mini Ductor 2". Thanks for everyone's input on this and Ian M, you can borrow it any time my friend!!

It is certainly intriguing. I note it is rated at 1 kilowatt.

The advert on line shows a mechanic working on suspension or wheel studs. Here if the inspectors can detect or learn of such heating it is a wof fail!

I dunno what a 40 ton carbon steel stud might be after full red heat, but whilst it may be more free, it is likely less strong to resist the twisting. Studs heated red should ideally be discarded. A lesser colour may be the ideal. Perhaps a repeat cycling.

Messing with the temper of chrome steels on later cars can lead to all sorts of strength alterations so such a gadget should be used with thought.

PS One of life’s mysteries is just what constitutes cherry red. Cherries range from maroon to near orange! You seem to have got your definition figured!

I wonder what Martin's hone would do to that block?

Location: Auckland, NZ

Magic Ruairidh,I was certain you wouldn't rest until you bought one and I bet you haven't got a block with any studs left in by now.
Thanks for the kind offer mate, if you hear a block drop through you letterbox it will be from me

Location: Bristol

Location: Rokeby, Victoria, Australia

What a hoot, I love it!

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Hi Steve,

the specific listing does not exist any more - this may be something to do with the difficulties I encountered getting it from them.

If you give me a call on 01419428037 I will explain what happened in my instance.

This link to an induction unit on Amazon has a short video at the bottom of the click to expand thumbnails, quoting some heating times, what recommended size and number of turns per coil unit and how much clearance to be allowed around heated item.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Laser-5834-Plug-Heat-Inductor/dp/B00J06O3ZI/ref=pd_sbs_60_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EPEA5GC5NBD6XPCP3WCM


Steve V.

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Thanks Steve!

Very instructive pictures Ruairidh. I am sure I wouldn't be the only person interested in seeing similar images showing how you get the broken studs out, when heating doesn't work. (Sorry to hijack!)

Location: Beckenham New Zealand

Hi Richard,

I use an old cylinder head bolted down to one or two existing studs as a guide.

I have an insert which fits inside the the holes of the cylinder head that provides a straight and central guide for a pilot hole drill bit.

Once that is drilled I insert a second, larger holed, guide for use with a larger drill bit.

Once drilled out to the second size I can drill and tap for a helical insert. I will post some pictures later.

Many thanks Ruairidh. So it isn't usually possible to drill and re-tap to the original thread size?

Location: Beckenham New Zealand

You can do this but I prefer not to as there is a danger you will catch the tap in the remains of the old stud and snap it. Removing broken taps is a real ball-ache!!

Hello Richard
I have always used the welding method to remove stuck studs.
Place a larger nut over the stud hard up against the surface and weld with very hot TIG. The combined effect of localized heat and weld shrinkage works every time.
With care it is possible to build up metal on a stud that has snapped off flush or recessed and then weld on the nut as above.
Even works with broken taps!
Adrian.

Location: The New Forest

Hi Adrian,
How much skill is required - are you a professional?
-my worry would be that I'd end up welding the broken stud/tap into the block
especialy if broken off flush or below face.
Steve V.

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Yes Stephen, I'm afraid some skill is required. Tig is more controllable than other forms of welding and with practice you can prevent the arc crossing onto the adjoining metal.
Adrian.

Location: The New Forest

Ahh!
I can stick weld and mig weld but had no dealings with Tig so removing a sheared stud as a first experience of Tig sounds something not to try.

Steve V.

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom

Photos, as promised earlier...









Interesting to hear about the Tig technique

Hi Ruairidh
What price did you manage to find your Mini-D for? How many coils came with it?
Have seen Laser 5834 on Amazon at £426 delivered with 2 coils + a long string which can be wound round such things as steering arms to form a coil where you would otherwise not get a coil over two fixed ends.

Location: West Devon

I will have to bend a short gear leaver soon as well and previously only managed to bend it a bit after using rather a lot of OXY Acetylene to heat it.........bit expensive the gas ....and now with modern resupply problems....well!

Location: West Devon

It was £355 Dennis.

p.s. We are heading your way this summer, time to emigrate!

Thanks for the photo's of your drilling inserts - that is a tip I will use in the future.

I bit the bullet and purchased an induction tool on ebay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222055645420
SUPPLIED WITH:
2 X COILS 30mm Diameter.
2 X COILS 40mm Diameter.
2 X COILS 50mm Diameter.
2 X COIL WIRE 750mm Long.
1 X OPERATING MANUAL.
1 X CARRY CASE
6 Months Warranty.

The price is now fixed as per the narrative even though there is a make an offer button.
More than I was hoping to pay but still cheaper than some others, also the supplier is only about 45 minutes drive away should it give trouble.

I'm hoping it will save a lot of pulling out of hair over time....
Pending jobs include replacing manifold studs on my '35 12 Ascot and engine rebuild for my Ulster special.

Starting on my Ulster has been on hold because of cold feet, due to the shennanigans at Swansea but I think it's time to bite the bullet and make a start regardless.

Steve V.

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom

What is the 'coil wire' made of please?
That coil wire would help loosening exhaust pipe joints that have rusted up.

Geoff - Day off.

Location: South Norfolk - Next to Suffolk

Location: Beckenham New Zealand