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Felco secateurs

hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
in Tools and techniques
I bought a pair of Felcos as a special treat for myself. I find the little lever that you use to keep them closed has gotten stiffer over the last year. I have tried to use the little tool to unscrew the hexagonal screw to slacken them off. I can't shift it neither can my neighbour - a burly bloke. I have squirted the screw and lever with WD40. It has helped a tiny bit but not enough. What do I do now?
'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
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  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I use the leather belt holster and stopped using the lever altogether. It's so much less fiddling about to just pull them out ready to use. Otherwise felco will service it for you at a cost.

    Did you use a screwdriver or a spanner/socket on the screw? I imagine a socket would give you the best leverage. Plusgas is better than WD40 for releasing stuck things. I can also recommend a range of swear words that have helped me release stuck bolts in the past if you're interested :)
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    You could try tapping it with a hammer, but not too hard.
    Or - pop them in the freezer for a couple of hours take them out and pour some boiling water on them.
    The Felco lock thingy annoys me. I removed it soon after buying them, but left it on the kitchen windowsill - 5 years later, it's still there (but I have dusted round it)  :)

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Hampshire HogHampshire Hog Posts: 330
    It's not a left hand thread by any chance?? just an idea have you tried to loosen it in the opposite direction.
    By common convention, right-handedness is the default handedness for screw threads therefore, most threaded parts and fasteners have right-handed threads.
    Image result for normal bolt thread direction
    "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I just checked with my felco 2 and it's a normal thread - so anti-clockwise to unscrew

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Will try a socket on it next. I feel so pathetic!

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • FlinsterFlinster Posts: 883
    I tried undoing mine to sharpen them during the ‘rainy season’ a few months back, but couldn’t shift it either... so just sharpened it in situ.... I’d tried every tool I had, almost sliced my finger off!
  • glasgowdanglasgowdan Posts: 632
    Use a thicker oil than wd, or grease. 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I sharpen mine using a teeny mini knife steel - 4" version of a kitchen knife steel - I got from a chap selling knives and such at Malvern Flower show.  He had it as a mini sharpener for fishing knives and was selling them for just a few quid so I bought two for friends too.   Told him if he sold them as secateur sharpeners he could double his price as Monty had recently used one on GW.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Bump

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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