How can I remove the nut off the bolts in these chairs?

[brianwelch]

not sure if I am viewing it correctly, but might a bimetal holesaw do the trick?

[John Mihich]

I have taken a wrench and ground it so it would fit into the hole.  This could work depending on how bad it's rusted.

I also have used needle nose locking pliers.

I like the idea of the bi-metal hole saw.  That might work.

[Wild Turkey]

I'm concerned that the head of the bolt (need a better pix) is a "carriage" or stove bolt with square shoulders under a round head. The shoulders bite into the hole drilled for the bolt and provide enough resistance to allow the nut to be tightened.

If so your best solution may be to center punch the head and drill it using a drill bit slightly larger than the shank of the bolt. As you drill through the head it will spin off and allow you to drive the bolt out the other side.

Center punch carefully to make sure it's centered and use a good sharp bit so you don't miss and make things harder!

[AHill]

Box wrench. You know, the one with the round closed end.

[iclark]

PBblaster or other good penetrating oils take a while to do their job. If you can turn things so that the nut is on top (nut horizontal, bolt shaft vertical), you have a better chance for the penetrating oil to get between the nut and bolt and loosen things up.

If there is not enough clearance for a thin-wall socket, then the thought of using a hole saw without the guide drill to enlarge the hole could work.

[fredhargis]

Did any of these ideas help/work?

[Dumb_Polack]

Well,

I spoke to the chair owner and she agreed that just cutting the bolts with a hacksaw was ok.   It is ok that I simply screwed the arm rest to the legs.   Obviously, I made sure the screws avoided the bolt hole and grabbed wood.  Here's the end result:


She agreed to do the painting.   Not sure what to charge her.  She's got a few more chairs up at her place on Winnie that need fixing.


(you might not notice it, but on the chair with 2 of the back slats I replaced, the outer one is ever so slightly lower than it's neighbor.  I might dowel the holes and re-drill it.  I might also fan it out a bit more although the measurement from the outside to the arm/arm rest is the same as on the LH side.  But I might cheat it over a bit to match the gap).

[hcbph]

Unless it's rusted, you can slip a flat screwdriver between the nut and the edge of the hole and keep it from turning that way.

[Stwood_]

Could've just threw them in the fire pit......then picked up the metal fasteners.....

[bmich]

It might just be the photo but the whole back of the left chair looks to be skewed down and to the right. But that might just be an illusion. Can you cut a small angle on the bottom of the slat in question to make the gap bigger and make it look like the same spacing. Probably dowelling the holes and re-screwing is best.