Removing rusted screws (from an Ansco 8x10)

[pjd]

So far I've removed two screws. There are another 6 similar screws to remove from the front frame, and 12 from the rear - plus there are tacks in the rear frame. The screws were rusted in. I was busy with another camera, but even now that I have more time for this Ansco it will be a slow process.

I'm not sure if easy out screw extractors would work, it might be worth a try. The glue joints in the front standard all gave out (including the bellows frame) so I at least have unimpeded access to the screw heads - which I will not have for the rear frame.

[Jody_S]

When I had a similar problem with bellows frames, I simply pried the frames off the wood standards (gently!), leaving the rusted screws in place. If the head of the screw is that rusted, the body tends to also have rust, making this removal a lot easier than expected. I could then tap them out of the bellows frames with a tack hammer, clean up the holes in both the bellows frames and the standards, then I used slivers of mahogany and wood glue in the now-stripped holes in the standards before re-assembling with new screws. Because none of this is visible on the finished camera, I thought I didn't need to get too fancy with removing the screws, and I figured it was more important to keep the bellows frames intact than to try to save the screw holes in the front and rear standards. Worst case, I could always drill new holes beside the old ones.

[pjd]

When I had a similar problem with bellows frames, I simply pried the frames off the wood standards (gently!), leaving the rusted screws in place. If the head of the screw is that rusted, the body tends to also have rust, making this removal a lot easier than expected. I could then tap them out of the bellows frames with a tack hammer, clean up the holes in both the bellows frames and the standards, then I used slivers of mahogany and wood glue in the now-stripped holes in the standards before re-assembling with new screws. Because none of this is visible on the finished camera, I thought I didn't need to get too fancy with removing the screws, and I figured it was more important to keep the bellows frames intact than to try to save the screw holes in the front and rear standards. Worst case, I could always drill new holes beside the old ones.

This post describes some of what I had to do.

The countersunk screws in the front frame were the worst, fortunately the frame itself was quite strong. I gently pried out some of the screws, immediately repairing the enlarged hold left in the front standard. This left the point of the screw showing; in some cases I was able to back the screw out with pliers. Sometimes the screw just snapped, in which case I filed the screw flush to the wood surface and gave it a firm hit with punch and hammer, just enough to get the countersunk head sitting proud - enabling me to twist it out by the head with pliers.

The screws in the rear frame were round head slotted screws of differing lengths (3 types of screw used in the two frames). They were also stuck badly, but some came out with a screwdriver bought specially for the purpose - the screwdriver was fractionally large, but it was easy to work it to a perfect fit with sandpaper. Some of the heads crumbled, so I recut those with the cutting wheel on a Dremel. The Dremel was too large to fit in the frame, at which point I remembered I have a flexible cutting extension, first time I'd used that. I think using the Dremel shook the screws free a bit.

A couple of the screw holes in the front frame became somewhat enlarged, I repaired these by filing a piece of scrap walnut wood I had to hand, placing the dust in the holes then adding some superglue. This is an idea I got from watching Dan Erlewine fixing chips on a rosewood fretboard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXIton7x6Q0

The resultant repair is strong and can be sanded flush / have pilot holes re-drilled.

The Ansco rear bellows frame is quite a nicely made item, some french polishing on it. It's now en route to Custom Bellows, thank you to everyone who contributed ideas and encouragement.