I'm sure that even as you read this you can feel my pain. In fact, you're probably thinking of a few projectes where you yelled a few selective words at whatever part you were trying to repair or salvage simply because a small screw or bolt would not come loose.

1.) One of the first things I try is something that is probably obvious to everyone WD-40! Yes, this miracle product can do so many things. In fact, when you get a chance you should read our article here and get a good laugh at some of the ways it can be used.

Just spray it on, let it set (ideally for upwards of an hour or two), then try and to unfreeze your fastener.

2.) Another thing that you can try is heating it up!

The heating will make the bolt expand and then contract and when it does, it’ll loosen the fused bond, hopefully allowing you to extract it.

3.) Even after you’ve sprayed a penetrating oil, you may still need help freeing your fastener. And then there are situations where the head has been sheered clean off. Under these circumstances, you can try using a hammer and chisel. Place the blade of the chisel near an outside edge of the fastener and hammer it counter-clockwise until (hopefully) it begins to move freely.

4.) Using a nut splitter is something that is also an option. If you do not already have this tool in your workshop we recommend getting one as they are fairly inexpensive and a great thing to have around especially if you are into salvaging. For those of you who do not know how to use one here is a quick tutorial that we found.

5.) The next is using an impact driver. This is great and the way it works is as it turns (you can use it to tighten or loosen) you hit the back of it and the frozen screw releases. You may also want to keep the WD-40 handy for this one as well. Here is what it looks like in action.

6.) Another inexpensive tool is a screw extractor set. These allow you to remove screws with stripped heads when you can’t use a conventional driver (or impact driver).

To use, you simply drill out the head of the screw with a size bit as indicated on your screw extractor, install the extractor, and then use a wrench to twist out the screw. You can get a decent screw extractor set for under $20.

7.) Another method for freeing a sheered off bolt is to weld a nut to the head-end of the bolt and then use a wrench on the nut to free the damaged bolt. As explained in this Ultimate Handyman video, you don’t have to be a great welder, you just need to tack a decent-enough bond between the bolt and the nut to withstand the torque of a wrench.

These have all worked well for me at one time or another. I personally like the last one because it's always fun to use welding tools but again that's just me.

What are some ways that you know of to loosen frozen bolts? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below!

Source: Make