I was trying to adjust the fit on my new glasses. In the process, I tugged a bit too hard on the arm, which caused the part where the screw sits right below the arm connector to pop out. But it didn’t unscrew from the the part it screws into, it completely popped out and is still screwed into the bottom half of that connection.
Anyway, here’s the problem: the screw won’t budge. I have an eyeglass repair kit with the small flathead screwdriver and I start losing grip and stripping the screw when I turn it hard enough long before it ever starts to turn. I took my old glasses and unscrewed the same screw on them just to make sure it worked right and I wasn’t missing something and that worked fine.
Because the screw is sticking out the other side, I can attack it from either end. I was thinking of getting a vice-like grip on the other side and maybe that would give me more torque, but I don’t have anything to use. I guess I could try a nail clipper or something, but drug stores won’t open for a bit so I thought I’d try to get some suggestions on here.
Would heating it and cooling it repeatedly maybe loosen it up? Would soaking it in lubricating oil help? I’m guessing the oil can’t penetrate the tight grip, but just throwing ideas out there…
Heating/cooling cycles help unstick screws. If you can get the screw cold and the frame hot, that will open up some space - but that’s hard to do on small items and if you don’t have many tools and supplies at your disposal all the more so.
Penetrating oil could also help.
But if things are not very corroded and the screw is no longer supporting a force and it still doesn’t turn, I’d be afraid something else is wrong, like the metal galling.
Sometimes the chuck of an electric drill is good at gripping small round things like the screw head, especially if it’s a fillister head with cylindrical sides.
Radio Shack and Sears both sell sets of precision screwdrivers. This would gain you a tool that has a blade thickness very close to the slot width, and a longer handle and stronger materials than what you usually get in the eyeglass repair kits. These kits are often $10 or $15 or so.
Bought them online, so it’s like 5 days in both directions. I suppose I can try to have a local optical place fix them… not sure if they do that for glasses they didn’t sell… but I thought I’d try it myself first.
Some will, Senor. Try a small-ish optometrist. Big ones will charge you at least $5, maybe more.
FWIW, I now get my prescription glasses at COSTCO. Prices at the Mall Optos are absurd, and the lenses and frames I get there are cheaper and just as good.
I’m retired and have no relationship with COSTCO whatever.
Costco was actually the way I was going to go due to their very reasonable prices, but I broke my last pair and they have a 2 week delivery time… I got them online in 4 business days for around $45 total.
The quality is pretty good despite the complaints in this post - if I got them professionally fitted it probably wouldn’t have come up.
