Anyone ever separated a salt frozen Bending branches Aluminum paddle? WD 40 and torque won’t budge it. Ever tried heating one with a torch to break it loose?
Try “Liquid Wrench”
salt-locked alum’ shaft
Hi, lots of fun, eh? Had an aluminum kayak frame do same in several locations. Sounds like you’ve tried the standard rememdies…I am surprised the torch didn’t work…I once used a hammer and did a series of light, but firm staccato taps all along the outside surface (laid it on a vice plate). I think I tapped and then did the torch thing. I wonder if cold water/freezing the inside pipe and “tappiing” the over/outer tube with a torch would work? Good luck.
Boiling Water / Steam…
Seems to me that if you use boiling water to invade the joint, the crystalized salt will dissolve, removing the gritty texture that siezes the joint…maybe add a little olive oil to the mix to lubricate the joint…pour the boiling water onto the lip of the shaft joint… If this fails do not give up just yet, maybe the water didn’t make it into the joint far enough…try steaming the joint…
you could accomplish this by placing the paddle shaft joint over a large pan (Pasta Pan?) and covering it with a plastic bag to retain the steam…
vinegar
it’s an old trick to get alluminum seatposts out of bike frames.
Frozen aluminum paddle
I have not tried the torch yet, and the vinegar idea makes a lot of sense.