[rotorwrench]

Folks have been dropping model A axles for over a half century. Many of those dropped axles are still in service. You cant hurt the axle by heating it unless it gets so hot it bends from it's own weight. Cherry red to a dull orange is about as hot as you can go. Bright orange or yellow is way too hot.

You can heat the perch hot enough to see some red starting to show but you don't want to hit something that hot. Heating and letting it cool will break some corrosion bonds and it can even be allowed to cool off before pressing on it. A person can try heating it to 250* F and start pressing but it can be a lot hotter than that and still keep it's bond grain intact. Start out at a decent temp and the results will be better. I've welded a piece of steel strap over an old perch nut so that it can be threaded down on the perch till it bottoms against the welded strap. A person can hit that with a hammer or press on it if they are careful. Backing up the axle is important but a person doesn't want the back up tooling to mar the axle.