Broken bolt any ideas?

[Tyz05]

I use left handed drill bits first if the bolt is loose enough the drill bit will un screw it, Forgot to mention that earlier they do work well.

[robbo 110]

i dont bother with easy outs, i have some decent ones but if the thread is stubborn you will only expand what is left of the stud & lock it even more!! look for the stud extractors with a spline that you tap into the drilled hole, blue point do them at reasonable money, or use a small torx bit tapped gently into the hole!!!!!!

[C.J]

I use left handed drill bits first if the bolt is loose enough the drill bit will un screw it, Forgot to mention that earlier they do work well.

 

Right handed drill bit will only tighten the bolt.

[Megatron]

Use a Dremel to cut a groove and undo with a screwdriver. Easy if it protruding out of the case, which it looks like it is.

[mikecotterill]

Use a Dremel to cut a groove and undo with a screwdriver. Easy if it protruding out of the case, which it looks like it is.

 

Tried that but unfortunately it isn't quite out enough, and the bolt seems to be made of quite soft steel.

[rxe]

Old engineering wisdom:

 

If the answer is an easy-out, you're asking the wrong question.

 

They are truly horrible things, and once you've broken one in your bolt, then you're left with a hardened slug of metal that you can't do anything with. At that point you need a really solid drill press and a carbide spade drill. If the fastener has got stuck and twisted the head off, then a brittle thing of smaller diameter is also highly likely to snap.

 

In the case of your brake bolt it is unlikely to be corroded, so will come out fine with a reverse twist drill, like another poster has said. Ideally you do it in a drill press, but hand held will do as long as you're careful. Start drilling gently, then as you apply more pressure, the drill will catch and spin the bolt out. Remember to centre punch the bolt, or it will tend to wander off track as you start drilling.

[agg221]

Old engineering wisdom:

 

If the answer is an easy-out, you're asking the wrong question.

 

They are truly horrible things, and once you've broken one in your bolt, then you're left with a hardened slug of metal that you can't do anything with.

 

One route out of this point is the solid carbide dremel bits - you can sometimes get secondhand ones from PCB assembly places on ebay. These can be used to cut slots, broaden out from a drilled hole or remove sheared off hardened steel things, e.g. easyouts. If they do break off, they're brittle enough to break up by hitting them with a masonry nail as a punch.

 

Alec

[mikecotterill]

I've ended up taking it into dick leigh hopefully theyll sort it, I didn't fancy drilling it and messing it up!

[Tyz05]

Fair enough. There's a knack to getting out broken studs,I've done hundereds (it's my job) but I'll admit I got it wrong the first few times. If you don't feel confident doing something then it's a good idea to let someone do it who knows what their doing.