# Broken drill bit stuck inside drilled out screw



## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

Welded a nut to broken end of screw in an effort to unscrew from coupler. Screw sheared off flush with end of coupler. So then I successfully drilled through screw. I attempted to widen hole with a larger drill bit, but the bit broke off in hole and is now stuck. It wasn't a clean break and I'm stumped as to how to remove broken bit. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. This is  a very delicate problem, as I don't want to damage the still unexposed threads inside the coupler. Photos taken prior to me attempting any fix.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

Dave Marko said:


> Welded a nut to broken end of screw in an effort to unscrew from coupler. Screw sheared off flush with end of coupler. So then I successfully drilled through screw. I attempted to widen hole with a larger drill bit, but the bit broke off in hole and is now stuck. It wasn't a clean break and I'm stumped as to how to remove broken bit. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> Photos taken prior to me attempting any fix.
> View attachment 127564 View attachment 127565




Can you add pics of broke bits


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> Can you add pics of broke bits




Carefully remove with dremel cutting disk 1/8 inch or so of coupler to expose bit and broke screw then soak the poop out of it and tomorrow with vice grips on exposed screw chunk and coupler in vice start doing the twist!.. Maybe heat with torch


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## DJ Bill (Dec 15, 2013)

Some machine shops have a EDPM or is it EPDM machines that can do that.....$$$ unless someone can do a government job for ya.


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Dec 15, 2013)

Weren't you taking a metal shop class ?

Sounds like a job for a grinder, some sort of clamp set up, a drill press and an "easy out" extractor kit.

And stop buying crappy cheap Chinese drill bits from Harbor Freight 

pap
.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> Weren't you taking a metal shop class ?
> 
> Sounds like a job for a grinder, some sort of clamp set up, a drill press and an "easy out" extractor kit.
> 
> ...




Yeah easy out.. And I second the harbor freight line...


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

So do you think the Chinese use crappy Chinese tools or do they buy made in USA?.. How would,anything get built there if they did right?! Maybe they keep all the good poop and send us the crap


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## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

Here's a photo of the end of the drill bit sticking through the hole I drilled in the screw. I was drilling from the other side and that is where the bit broke off. I can't even begin to work on removing it from that side as I'd be flying blind.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

Dave Marko said:


> Here's a photo of the end of the drill bit sticking through the hole I drilled in the screw. I was drilling from the other side and that is where the bit broke off. I can't even begin to work on removing it from that side as I'd be flying blind.
> 
> View attachment 127566




Wait... So you drilled through the pan head side?.. Somebody please send Dave a new one before he cuts his hand off.. Please!!!!! !im being,serious!


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Dec 15, 2013)

And I like the torch idea along with the rest too !!!

Love the torch 

pap
.


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## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> Weren't you taking a metal shop class ?.




Good memory! Yeah, the welded nut sheared off the screw at the end of the last class of the term. New term begins in 3 more weeks.


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## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> Wait... So you drilled through the pan head side?.. Somebody please send Dave a new one before he cuts his hand off.. Please!!!!! !im being,serious!




The first hole was drilled from the small end of the coupler (shown). I was trying to enlarge that hole from the other side of the coupler (not shown) when the bit broke, so that was that way wrong?


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Dec 15, 2013)

Dave Marko said:


> Here's a photo of the end of the drill bit sticking through the hole I drilled in the screw. I was drilling from the other side and that is where the bit broke off. I can't even begin to work on removing it from that side as I'd be flying blind.
> 
> View attachment 127566




Providing you did in fact start drilling from the slotted side of that screw, I think you're going to have to clamp it in a vice or at least a pair of vice grips (with something non flammable to protect the shank of the screw), heat the outside up with a torch as best you can and use a punch or possibly a nail with a flattened tip going in from the slotted side and try and pop it out of there.



Dave Marko said:


> Good memory! Yeah, the welded nut sheared off the screw at the end of the last class of the term. New term begins in 3 more weeks.




Ya' see Dave, ol pap really _does_ care about you :o

pap
.


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Dec 15, 2013)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> So do you think the Chinese use crappy Chinese tools or do they buy made in USA?.. How would,anything get built there if they did right?! Maybe they keep all the good poop and send us the crap




I think they and others who sell inferior tools in order to both save money AND insure job security by perpetually selling replacements for broken garbage in the export market skip a vital heat treating process that hardens metal in combination with the use of lower carbon inferior steel from the beginning. They could care less about customer satisfaction any more.

They are capable of making the good stuff and I think they do and use the high grade material themselves for industrial purposes.

pap
.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> I think they and others who sell inferior tools in order to both save money AND insure job security by perpetually selling replacements for broken garbage in the export market skip a vital heat treating process that hardens metal in combination with the use of lower carbon inferior steel from the beginning. They could care less about customer satisfaction any more.
> 
> They are capable of making the good stuff and I think they do and use the high grade material themselves for industrial purposes.
> 
> ...




Like building a secret moon base!


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## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks for your help guys! Probably best to wait until class starts up again and I can be closely supervised. I'll let you know how it all works out. That is of course if I don't first cut off mine, or any one else's appendages that happens to be in the way, or maybe even burn the school down with the torch in the process of removing the broken bit.


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## vincev (Dec 15, 2013)

Dave,Dave,Dave. I hope you were using a drill press and not holding a hand drill.


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Dec 15, 2013)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> Like building a secret moon base!




Yeah, _exactly_ like that :eek:

pap
.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

Dave Marko said:


> Thanks for your help guys! Probably best to wait until class starts up again and I can be closely supervised. I'll let you know how it all works out. That is of course if I don't first cut off mine, or any one else's appendages that happens to be in the way, or maybe even burn the school down with the torch in the process of removing the broken bit.




I started a thread for you.....


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Dec 15, 2013)

Dave Marko said:


> Thanks for your help guys! Probably best to wait until class starts up again and I can be closely supervised. I'll let you know how it all works out. That is of course if I don't first cut off mine, or any one else's appendages that happens to be in the way, or maybe even burn the school down with the torch in the process of removing the broken bit.




_Sooooo_ ah, old pal, you don't mind us cutting in line in front of you for a shot at some of that hoard of NOS Diamond skip tooth chains someone around here just scored ? 

pap
.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 15, 2013)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> _Sooooo_ ah, old pal, you don't mind us cutting in line in front of you for a shot at some of that hoard of NOS Diamond skip tooth chains someone around here just scored ?
> 
> pap
> .




A little Birdie says its a Chicago screw.. And I found them online..


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## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> _Sooooo_ ah, old pal, you don't mind us cutting in line in front of you for a shot at some of that hoard of NOS Diamond skip tooth chains someone around here just scored ?
> 
> pap
> .




People that are nice to me can take one step ahead of me in line. People that aren't, will be the first to realize that I had beans for dinner the previous night.
But seriously, that photo of 100 NOS Diamond skiptooth chains in a box, had me drooling. And I thought I was beginning to get over this bike thing.


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## Boris (Dec 15, 2013)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> A little Birdie says its a Chicago screw.. And I found them online..




Thanks for the tip. I've looked, and none are the same as my original equipment coupler. A member on this site has some very nice reproductions, but I was hoping to save mine, which is original to the bike. If mine gets destroyed in the process of me trying to save it, I will buy his reproduction.


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