Re: Broken bolt

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

When the truth serum kicked in, John Hofstetter <hofs@domain.elided> blurted
out...

>A couple of thoughts, John. That extractor is so hard that it is very 
>brittle. I've been able to break apart EZ outs a number of times just by 
>hitting them with punches. If the extractor is deep in the bolt this gets 
>more difficult. 

A local friend who is a machinist for a living just responded to an e-mail
inquiry and suggested I try grinding the extractor out with a small solid
carbide bur.  He says he's had to do this on several occasions and the carbide
burs work great... even on the hardened extractors.  He says it simply takes a
steady hand and patience.

>That hardness of the extractor makes it particularly burnable and you may 
>very well be able to burn it out with a cutting torch. You'd want your O2 
>well aimed, but I suspect that by being careful you'd not damage the cast 
>iron. 
>
>If I were doing it, even at this point I'd stick a nut over the little 
>bit of the bolt and the extractor and arc weld it all together. The cast 
>iron shouldn't be affected at all, and the heat applied by the welding 
>will help the whole thing come out. I know of no reason why the extractor 
>shouldn't be weldable. We weld hard facing and I would think that's 
>pretty much the same thing. 

Hmmm... now your tempting me to try that approach.  But I'd really just like
to get the extractor out first.

Thanks for the suggestions and the telephone call.

John L.
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