On 2008-01-01, dpb wrote:
DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2007-12-30, Oren wrote:
[ ... ]
Good post. I've never heard of the engraving tool trick.
By "buzz it out", do you mean the vibration helps the bolt to turn
easier?
This is (I think) the kind of engraving tool which has a carbide
point in an adjustable vibrator Something like a "Burgess Vibro-Graver".
You place the point on an area away from the center of the broken bolt,
but not too close to the threads, and angle it so is is driving both
down into the bolt and CCW. This is likely to get the bolt out --
though to be honest, I've never tried it.
In that case, what's the point of the vise grips?
Certainly not for gripping a screw or bolt which has broken off
flush. :-)
This suggestion needs more explanation to make any sense to me -- if the
bolt is so bound as to have caused it to twist off in place, seems
unlikely this is going to work -- although I've no such engraving tool,
either.
*But* -- if the bolt has been overtorqued and broken from
tension -- or what was bolted down got levered up to overtension the
bolt, it would be likely to break off at the first thread outside the
threaded hole -- since there would be no support there. Those bolts are
more likely to work with the "buzzing out" approach.
Certainly if it has rusted into its hole, and then broken off
from torque when someone is trying to *remove* it, then the heat approach
is more likely to work.
I'm the heat cycle kinda' guy, meself... 
But I don't have a welder, so it is unlikely to work for *me*. :-)
I do like the idea of the tack-weld a new nut on -- now if I only had a
MIG or wire-feed unit instead of (or in addition to) the stick...
Whenever I finally get a welder, I'm thinking of the Maxstar
140, which is both stick and Tig. I don't think that I'll need to weld
anything larger than that. And the problem simply is finding one which
I can afford at the moment. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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