I say “SOME”, because it won’t work on anything that is seized up usually or anything the engraver can’t reach.
I have used this method dozens of times and even got a 16mm hunk of All Thread that was 4 inches long to go through a 2 inch thick hole in solid Stainless Steel!
I was taught this trick by an older guy I worked with for several year named Lynn. He was in the Merchant Marines for many years and finally retired at the age of 76!
May God heap many blessings on him, I learned a ton of things from him over the years and he was just a sweetheart of a guy.
I was out doing the brakes on the front of the Big Red Beast this morning and broke this little 5/16’s bolt off, the very last thing I needed to get done before putting the wheel and tire back on when I felt it “go soft” and break off.
I built this engraver out of a box full of parts and ones that got thrown out because they quit working. Grainger wants $450 for them but you can get one from Amazon for aout $85. I don’t get anything if you buy one but I am highly recommending them if you do any kind of wrenching. Click on the highlighted link below if you want to get one.
This thing is worth it’s weight in diamonds, I’m telling ya.
Anyways, enough with the yapping, here’s the video I took.
I even got lucky enough to find a stainless steel replacement out in Phil’s Temple of Tools, otherwise known as The Big Mess I call the garage.
Mission accomplished.
Let me know in the comments if you have ever heard of this little trick because even after 40 years of wrenching it was a first for me when Ol’ Lynn pulled that one out and showed me.
I also went to work early on Thursday and had a little tire shop on the way put 4 used tires on the truck for $340, including a $20 tip for the kid.
Mounted, balanced and installed, they even took the 4 soft rubber snow tires that ol’ Chuck had put on it about a year before he passed off my hands without me having to pay for it.
The local Les Schwab tire store wanted $550 EACH, for the same size and style of tires I got. Bigger and wider, the thing rides better now and the bigger tires make it look like a real truck now.
I have a 4 hour road trip coming up for the 4th of July and I am trying to get the thing ready for the trip.
damn. I have a large supply of e-z outs and even left hand drill bits for that kind of work. on some bigger bolts I have used a center punch to get moving in the past.
never saw anything like that used before. neat.
about tires. a long time ago, my Dad told me they keep your ass on the road.
always have good tires and brakes. last time for tires was 350 or more each on SALE for my 4runner. but then again I get a few years out of them. so.
fastest tires I ever wore out where “go-landers” and they where about 300 a tire too. come Monday I getting the tires on the 4runner balanced and rotated.
and new tire pressure things installed. they where 34 a pop at Rock auto. God only knows what Toyota wants for them.
was thinking about trading the 2016 in for a new one, but I don’t want all of the computer controlled crap they have on trucks//cars today. and another thing, why can’t you buy a stick shift anything these days ? what up with that shit ?
anymore I wish I never sold my old 1989 4runner, 22re engine and 5 speed box.
should have found a good body shop that does metal work and repaired it.
even the wife thinks I should have kept it anymore when we look at what they have new today. and she can not drive a stick to save her butt, but even she knows it was a better truck than most made today.
I have an engraver too! I have never seen that, I will remember that trick. Hey, speaking of brakes, you want to do the front brakes on my truck? Turn the rotors and new pads(high temp ceramic) and an grease seal as my hubs and rotor are one… I’ll bring the soda and iced tea and even buy you and your lovely better half and the kid dinner!
Sorry I’m going to have to pass on that one hard buddy. Just doing the ones on mine kicked my fucking ass by the time I got done with it. U lower back was spazzed out and my right leg was fucked up so bad it went past just pain into something I don’t even know how to describe. Like my calf had gone past pain and was almost going numb
If I hadn’t got done when I did I would have had to quit and come back to it later. On top of the overheating.
I feel your pain Phil. Yesterday my grandson helped me put plugs in my 03 dakota, and we did a diy toe in alignment. Total of about 3.5 hours, mainly cause I move so slow. I was totally wasted at the end of that.
If you bring it up to my house, I’ll do it.
Though I don’t turn rotors anymore, it’s cheaper to replace them. Besides, you haul a trailer. Fresh, thick rotors are preferable to warped ones thinned out by turning.
Also, I work for beer.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
I got to say that would have been one of the last tools I would have considered. If the ez-out don’t work I cut a slide drive a flat head screwdriver in tight with a hammer. Irwin makes some dandy sockets for stripped nuts
That’s a new one on me but I can sure see how it works. Vibrations make things move. I’ve used an air chisel with a blunt punch to rattle the hell out of things that are reluctant to move and that is just a bigger version of your engraver. I’ve seen them in the MSC Industrial catalogs for a long time and always thought about getting one to mark tools but I may have to break down and get one just because of your video.
Good one! I have easy-outs and I have welded a nut on a broken bolt to get it out. It is always a PIA. I have a motorcycle head that I have broken an easy out on. I got the easy out head out but two machine shops have failed to remove the bolt.
That old Merchant Marine was a genius. Thanks muchly for sharing that with us.
I broke the front sight off a rifle a while back when it tumbled out of the safe and the little 6-48 screws snapped below the surface of the barrel. I will admit to uttering an oath when it happened. Then uttering several more oaths at that thought of embarrassing myself at the gunsmith, assuming a competent one could be found. Fat chance of that locally. Anyway, I could not find an easy-out that small. But eff-ups being the mother of invention, I ended up drilling the screws with a 1/16″ drill bit and tapping a flat-bladed mini-screwdriver into the holes and backed those little screws right out.
Dang and I have a drawer of various removal tools that may or may not work. Engraver ordered, thanks to you and Lynn.
Was the bolt a seized one you were removing when it broke?
Or did it shear under torque while you were putting it in?
It sheared trying to tighten it.
I’m not a “wrencher” but that is slicker n whale shit.
That’s a new on to me, but my “go to” for years has been reverse flute drill bits, those have saved my ass a number of times.
Nonetheless, will add this bit on know-how to my noggin, with thanks to your old friend.
Thanks for the tip! WOW. Yes sir, no school like the old school.
That was an easy one.
What do you do when it’s frozen in place?
That was a bit too deep, usually requiring drilling, but as a professional welder/fabricator, I’ve know that bolts that are broken off flush can be “welded” out.
First, use a flat washer the same size as the bolt tacked to the broken bolt to protect the surrounding surface, then tack a larger flat washer with an inner diameter a bit smaller than the outer diameter of the first one. Then, choose a hex nut with an inner diameter a bit smaller than the outer diameter of the large washer and tack that on. Now weld the inside of the nut until it is completely fillet with molten steel. Don’t melt the nut. Make sure you can still use a wrench on it.
Let it cool completely, adding penetrating fluid when it’s still warm. I use ATF and Acetone mixed at 90/10, shaken before use. Let it soak a minimum of an hour. Over night is best for large diameter bolts. Use an open end to loosen it, working it back and forth till it comes out. If the nut breaks off, don’t despair, as sometimes it takes two or three attempts. The heat from the welding process penetrates down in to the stuck bolt, shrinking it just enough to break the rust that made it break.
don’t have a welder but have used JB Weld
Nope, never heard of that, will use it if needed, appreciate you sharing.
Damn. Slick as shit! We all should have thought of that. Never once crossed my mind. I’ve drilled, etched, and all sorts of fuckery to get shit like that out! Thanks for the share! I’m going to go break one off and teach my son how to do it so we never lose this epiffany!
Nice trick!
FYI, if you change your Amazon account to a business account, you’ll get better pricing. The link you provided popped up to my account with a price of $67.
I worked at a high-tech machine shop and we had about 15 EDM machines. One of them is called a hole popper. It will go straight through anything.
I’m going to order one of those for my’73 Olds. Remarkably, very few things have stuck…
Had an exhaust place do the conversion from single to duals with reproduction 442 exhaust manifolds, figuring that it’s their problem if a manifold bolt sticks and breaks.
I’m a dental specialist and I’ve become the go-to guy for getting stuck, broken off screws out of dental implants. Yes , they make little EZ-outs but the screws are usually 1-1.5 mm in diameter, 2 at the most and some are titanium. Really easy to pop out the side and damage the threads of the implant itself. Whole thing is really fun upside down in a mirror…
I mostly pick the screws out with long , thin probes. One of the latest techniques is to use an ultrasonic scaler to help vibrate the screws out.
Thanks for posting this. It’s great
I’ve used a similar tool to get #6, #8, and #10 screws out of aluminum housings, but I NEVER thought about using it on busted car parts.
Phil wins The Internet for a week!
Couple of things:
First, $550 per tire? And B, what the devil is a 2 inch thick hole?
That price was actually what they quoted me 3 years ago for the rear tires on the 1/2 ton Chevy I was driving. Not as tall and not as wide. I would imagine it would be even higher for the Dodge by now.. The 2 inch thick hole, a hole in a 2 inch thick piece of Stainless Steel.