Before anything can be done or not done, the right tools and equipment are truly essential.
When bolts break off and get stuck, or when press-fit items won’t come out, it takes an enormous amount of wasted time.
Is it skill that lets you remove them easily, or is it the equipment and tools?
A while back, I was watching YouTube and came across a video about removing a broken bolt.
As I watched intently, I saw them “tap with a punch right away” and “drill immediately”—whoosh! Pretty impressive. The nerve it takes. I was impressed.
I’m watching from the perspective of the one doing the removal, so my viewpoint and feelings are different from the customer’s.
From the customer’s perspective,
they broke it themselves and are reaching out in desperation, grasping at straws. They’re in a situation where they can’t fix it on their own and don’t even know how to remove it.
From the shop’s perspective,
as long as the broken piece comes out, that’s good enough. And if removal fails, since it was broken in the first place, if we can’t get it out at step one, costs just pile up incrementally.
It varies depending on your region and circumstances, but asking the shop you’re hiring exactly how they’ll remove it isn’t rude—it’s something you should definitely ask about.
Removing a broken bolt like this requires first positioning it correctly and centering it precisely before you work. You need a lathe at minimum to make the fixture, and sometimes you need a welder too.
Personally, I basically don’t want to do it, so I decline, but sometimes it becomes necessary as work progresses, and that’s a real headache.
M6 and M8 are thick enough that removal isn’t too hard, but M5, M4, and M3 get really tricky. Even if you remove them cleanly without damaging the surrounding material, chances are you won’t have a helicoil on hand for emergencies.
You really want to avoid worst-case scenarios like welding or epoxy putty.
