Replies

1. 
   [email protected] | Sep 18, 2007 10:34pm | #1

   I have a set of them and they work reasonably well.  I have had on occaision had to resort to my old standby, a left hand drill bit. 

2. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Sep 19, 2007 03:11am | #2

   Hammer , I will not beat a dead horse, these things" MIGHT" work under perfect conditions, THEY WORKED ONE FOR FIVE FOR ME. Their metal quality is very good but the design-the squat flair- dosen't often bite. I have broken or lost-err misplaced- more easy outs than any ten guys that you know, go buy a set an forget Grabbit( which is really sold 3 sizes in a little case. )Paddy

1. 
   byhammerandhand | Sep 19, 2007 03:26am | #3

   so, what brand do you recommend, then?

1. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Sep 19, 2007 04:00am | #4

   H, I have found them called extractors,EZ-OUT, easy outs etc, by Stanley, tool companies in supply houses ,MSC, servr star-true value and other hardware as well as Sears. Paddy

2. 
   forestgirl | Sep 19, 2007 07:18am | #5

   Paddy, I'm confused.  What are you recommending?  I ran across this page <click> about EasyOuts.  Am interested because some of our house re-muddling has run into this problem.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Sep 20, 2007 01:08am | #11

   J, that's an ez-out pictured in the add and it generates fear. It's tricky as there are so many odd factors, old steel, rusty, butter bolts etc. but you can lower the risk of failure if you file a dead flat surface with a fine file if ya have some still sticking up(there is ALWAYS just NOT ENOUGH to grab with a vice grip), use a good center punch(not a nail set) to strike a dimple dead center-holding the punch perfect vertical- with a soft stroke from a small "baby" hammer, check to see your dead center and seat the point in the dimple and twice more increasing the power up to a medium hit.

   Now get a very, very sharp very small (1/16, #27) HSS drill bit and make a larger dimple 1/64 deep(remember -perfect vertical). Use the dimple to start the correct size drill bit for the ez-out your using to drill,super slow and perfect vertical with oil, brushing away chips then more oil/liquid wrench/PB blaster etc. It's a PITA but patience pays off here. Finish the hole, take the ez-out in perfect vertical an give it 2 or 3 taps with the baby hammer-you will hear it go thunk once it seats it's coarse reverse thread. USING A "T" SHAPED TAP HANDLE, NOT AN ADJUSTABLE WRENCH that pulls from one side and snaps ez-outs or taps, start to turn counter clock wise---good luck.

   The key is the hole dead center. If it snapped flush or recessed ya just have to fuss with the center punch to get a good centered dimple and if it snapped on a recessed slope just drill a small hole and keep increasing the drill size till you get too close to the female threads and then collapse the bolt wall till it's a "U" shape with a punch and the oval shape can pull away from the female threads to be pushed thru.

   My $80 Bies fence from Lowe's was put together with butter bolts 1/4-20 x3/4 round head from the fasteners aisle not the Bies hex bolts. They used 8 needed only 7, snapped off 5. It took me 2 hrs. 3 out with the stupid Grabbit and my drills(my ez's are in Tenn.) and 2 collapsed into the rail. Bies was kind enough to send me the whole fastener bag NC. Btw, no rail hole was damaged in this production. Paddy

3. 
   wbfinewoodworking | Sep 19, 2007 05:47pm | #6

   Why not get the same set from your local Sears? It's a Craftsman so it has a lifetime guarantee.

1. 
   byhammerandhand | Sep 19, 2007 11:13pm | #9

   Sears is on my PSL for tools.Normally, these are holding in hardware like hinges or locks and I can't drill out around them like the hollow drills described above.

1. 
   wbfinewoodworking | Sep 19, 2007 11:26pm | #10

   Well, they may be on your PSL, but their screw removers do work. They have several kinds of them.

4. 
   Spalted | Sep 19, 2007 07:14pm | #7

   I like the ones that look more like a tiny hole saw (even made one by filing teeth on a piece of copper pipe). They remove the wood around the screw too so they are the kind of wound that needs to be plugged, but if your removing a broken screw with the ez out, then you'll likely have a hole chewed up enough for a plug anyhow. at least I do...

5. 
   BarryO | Sep 19, 2007 11:12pm | #8

   the problem I have with these is that, in woodworking, I usually end up shearing the head off.  I use these instead:

   http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=983

    

   As for "easy outs", in non-woodworking applications, I usually had the following experience:

   1. drill recommended hole in broken bolt for "easy out",

   2. insert "easy out" in hole and attempt to turn with wrench,

   3. break "easy out", with fragment left in hole in bolt,

   4. attempt to drill out "easy out" fragment,

   5. discover that the "easy out" fragment is harden steel that can't be drilled. :(

   The last time this happened to me on one of my cars, I had to use a Dremel with a carbide grinder to remove the "easy out" fragment.  Then I carefully used a left-hand drill bit to drill out most of the bolt fragment, and carefully picked out the rest.  I got lucky and did not damage the threads in the hole (not too much, anyway!).

   
   

   ---

   Edited 9/19/2007 4:20 pm by BarryO

1. 
   WoodShopGuy | Sep 20, 2007 02:11am | #12

   As for "easy outs", in non-woodworking applications, I usually had the following experience:1. drill recommended hole in broken bolt for "easy out",2. insert "easy out" in hole and attempt to turn with wrench,3. break "easy out", with fragment left in hole in bolt,4. attempt to drill out "easy out" fragment,5. discover that the "easy out" fragment is harden steel that can't be drilled. :(Had to laugh when I read that -- my experiences many of the times too. Thus have both types and use the one that will probably cause the broken screw to fight extraction less.

1. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Sep 20, 2007 03:47am | #13

   I feel the pain for you guys, broken studs/bolts are the Worst AND ALWAYS IN THE WORST PLACE. Never the top stud on an exhaust manifold (a dirty joint to begin with) it's the bottom front, so you can move the AC compressor, air pump etc and a fender well to get at it - then the fun starts.

   It can be worse , he says. Oh yes, how about the studs on a pump pipe flange that needed a new gasket that was installed in 1949. Past rebuilds pulled the motor then the upper pump casing--leaving this section attached to the pipes. Do you want to lean on those frozen nuts? No way Jose! That's why they make nut splitters, ya see how smart you can get when the pump housing is down in the bilges of a submarine.

   In truth guys that are machinists and the car guys develop a sixth sense as to how hard to pull before seeking remedies like heat from a torch, penetrants or call you mom. Cause dealing with snapped bolts or studs $uck$ a lot.

   In wood it's a whole different world as the screws are mostly smaller but the medium is more kind. All the best , Paddy

1. 
   WoodShopGuy | Sep 20, 2007 04:49am | #14

   Sounds like you have been down many roads also!