Another drilling question.

[Over Carl]

This time its about drilling metal.

I've got an exhaust manifold with a bolt broken in it. I need to drill the thing out - it is about 10mm in the manifold and I think its a 8mm bolt.

I've spent a while on it, but its not happening. Managed to drill a skinny pilot hole, then when full size, nothing much happens. I broke loads of bits so had to stop. I bought some titanium coated ones from the bay of the gay. They drilled very well through a few rivets I had to drill through on something else, but didnt really do much on my broken bolt - made an indentation about 1 or 2 mm after probably about half an hour of drilling and I snapped two of them, so I've only got two left. I really wanna get it done tomorrow, as its the only thing holding me up before I put my alfa back together.

Any suggestions please?

[Lighty]

What you need is a tool called an "Easy Out" or stud extractor or whatever anyone wants to call em I have a set that range from 3mm to 16mm and they are basically a kind of cork-screw threaded bolt but in a left handed thread so you got your little pilot hole done like you said then you turn the easy out in anticlock wise then as it winds in the thread gets tighter and tighter until its so tight it has no choice but to start undoing the broken stud, then its a right bastard to get your easy out back but best in a vice I find.

PS you want a tungsten bit not titanium and try to drill a little slower but with firm pressure also dunno wether its all B&Q's but my local one has a bargain corner on at the moment and they are selling their own brand (Performance Pro) Sharpening stations for drills, chisels etc etc normally £40 now just £15 best 15 quid I ever spent saves on buying new drills every week just sharpen em its great.

EDIT*

What you want looks like this:-

[Over Carl]

Forgot about stud extractors. I had a look at a set but I didnt know how they worked - the ones I saw looked a lot like taps, so I thought they would just destroy the stud. Now I understand how they work, it makes a little more sense to me.

I was first looking for tungsten carbide tipped bits, but couldnt find any drill bits, so I just typed in hss and found those. To me they seem pretty good, just a little brittle.

Thanks a lot for the tip, k+.

[burner1]

Wouldn't heating the thing first help?

[Over Carl]

Probably would. Didn't think about it. Have some k+.

[apllrd]

i've found that instead of buying the screw/stud extractors, if you drill the hole about 3-4mm smaller than the stud and countersink the top with a slightly larger bit, you can tap in the short end of a hex key the same size as the hole you dilled and un-wind it slowly. used this method a few times and it has worked almost every time.

[flumperino]

It's sad state of affairs....Torn City is down for a few days, and you have to resort to shitty real world jobs to keep you occupied

I actually tidied my pc desk earlier..... o_O

[ruggie_uk]

you have to resort to shitty real world jobs to keep you occupied

Lol - I ripped out the built in wardrobe from the bedroom and the skirting boards in preparation for decorating.
Not cos of Torn City but I've been off the 360 for a while and the Wii wasn't working(fixed now - removed the crisp from the power socket).

[burner1]

Probably would. Didn't think about it. Have some k+.

Hope you didn't think I was being bulshy in my post mate... just, I remember when I was in the army, the tubby, sweaty Vehicle Mechanics always seemed to have a oxyacetelyn (sp?) torch on the go and banging shit out of it with a hammer or something when trying to knock out manifold bolts etc.

[Over Carl]

Oh no, sorry my post was so quick, i was just about to leave my pc when i noticed your post, and thought i should be polite and at least reply.

[Over Carl]

I can easily heat the "nut" as it is a thread actually in the manifold. i think though tommorrow I'm gonna get a set of stud extractors. I did think about the welding option, but I don't have any welding eqiupment myself.

[Over Carl]

Thats what I was thinking, the different rates business, have some k+.

anyway, I'm getting well fed up of this now. i just remembered where my pilot hole dissappeared to- last week I tried sticking a tap down it to widen it, and it broke off inside. Spent probably about a good two hours drilling today, droke all my titanium hss bits, and a fair few assorted bits. Also damaged my drill so the chuck wobbles about by about 2mm, but at least it still works.

Here is what I managed to achieve (56k warning)

Spoiler:

Anyone know where I can get some serious drill bits?

[apllrd]

i had a similar problem to this with a fiesta exhaust, it looked like the bolts that held the flanges between the cat and back section where rusted solid, so, thinking i could just get a couple more nuts and bolts i proceeded to grind the nuts off with my trusty 9incher, shock and horror followed when i realised that they where studs that came from the cat and thought it was going to cost a lot of money to fix, after a bit of thinking, i got the grinder back out and cut a groove in from the end and ground the stud off completely, as it was holes in the front section, i knew the new bolts where not going to move and it's still fine now, might be the way to go and save buying those expensive bits.

[cosmicma]

take it to a small engineering workshop it'l probably cost you less than a good set of drillbits

did you manage to get the broken tap out ? cos thats gonna cause a few problems

if you decide to have another go yourself go slowly with the drill not flat out
if your snapping drill bits your trying too hard

good luck....

[spoonman2]

Use a drill bit thats slightly smaller than the core size of the thread and then slow the drill down if you can. Also get someone to squirt some oil on the part you`re drilling while you`re SLOWLY drilling the thing out.

Might be a good idea to centre the thing first, to try and stop the drill wandering. The key to all of this is not frilly drill bits, it`s just making sure you take your time with it so you don`t heat the metal up which will harden the part you`re trying to drill and bugger the drill point too.

Start off with a new drill.Hope it helps

[spoonman2]

If you`ve got a broken tap in there, best thing to do is get down to a small engineering shop (as mentioned above) that has some "hard cut" drills if possible.These are made by Sandvik Coromant and are very effective

Hard Cut drills are used to drill out taps at high speed, by slightly softening the tap as it goes in and drilling it out in a dust.

See here: http://www2.coromant.sandvik.com/cor...1/main_e_7.pdf


Regards,
Spoony

[Over Carl]

i got the grinder back out and cut a groove in from the end and ground the stud off completely, as it was holes in the front section, i knew the new bolts where not going to move

Can't cut a groove as there is poor access to one side, and i've drilled the f*ck out of the other.

take it to a small engineering workshop it'l probably cost you less than a good set of drillbits
if you decide to have another go yourself go slowly with the drill not flat out
if your snapping drill bits your trying too hard

Did think about taking it to a shop but that takes the fun out of it. The only 2nd pair of hands I've ever used on this whole project were twice for 5 mins as the jobs were impossible for one person to do. Maybe I am drilling too hard/fast - it just feels like its more likely to do something that way.

Use a drill bit thats slightly smaller than the core size of the thread and then slow the drill down if you can. Also get someone to squirt some oil on the part you`re drilling while you`re SLOWLY drilling the thing out.

Might be a good idea to centre the thing first, to try and stop the drill wandering. The key to all of this is not frilly drill bits, it`s just making sure you take your time with it so you don`t heat the metal up which will harden the part you`re trying to drill and bugger the drill point too.

Start off with a new drill.Hope it helps

Hmm, I think you lot are on to something. Have I just inadvertently created the hardest metal known to man by drilling at this thing at max speed for a few hours I did think something wasn't right as the chuck of the drill was getting too hot to hold Now I think I will probably need some amazing drill bit. Funnily enough the one that did the pilot hole nicely was just a boring looking one out of the toolbox, but none of the others seem to be anywhere near as good. Anyone know where to get some serious decent ones?

K+ to everyone again.

P.S. Why do they call the bits High Speed Steel if your meant to use them slowly

[Over Carl]

Spoonman, I think you may just saved my life!

Edit: Can't find those bits, but I've just tried searching carbide instead of tungsten carbide on the bay, and now I'm finding some drill bits. Think I will give them a shot.

[spoonman2]

Don`t use a carbide drill in a hand held drill!

PMF tops, but not carbide unless you`re getting an engineering shop to do it for you.

Only if the work is clamped down, and you can get out of the way of a shower of carbide shards .

I`d go to a tool store, and ask for a Dormer A002 . its a standard bright drill, but has a small amount of TIN coating on the end (will help you out in the wear department), short term AT SLOW SPEED this should work and when its blunt just throw it away as are quite cheap

[Over Carl]

Thanks a lot, would definitelty give you more k+ if I didn't have to spread some round first.

I actually found those a002 bits on ebay, so thats a nice easy option. Sorry to keep pestering you, but what would happen if I used a carbide bit - you have me interested now. I'm guessing shards would go flying, but I have goggles/gloves/etc so can deal with this. I'm also guessing item needs to be clamped down, but were there any other drawbacks.

(Sorry but every now and then when I hear something isn't right and its too hardcore, it gets me all tempted in a Tim Allen kind of way )