Broken tap extraction

[Nick WelburnParticipant @nickwelburn]

Dropped this and snapped the tap…. any bright ideas. Not enough for molegrips

[Nick WelburnParticipant @nickwelburn]

The continued woes of the hapless beginner 🙂

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Alum, and patience is reputed to dissolve taps.

I have never had much success with tap Extractors.

If a small enough grinding point is available, it may be possible grind away some of the remains.

If it is possible to have any grip on then remains, heating the casting to expand it, MIGHT allow the remains to be unscrewed.

The infallible method,IF available is spark erosion.

Howard

[Jim Smith 8Participant @jimsmith8]

I had a M3 tap break yesterday. Golden rule learned: Use the right size tapping drill and don't bottom the tap! Is that a gas or water surface sealing face and how far in is the tap? If not a seal you can try a fine center point punch to enlarge the 'triangular' void, put in some WD40 and try to get in a fine point plier across the triangular voids and turn. Tap carefully first with the center punch. Heating the outside of the part very quickly may help.

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

I have used Alum to remove a broken carbon steel tap. It doesn't need to disolve the whole tap, just the tips of the threads and then the rest of it falls out.

I wish you every success with removing it.

Brian

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Alum is OK – as long as the item is non-ferrous. Alum dissolves steel taps and it is not selective.

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Diamond burrs attached to a Dremel . find the burrs on the usual Book selling site. Make a hole down one side of the tap and then down the next etc etc.

[Nick WelburnParticipant @nickwelburn]

Jim Smith B had the clue to the answer. Held it in a vice and drifted it round, not easy with a 7ba tap. Not much to hit. Got a coupla turns on then got it with the fine nose. Have ordered a new set of 7ba taps to replace the chocolate ones I’ve been using

[Paul RhodesParticipant @paulrhodes20292]

Might be enough proud to Dremel a slot and gently back out with a well fitting screwdriver or impact driver.Heat applied while retaining gentle screwdriver torque might assist.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

As the tap/stud is protruding above the surface, an option is to place a nut over it and plug weld the nut onto the tap. Then use the nut to un scew the tap. The heat from welding may also loosen the tap slightly.

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