Removing a grub screw

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Mick – LH drills are very handy for repairs on the port shafts and engines of twin screw ships and boats.

Also very handy for steering gear repairs on cars and trucks in Canada and USA. (LHD)

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

Does this mean you have to be left handed to use these drills? 🤔

Mick 🇬🇧

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

You don't have to be left handed, but it helps!

Just joking, hope you don't mind my pulling yer leg!

Seriously, LH drills will often loosen and back out stuck or broken screws without any other brutish attention. When I bought my few, about 5 sizes in total, they only cost about $8.00 total from an industrial tool supplier . They did not cost any more than normal twist drills at that time. I kept them in a plastic container separate from other drills and marked LH. Over the years they have simplified the removal of LOTS of difficult stuck fasteners with no damage to the items they were in, so in my opinion, well worth having, and good value for money too.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Further to what Jeff says in previous post it would probably be sensible to use left handed drills with the drive in, splined shaft, extractors I linked to earlier. If you are lucky the drill will pull the bolt out. If not at least it won't go tighter.

Maybe I will get a box and some right size LH drills for mine then.

Clive

[Zane CrowtherParticipant @zanecrowther67531]

I've also recently had a stripped grub screw, I got it loose with the pin punch method.

I've been told to use a thin wide rubber band, duct tape for extra grip. I've even known people to use a bit of glue to create friction.

[Brian GParticipant @briang]

Bought a pin vice and drill bit set from Aldi a while back. Came with two sets of bits, I thought metric and imperial but no, left and right hand metric. Took me a while to work out why I wasn't making a hole

Brian

[thomas oliver 2Participant @thomasoliver2]

Here is my method for what it is worth. It is very difficult to drill through the screw dead centre. Drill a hole about 2/3 size right through. Use a parallel diamond burr in a dremel type tool to centralise the hole as near as possible. Then open out the hole with successively larger drills until it is almost out to tapping size. It should then be possible to lever out what remains of the thread fairly easily, say with a bent scriber. Another way is to use a fine tipped diamond burr in a dremel tool to cut a slot across the end then use a screwdriver to turn the screw out.

[John ReeseParticipant @johnreese12848]

Posted by XD 351 on 16/04/2019 12:08:00:

Hope like hell it isn’t an unbrako – that usually means using carbide tooling !

You can machine Unbrako screws with HSS tools. Just keep the speed low. Yes, it does tend to dull the tool.

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