broken tower speaker bolt

[shawndoggy]

gah!

[IDBoating]

I have easy outs that cover a range from very small up to 3/4 inch for pipes.

A pipe was, in fact, the last (and likely final) time I tried an EZOut-like device. All it did was smooth the inside of the pipe very nicely, making it impossible to extract. Never again!

[IDBoating]

Well I'm screwed now. We had easy outs here at the shop where I work so I decided to try them first and now I have a broken easy out inside the bolt.

(WABoating struggles against the overwhelming desire to say "I warned you....") {grin}

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

My local machine shop said try and chisel the easy out out of the bolt. But I don't think I'm comfortable hammering on the tower. I'm already so frustrated I may just wait til spring. This is a very stupid problem to have. I should have heeded your warning waboating

[What she said]

I had the same problem, and i drilled it out and re-tapped it to a larger size. I also had to drill out the speaker/brkt.

[chpthril]

My local machine shop said try and chisel the easy out out of the bolt. But I don't think I'm comfortable hammering on the tower. I'm already so frustrated I may just wait til spring. This is a very stupid problem to have. I should have heeded your warning waboating

easy-outs are hard but brittle, so yes, a broken one can be busted out. Problem is having a small bolt and then having it recessed.

[GUY_RPM]

You can always buy a 1/8" carbide 4 flute ball nose end mill ($25) and put it in your drill and turn it as fast as your drill will turn. You can't go deep or it will snap because carbide is brittle but it will go thru the easy out no problem. If you use a ball nose it will help getting it started. Again you can't go deep but I am sure there is not a lot of easy out stuck in the hole.

[GUY_RPM]

If your scared of carbide you can try high speed steel which will not snap as easy. I would again use a ball nose HSS end mill.

[Cloud]

Shouldn't that be covered under warranty?

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

My plan will be to mill out everything and rethread a larger size. I have given up on getting it out. I've already spent about 80 bucks and way to much of my time trying to get the bolt/easy out out. Thanks for all the advice given, just wish I would have listened instead of trying the cheap route because i had easy outs available at no cost. Thanks again

[chpthril]

My plan will be to mill out everything and rethread a larger size. I have given up on getting it out. I've already spent about 80 bucks and way to much of my time trying to get the bolt/easy out out. Thanks for all the advice given, just wish I would have listened instead of trying the cheap route because i had easy outs available at no cost. Thanks again

Im wondering if the bolt is corroded or bottomed in the hole. This would make it tight to the point of breaking the easy-out.

Another option to oversizing the hole, would be a nut-sert type deal. The initial hole would be drilled oversize to get the old bolt out, but once done, the hole in the pod remains the same and the same size bolt is used.

[Av8tor]

If you want the hole to be the same size when you're done, you might want to look at a helicoil.