how to remove striped allen screw?

All,

The gear has a dial with a small, striped allen screw. The tool is 1.5 mm. Any thoughts on how to get this off?

Thanks - Dan

Reply to
dansawyeror
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Can you drill it out? That's usually how I deal with stripped screws.

Reply to
David Brodbeck

Drill with a CCW bit.

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Reply to
Meat Plow

ISTR that Sears sells a small extractor set.

Reply to
Homer J Simpson

CCW/ left hand drill bit in a CCW/left-hand drill preferably, they both do exist but the bits are a bit hen's teeth. The last time I enquired at the main local engineering supplier (been there 50 years) the bod behind the counter looked at me as though I was trying to wind him up (CCWise of course). For such small diameter extraction it is just a matter of regrinding a standard drill bit with the opposite throw on the cutting end. Swarf clearance is irrelevant for this. Remember to mark the storage box with big letters that the enclosed bit/s is/are CCW. Where I used to work it a the fun thing for the mechanical engineer to supply the electronic technicians with one of his CCW bits to see how they reacted , ie coming back complaining that he'd supplied a blunt bit.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

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Reply to
N Cook

I presume that the screw head is flat (counter-sunk) or you wouldn't be having a problem grabbing the head with vice-grips and just twisting it out. So... Get a real small cold chisel and a ball-peen hammer. Use the corner of the chisel to cut a divot into the face of the screw near the edge of the screw head. Then, tapping the chisel's corner into the divot, turning it CCW, "walk" it out.

Or

If the head is not flush with the surface around it, use the chisel to cut a "bite" into the edge of the screw head. Then, tapping the chisel into the bite, turning it CCW, "walk" it out.

Or

Drill in the hex hole with a drill bit larger than the diameter of the screw shank. When the head pops off, remove the dial and grab the remaining screw shank with a pair of vice-grips and unscrew.

Or

Weld another bolt onto the head of the stripped out screw head. Unscrew both.

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Reply to
DaveC

Oh, come on, why complexify your life? Just use a normal drill. What difference does it make ifyou tighten the screw more as all of it wil be removed. Once the screw has been drilled out, retap with the next size and install a new screw. Done. :)

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Reply to
Sam Goldwasser

The trick is that the left handed bit often causes the screw to come out before drilling through it. Major help especially for hardened screws, and when you drill through the screw fully, you also dimple the shaft making it more difficult to align the newly installed knob or gear sometimes.

Reply to
PeterD

Exactly my experience that often the biting torque of a slow speed LH drill and LH bit is all that is required to undo it. I've kept an otherwise unused big yellow low rev , mains powered, but reversible drill for this purpose and a set of bits , mainly myself LH cutting-face counter-ground, right hand bits from 1.5mm to 6mm. Another tip is to have a few more with a long piece of matching diameter rod brazed/welded to these LH bits for drilling out/removing grub screws in knobs at the centre of large bits of kit. You know the situation, corroded steel in aluminium or brass knobs or inserts of knobs or steel in steel shafts etc

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Reply to
N Cook

A long list of methods:

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NT

Reply to
meow2222

If it's not countersunk, a small pair of vice-grips does nicely. I have even had success using small haemostats. If it is counter-sunk, there are any number of extractor-bits available for your drill.

Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA

Reply to
pfjw

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**THE-RFI-EMI-GUY**

If it's not countersunk, there are obviously far more options.

When taking things apart to salvage some parts, I've used a cutoff wheel in a "Dremel" tool to put a slot in bolts that have unusual heads (usually there to prevent tampering). Slice a slot across the top, then use a regular screwdriver to remove the screw.

Of course, it doesn't work if the bolt/screw is embedded.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

funny that one of the worst methods is so popular. They have a habit of making the screw unremovable.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

I think I have 2 sets of "easi outs" the smallest ones broken in each set and even then not small enough for the usual "electronic" seized screws. Incidently they are CCW / LH (lazy) threaded also. Incidently using left hand drill bits for grub screws set in bakelite knobs its a matter of making some small guide tubes to sit in the bakelite and guide the LH bits into the centre of the screw so it doesn't slide off the steel.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

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Reply to
N Cook

"Sit"? You mean drill and insert into the bakelite? The cure sounds more drastic than the ailment...

Reply to
Esther & Fester Bestertester

I have a suspicion that Easi-Outs get misused. I suspect they're intended for new bolts that have been overtightened and snapped off, not old ones that are corroded in place. Everyone I know who tries to use them to remove seized bolts ends up with a bolt with a snapped-off Easi-Out in it, and the stupid things seem to be harder than any known drill bit. ;)

Besides, the original post was about a 1.5mm set screw. That's awfully small. It's hard for me to see any method other than drilling being practical.

Reply to
David Brodbeck

Using a LH drill bit , you have to choose the drill size carefully. I don't know if its the bite or the localised vibration or even isolated heating but the LH action I would say 4 out of 5 times threatening the screw with such a drill makes it undo ( if its just airborne corrosion that has seized it)

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

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Reply to
N Cook

Grind it out or spark it out. Neither will be fun or cheap.

Reply to
Homer J Simpson

What do you mean by spark it out?

NT

Reply to
meow2222

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