Snapped alan key

Mar 12, 2006 5 Replies

Hi



I have a Harrison M300 lathe in my garage.



One of the feed gears ("X") does not engage.



Trying to see if I could do anything, I took off the knob attempting to take out the spindle. The ball end of my alen key snapped off in the head of one of the bolts. I do not want to drill it out, but all my efforts to get the broken piece out have failed. Can anyone advise me ?


cheers


Give the ball a sharp tap with a centre punch in the oposite direction to the way it snapped, it usually works.

Mart> Hi

If that fails, it might be worth trying something like Loctite 'Freeze & Release', as at

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I've no experience of its use for that sort of thing, so it's only a guess that it might help.

Cheers Tim

Dutton Dry-Dock Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs Vintage diesel engine service

Hi,

I picked up some equipment from a one man engineering business in Leicester on Friday and he was dealing with some tricky extraction problems. It seems that was a big part of his business. He had a serious 'spark erosion' machine that would remove snapped-off taps etc from castings. He was rescuing some big manifold castings for engine manufacturers. I get the feeling he knew all the options.

This is his business, not a hobby, so it may cost. But if your are stuck, drop me a line and I will put you in touch.

Steve (oldnoccer at btinternet dot com)

Better still, why not ask him if he minds you posting his contact details so we could all benefit.

Best regards --

Chris Edwards (in deepest Dorset) ..."There must be an easier way...!"

out the spindle.

have failed.

If you've got a Dremel type motor and a small diamond burr (Proops sell them, or scrounge an old one from a dentist) you could try grinding most of it away until it falls out. Its worked for me in the past.

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