Drilling out snapped/broken bolts.

[brucemillar]

For those of you out there who have the occasion to drill out snapped or broken bolts and have struggled to do so, try these.

I have no affiliation or connection here. But have on many an occasion had to drill out bolts and screws and experienced the frustrations of breaking or blunting drill bits or melting the surrounding paint/materials. Another big problem is centering the bit due to the bit "walking" as soon as you spin up the drill. Not so with these. They required no centering.

I tried one of these (on recommendation) when attempting to replace the slam panel bolts and headlight adjuster screws on my old Pajero. All were rusted solid and snapped at the mere sight of a spanner. This despite a 48 hour soaking in Plus Gas. One bit drilled out 6 bolts - including Stainless bolts !! before getting tired. It did (as they say) go through them like butter. No damage caused to paint or plastic. No need for spraying oil on the bit when drilling. IT just simply went straight through. This was after I had broken two hardened steel drill bits on one bolt !!

DeWalt 5mm Extreme 2 HSS Drill Bit | HSS Drilling | Screwfix.com

 

[zipdip]

Good tip (excuse the pun) they do work,as you found out it is their ability to start to drill straight away,it is not always possible to get a centre punch to give a ordinary drill half a chance to do the job,these do not need it,and lets face it not very expensive,I threw the two I used away after use,but I was given a drill sharpener I wonder if they will resharpen

 

[brucemillar]

Good tip (excuse the pun) they do work,as you found out it is their ability to start to drill straight away,it is not always possible to get a centre punch to give a ordinary drill half a chance to do the job,these do not need it,and lets face it not very expensive,I threw the two I used away after use,but I was given a drill sharpener I wonder if they will resharpen

Pun of the year :^)

I was actually genuinely surprised with how good they were. I bought them expecting them to be maybe just a little better than the normal £6 > £10 hardened ones. The first bolt I tried was a T5 Stainless that was broken flush with the Slam Panel (no head visible)

Used a cordless drill and it just bit straight in and went straight through leaving a very long twisty bit of swarf as it went through and not a pile of filings.

At this price they are throw away and save you the money in time spent and loss of temper. It is not unusual for me to have a bit snap in the bolt then I have to try and remove the bit and the snapped stud. This can lead to me blaming my wife for dome long forgotten incident. I then will accuse my daughters of something before kicking the dogs and storming off in a massive huff. Never a good thing really.

 

[E55BOF]

I use cobalt drill bits, which are very effective on stainless steel, which work hardens very quickly with normal HSS bits. I don't have a drill stand or pillar drill, though, and usually have problems drilling straight even if I can get a decent centre punch mark to start with.

At that sort of price I think I'll get a set of these and see how they perform compared to the cobalts.

 

[MancMike]

I had a full set of DeWalt Cobalt drill bits.

They feel far higher quality than any other, and you're right, the cutting edges remain actually sharp, blade-like, even after several inches through steel and iron.

 

[E55BOF]

I've just had a look on FleaBay; the same supplier is selling a 29-piece set of the Extreme 2 HSS bits for just under £50, and the same set, same pilot/split point design, but cobalt drills, for just over twice that. I think that says all it needs to about the comparative quality. I'll stick with cobalts.

The pilot/split point design sounds like a very useful feature though. Time for some new drill bits, methinks...