Beginners guide to nuts, bolts and threading

[rdstarkey2]

Great post Ohio OZ!!

If a fellow machinist can add a comment to your post:
 When buying Taps and Dies (cuts the outside threads like on the bolt) spend the money to buy good quality tools. Stay away from the HF crap. These are usually made from carbon steel, are brittle, will break easily and wear out quickly. As Ohio Oz said, it's a bear to remove a broken tap. It's easier to get a broken egg back into it's shell then remove a broken tap from a blind hole. Get taps and dies made from High Speed Steel, they will be marked on the package (and on the tool) as "HSS". They will last a lot longer and aren't as quite brittle (small taps, <1/4", still break easily).
 Good cutting tools can be purchased on-line from companies like MSC and McMaster-Carr. Both will sell small quantities to individuals, but shipping costs may be expensive. (I have no relationship with either company except as a customer).

I hope I didn't step on your post Ohio Oz.

[Archetype]

I think this may be a candidate for the Save Our Skills pages.

Where are these located?  I have might have some things to add there from sheetmetal fabrication and repair, electrical troubleshooting, etc.

[beakerello]

Awesome "thread" pun intended!

[LvsChant]

Awesome "thread" pun intended!

^^^ Truth! For any newcomers who never noticed this thread (haha -- did it again), check out this great post!

[alan123]

Now is a good time to buy tap & die sets.  Young people don't know what they are for, so don't value them.  Old people who own them are dying off, making these sets available for purchase at garage and estate sales.

Good point. that is where I got mine, from older people that gave them to me. These are high quality. It is great if you have an old timey hardware store where you can buy taps individually. The sets they sell at Harbor Freight are doo doo and will cause you much aggravation.

[machinisttx]

Good point. that is where I got mine, from older people that gave them to me. These are high quality. It is great if you have an old timey hardware store where you can buy taps individually. The sets they sell at Harbor Freight are doo doo and will cause you much aggravation.

Much better tools can be had from machinist's tool supply companies like use-enco.com, travers, machinists tool, campat, etc., and they are generally priced a lot better than hardware stores. Also, sometimes it is a better idea to use a carbon steel tap than a higher quality HSS or cobalt tap. If the carbon steel tap breaks, it is much, much easier to chip them out of the hole.

As far as threading dies go, there are two main types(excluding materials). One type is non adjustable and is intended only for cleaning up existing threads. They will typically break if used to cut new threads. The other type is adjustable and intended to cut new threads.

[SnoHam13]

just to reiterate on the yard sales and estate sales
I picked up a hip roof metal tool box full of taps, tap handles,dies, reamers and punches
for 35.00 the taps were SAE and NP threads
so keep your eyes out for gifts like this

SnoHam13

also ended up with a coffee can of zerks too

[theBINKYhunter]

So what do you guys use for rounded off bolt heads? I have an incredibly stubborn bolt that rounded on me. I've seen the turbo sockets, are those better than extractors? Any other options?

[flippydidit]

TWH,

There are plenty of options.  Besides being a gunsmith, I'm currently working full time as a machinist (non-CNC).  Can you give me some details about the bolt?  How much is sticking out of the hole?  Just the head, more or is it broke off flush or inside the hole?  Believe it or not, sometimes it's easier to weld a nut to the end of the bolt and unscrew it than it is to drill and extract it.

Just be sure you know how to use an extractor set if you're going to go that route.  I watched a welder put the extractor in a cordless drill and burn out a perfectly good tool.  It wasn't until I was close enough to see what he was doing that I could explain how to actually use the tool properly to him.

Hope this helps.  Let me know more about the problem if it doesn't work to weld it.

[ncjeeper]

[quote author=flippydidit link=topic=18405.msg567349#msg567349 date=140097657  Believe it or not, sometimes it's easier to weld a nut to the end of the bolt and unscrew it than it is to drill and extract it.
[/quote]
Yep that's what I do. Plus the heat from the weld helps to break up the rust and free the bolt.

[theBINKYhunter]

Yeah... no welder here. I did get a set of bolt out sockets and those worked perfectly.

[endurance]

I was going to suggest my time-tested secret of using a sawzall and cutting the bolt.  I just had to do that with some of the bolts that held on my deck railing.  Cheat to win.

[theBINKYhunter]

I was going to suggest my time-tested secret of using a sawzall and cutting the bolt.  I just had to do that with some of the bolts that held on my deck railing.  Cheat to win.

i thought about that, but it was threaded all the way through the frame and engine block on my bike, no way to cut it off.

[shambo]

TWH,

There are plenty of options.  Besides being a gunsmith, I'm currently working full time as a machinist (non-CNC).  Can you give me some details about the bolt?  How much is sticking out of the hole?  Just the head, more or is it broke off flush or inside the hole?  Believe it or not, sometimes it's easier to weld a nut to the end of the bolt and unscrew it than it is to drill and extract it.

Just be sure you know how to use an extractor set if you're going to go that route.  I watched a welder put the extractor in a cordless drill and burn out a perfectly good tool.  It wasn't until I was close enough to see what he was doing that I could explain how to actually use the tool properly to him.

Hope this helps.  Let me know more about the problem if it doesn't work to weld it.

I love this way of getting very stuck and broken bolts out.  I have been doing this for 25 plus years.  I have found it much more effective if  you drill a hole  in the center of the broken bolt first.  It doesn't have to be perfectly centered.  The hole allows the metal to shrink when you start building up a nubb  on the top of the broken bolt,  then you weld a nut to the nubb.  This has proven to be very effective.

[flippydidit]

Another tip I use.  Get handy with a Dremel type tool.  I've gotten pretty dang good at cutting a slot into the end of a bolt that I can get a flat tip screwdriver into.  Once done I smack the screwdriver hard a couple times to shock the threads.  Then I put EXTREME pressure IN on the bolt while I unscrew it.  Doesn't always work, but it is another approach when others aren't possible.

[theBINKYhunter]

I have a dremel and thought of that, but trust me, no way a screw driver was budging this bold. I needed the bolt out, an 18" breaker bar, and all of my weight pushing down on that bar to get the bolt to budge. I have learned some great ideas though for future use. The torque on this bolt was just too much for any of these other methods to work, except maybe the welding one.