Snapped Bolt Thread in Cast Iron Housing

Its all very well having ideas for welders, helicoils, taps and left hand drills, but these are not the sort of things the average DIYer has to hand

It depends on the DIY'er and how serious they are. I have mig and stick out in my workshop. Even if I didn't, I know of plenty of garages and metal worker who I could take such a small job to.
 
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Its all very well having ideas for welders, helicoils, taps and left hand drills, but these are not the sort of things the average DIYer has to hand, and TBH if I wanted to find those things I'm not sure I would know where to turn to locally to me, apart from left hand bits which you can buy fairly easily.

I am fairly sure if I tried to weld that with my little MIG, the cast iron would just heatsink the heat away and I'd be left with a bit of birdpoo sitting on the surface.

For the price of a couple of drills and a helicoil they aren't expensive,

If I had the choice of spending £50 on tools and a bit of my time and the cost to get someone in was £150 I'd do it myself and know that if I have anything similar in future I have the tools. Sometimes the tools purchased have uses far above what you originally buy them for.
 
If I had the choice of spending £50 on tools and a bit of my time and the cost to get someone in was £150 I'd do it myself and know that if I have anything similar in future I have the tools. Sometimes the tools purchased have uses far above what you originally buy them for.

Exactly - buying tools can be a good investment.
 
Exactly - buying tools can be a good investment.

That I cannot disagree with. I buy something new for nearly every project. Quite a few of mine are much more "nice to have" than "strictly necessary". :D
 
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Exactly - buying tools can be a good investment.
I buy something new for nearly every project. Quite a few of mine are much more "nice to have" than "strictly necessary".
Yes, my DIY son-in-law usually justifies all sorts of new tools that way, it can become a bit of an addiction though.

latest is he's intending to completely build a kitchen from plywood, so needs a track/plunge saw, which to be honest he's had hes eye for over a year now. he has a table saw , and mitresaw , plus numerous Dewalt and Milwaukee cordless tools
 
latest is he's intending to completely build a kitchen from plywood, so needs a track/plunge saw, which to be honest he's had hes eye for over a year now. he has a table saw , and mitresaw , plus numerous Dewalt and Milwaukee cordless tools

All you/he has to do is price up the cost of a professionally done job, versus cost of the materials only and the difference between the two = is the value of the tools you can justify :) Then the next similar job, you already have the tools to hand.
 
All you/he has to do is price up the cost of a professionally done job, versus cost of the materials only and the difference between the two = is the value of the tools you can justify :) Then the next similar job, you already have the tools to hand.
He and I do that a lot to be honest, sometimes, its very often a case of
more "nice to have" than "strictly necessary".
But its now a bit of a joke, when he says he doing something I now ask, what tool will you now need to buy ?
 
Yes, my DIY son-in-law usually justifies all sorts of new tools that way, it can become a bit of an addiction though.

latest is he's intending to completely build a kitchen from plywood, so needs a track/plunge saw, which to be honest he's had hes eye for over a year now. he has a table saw , and mitresaw , plus numerous Dewalt and Milwaukee cordless tools


Ha ha yes I agree.

Whenever I buy a tool if I'm looking to make a significant investment (fee hundred £) I look at other jobs I might use it on, this then determines the tool I buy.

If it's something I'll use a handful of times I'll just buy a cheap tool. For example I'm looking at removing some redundant joists for the old flat roof in my garage, the ideal tool is a recip saw, I'll probably only use it for this 1 job so I'll get a cheap one from Aldi. On the other end of the scale I was building a pergoda and know that I have other projects which a circ saw will come in really handy for, and so stumped up the couple of hundred quid on a hikoki cordless.
 
Haven't done any for a while but never been beat in the past (old jap motorbikes). Its very hard to drill centrally (as there is usually a "twist" of broken bolt there) but get as close as you can and work up in drill size till you can see the threads in the side of the hole - you can usually tap round or out what's left with a punch or small flat screwdriver to unscrew it. I usually find it comes out once the pressure is released in the same way a bolt does when you drill the head off.
 
Its very hard to drill centrally (as there is usually a "twist" of broken bolt there) but get as close as you can and work up in drill size till you can see the threads in the side of the hole - you can usually tap round or out what's left with a punch or small flat screwdriver to unscrew it. I usually find it comes out once the pressure is released in the same way a bolt does when you drill the head off.

If there is a broken stub still poking out, grind it so the tip is flat, drop a nut on top - the nut will help keep the drill centred.
 

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