Re: DISC: Drilling out a bolt.

[glen.powell@smc.com]

  Ah-yes, the pleasure of broken bolts! I had exactly the same problem
  with replacing the four splash shields on the '85 ur-Q. One of the bolts
  on one shield snapped. I think I could have eased the bolt out
  without breaking it, *if* I had been more patient......oh well....
  So, I drilled a pilot hole and tried to remove the bolt with a bolt
  extractor. Of course, the bolt extractor snapped off leaving me
  with a real mess. (yes, I *knew* it would also break.....) So now,
  I've got a busted bolt with a busted bolt extractor in it. Nice.
  Of course the extractor is hardened steel and hell to drill out.
  I trashed a drill bit, but eventually was able to drill out the bolt
  with the busted extractor in it. The bolt itself was not hardened
  and would have been easy to drill out, were it not for the busted
  extractor stuck in it. You should be able to drill out that bolt
  with no problem, they are relatively mild steel, as the shields
  are not at all load bearing. Perhaps you have some cheap
  drill bits, or the bolts were replaced some time with hardened
  bolts (unlikely) or perhaps the drill is really spinning the
  wrong way! Try testing the drill and bit with a block of wood.....

  -glen