Rather than cut a square , notch the end of some stock , like a tuning fork, with a 22mm opening. Might be hard to make a true square in the stock.
Holding a broken captive nut
- Thread starter JHZR2
- Start date
JHZR2
Staff member
Lol I was thinking along those lines - tuning fork
JHZR2
Staff member
There’s barely any space to jam anything anywhere.
I tried drilling a small hole to get a punch in there. No luck, bent the first one. Snapped the second one that I used which was bigger and heavier.
So the. I tried to drill further in to notionally break the nut. No luck. I’ve broken a few bits. I got through one side with the hope that maybe I could force something bigger and longer through to hold it. No luck. The bolt is somewhat loose so it just rides up when that happens.
Finally got it all the way through the one side, which didn’t help.
I’m kind of at wits end. I’m close to considering sawing the sheetmetal to make space for a wrench.
There’s not enough space to do anything. And being on the ground trying to hold two items in place and loosen them isn’t working.
I wonder if I could grind down an air hammer bit to be skinnier and hammer the nut through the hole. It needs to be something with no real user skill needed because I’d be holding a ratchet on the bolt on the bottom while applying the tool to the nut on the top.
Also is there such a thing as a stabbing action jigsaw? The kind of thing that can be small and make reciprocating cuts without the giant handle of the jigsaw? The only blade that will fit in this mess is a jigsaw blade, so if it comes to that I need a tool that I can manually or electrically cut with that sort of push pull action. But not a woodworking jigsaw.
Not exactly a jigsaw, but I cut down the blade on a recip saw (shown) with a cutting wheel on a die grinder to achieve jig saw blade size. It worked to cut through a stuck bolt.
Wear eye protection.
JHZR2
Staff member
If that worked it’s a great option!!
It worked to cut through a 14 mm 10.9 metric bolt. The thin part is very flexible. Start slow. Establish a kerf. Don’t press too hard.
JHZR2
Staff member
After work on my way home tonight I attacked it again. I tried to split the nut with a sharp Mahew 1/4” cold chisel, but I had no luck.
A friend of mine had an air hammer that he recommended trying. I have a good size compressor in my garage shop, so I looked into punches. His hammer chisel and pointed bits were all too big.
Believe it or not, HF sells US made tools that fit the bill perfect! They just opened one by my garages so that was handy. Glad I bought these!
That thing forced it off pretty easily!
Nut isnt reusable.
But the Lemfoerder kits provide a replacement, which looks to me to be slightly better made, even though it does not have cadmium plating. I figure I’ll coat it with some sort of waxy spray after I install it with antiseize.
Maybe this weekend I can press the bushings and change the mount.
A friend of mine had an air hammer that he recommended trying. I have a good size compressor in my garage shop, so I looked into punches. His hammer chisel and pointed bits were all too big.
Believe it or not, HF sells US made tools that fit the bill perfect! They just opened one by my garages so that was handy. Glad I bought these!
That thing forced it off pretty easily!
Nut isnt reusable.
But the Lemfoerder kits provide a replacement, which looks to me to be slightly better made, even though it does not have cadmium plating. I figure I’ll coat it with some sort of waxy spray after I install it with antiseize.
Maybe this weekend I can press the bushings and change the mount.
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Spray it with VHT chassis and use never seize on the bolt first.
JHZR2
Staff member
Thanks. Why that product? Because it’s a primer-less epoxy?
