# Please help with broken off screw



## crumpybumpy (Oct 17, 2010)

Hello--I live in a beautiful old house from the 1920's that has these metal old fashioned window latches. (See attached picture).  The top screw that this latch should be attahed to broke off at the head and the screw body is still in the metal frame.  I am assuming I need to drill out this screw body but I have never done this before.  I have an electric drill with various drillbits but don't know very much about what to use to drill it out or how to tell what size drill bit I need.  Please help!  Thanks.


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## Tangelo (Oct 18, 2010)

crumpybumpy said:


> Hello--I live in a beautiful old house from the 1920's that has these metal old fashioned window latches. (See attached picture).  The top screw that this latch should be attahed to broke off at the head and the screw body is still in the metal frame.  I am assuming I need to drill out this screw body but I have never done this before.  I have an electric drill with various drillbits but don't know very much about what to use to drill it out or how to tell what size drill bit I need.  Please help!  Thanks.



Hello crumpybumpy, It's hard to tell from the picture but does the screw through to where can grab it from the other side? If so, then maybe can use pliers to grab the fragment remaining and twist it loose. If the screw doesn't go through, then you want to use a drill bit half the size of the opening & place the bit in the center of the broken screw and use a low speed setting to  drill into the broken screw, being careful not to go too far and damage beyond the screw. 

Once you have done that you can take a scratch awl, or something with a narrow tip that is tapered. Insert into the hole, make sure it's firmly planted, and slowly turn the screw back out. 

If the screw is not in too deep, you can also purchase a device called a screw extractor by Grab-it. With one end you drill V groove into the broken remaining piece , then you flip it over and run the drill in reverse to remove the broken screw, see photo. I own the Grab-it, and it works great in certain situations where the broken screw isnt too deep.






Hopefully one of these suggestions work, PM me if you have any more questions.


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## nealtw (Nov 30, 2010)

There are a bunch of ways to do this. Frist you have to find center of the screw and drill a smaller hole in it and use an easy out to remove screw. Easy out can be found at hardware store in all sizes, has a left hand twist. you hammer it into the hole and grabs so you can unscrew the screw. Or you find a drill just the right size by fitting it in a good hole. a nice fit that won't damage threads and drill the screw be sure your centered and re tap the hole for the screw. Taps can be found at the hardware store also. If you were not worried about the finnish you would file it flat first and center punch the screw to help line up the drill. You most likely don't want to file it so we get tricky. Get a piece of steel  say 1" x 5" about 1/2" thick and have to holes drilled in it one hole big enough for the good screw and hole smaller the size you want to drill the screw with. Screw it to the frame with good screw and clamp the other end in place and you have a guide to drill the hole thru the screw and then your ready to tap it
If you don't have freinds with a machine shop, you may have to pay for it but this jig shoud be made on a drill press. I hope this wasn't to much.


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