Remove Broken Taps and Drills in Seconds
Remove Broken Taps and Drills in Seconds
A set of eight hardened magnetic picks that will assist you in removing particles of taps and drills that have been disintegrated from your workpiece. These picks are ground and tapered and are of different lengths and diameters to accommodate a variety of jobs.
Part number 1407
Your Electro arc Machine is durably built, thoroughly tested, and inspected at the factory. You can expect many years of service with minimal maintenance. To maintain the accuracy, dependability, and cutting speed built into your metal disintegrator, please heed these warnings and recommendations for machine and operator safety.
Warnings: When connecting your machine to power – The Installer and Electrician must confirm that a solid ground exists between the cabinet and the building ground.
NEVER CHANGE THE HEAT SETTING IN THE MIDDLE OF A CUT WITH AUTO FEED ON. THIS WILL SHORT OUT THE AUTO-FEED CIRCUIT BOARD
2. Avoid touching the operating head and workpiece/table at the same time while operating the machine.
3. Fasten your workpiece securely to avoid “walk” which can damage the threads in the hole.
Disintegration works on the principle of a vibrating spindle with an electric power supply creating a series of intermittent arcs. AC machines make and break 60 arcs per second and DC machines make and break 120 arcs per second to disintegrate the hardest metals. The particles created during the disintegration process are flushed away by coolant flowing through the center of the electrode.
DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC COOLANTS.
4. Always refer to the electrode chart for Electrode sizing. Electrodes from .025 to .060 diameter draw very little amperage and will show little change on the current indicator.
Select an electrode that will only remove the center core of the tap. This will remove the core of the tap and leave the flutes standing in the threaded section. These may be blasted out with air or removed with a magnetic pick set. You will be left with a perfect threaded hole.
5. When you are removing broken drills, snap off the flutes after every two inches of cutting travel. This may be done quite easily using the same size drill and rotating it in the hole.
6. Removing Hardened Screws and Studs:
You need to select an electrode approximately .020 under the minor diameter of the thread. For a clean cut, collapse the wall of the screw – remove the particles and retap. This will clean out the male threads without damage to the female threaded section. You may also choose to disintegrate a square or hex in the stud and turn it out with the proper size tool.
Caution: Always make sure your electrode is straight
7. Replace the coolant frequently – Clean the tank every 4-6 hours of operation. The metal disintegration process creates abrasive particles which can shorten the pump life.
8. Please consult with Electro Arc if your machine is in need of repair. If your machine is under warranty, do not attempt to make repairs prior to contacting our facility as it will void your warranty, additionally always consult with your operators manual for electrical diagrams, troubleshooting steps, and part numbers.
When you think of a metal disintegrator you probably think of removing broken bolts. Electro Arc metal disintegrators have a variety of uses. Disintegrating hard metal is easy with our machines! A minute arc causes the disintegration process at predetermined intervals. These arcs burn microscopic pieces of your work metal.
Here are just 10 ways you can use your Electro Arc metal disintegrator to save time and money by accomplishing in minutes what would have taken you hours or days to do in the past.
You can use your Electro Arc metal disintegrator to remove broken taps from any material. A machine with an Arc*er head will remove taps between #6 – 1 1/4″. If you need to remove between #0 and 2″ or bigger, the IQ head is built to disintegrate the largest and smallest taps. If you will be disintegrating carbide, look into our DC metal disintegrators!
You can remove broken studs with an Electro Arc metal disintegrator. Use one of our DC models to remove larger diameter studs (2.5″ – 6″) As illustrated below:
Don’t waste hours removing broken drills. Save money and salvage your parts.
When reamers break they can be especially hard to remove. Use your metal disintegrator to remove broken reamers with no damage to your part.
Your metal disintegrator can be used to cut round holes without annealing the surrounding metal regardless of the rockwell hardness!
Cut shaped holes in hardened metals using shaped electrodes.
Preserve the thread when you remove large broken taps by disintegrating out the core. Our magnetic pick set helps you remove the sections in no time!
You can remove small diameter drills from expensive parts saving you from salvaging expensive machine parts.
When you have a frozen stud our metal disintegrators can still save you time and money by removing the broken stud, screw or bolt with two cuts.
You may have wiped out half of the thread on your broken bolt trying to remove it, broken easy-out in the hole, made a mess trying to weld out a broken stud, or totally galled the thread when you were trying to remove that broken stud. If you really want an easy solution for removing broken studs and screws, we have your solution! An alternative to the “two cuts” method illustrated above? The square hole. When you disintegrate a square hole in your broken studs you can use an socket wrench to remove them!
Save your broken end mills! As any machine shop knows, broken end mills can shut down operations costing your company more money per hour than you can afford! Our Metal disintegrators will save your broken end mill and save you money immediately!
An Electro Arc metal disintegrator is an investment some companies use to provide metal disintegration services for time sensitive jobs! Most of our customers need the metal disintegrator to continue operations this is especially true for power stations, petro-chemical works, oil equipment, offshore installation ships and general process industries. In these industries every minute is worth thousands of dollars. If you have key piece of equipment, that needs repair due to a broken fastener you need it now! Easy out will not cut it in these settings!
Applications go well beyond just broken stud and bolt removal. you can cut slots 1mm wide, and 10mm deep in heavy test pieces for calibration or deep cuts through seized clevis pins. Orientation is never a problem with our versatile disintegrating heads!
Are you looking for more applications for your metal disintegrator? Check out our new post 10 More Ways you Can use Electro Arc Metal Disintegrators.
You can purchase collets of any size, disintegration bags (50 pack), chuck lock nut, magnetic pick set, Electro Arc coolant, graphite electrode holders of any size, pin vice and spindle adapters online. If you need other Electro Arc accessories, please fill out our Accessories Inquiry form or call us today to place an order. Items are only available for purchase online for US customers at this time due to additional costs related to shipping internationally.
Now you can request a quote for Molybdenum electrodes online as well. Please note that the electrodes are not for sale online due to the fact that the price changes on a daily basis. Add your desired electrodes to your cart to request a quote.
If you would like to purchase repair parts, graphite or copper electrodes, or an offset electrode holder, please contact us to purchase these items. You may also choose to submit a request if you do not want to purchase online.
If you are using one of Electro Arc’s metal disintegrators, the answer to this question is must less time than if you used other methods. Specifically, this is kind of a hard question to answer. Depending on the type of material you are disintegrating, the size of the broken tap, the depth of the broken tap, and the operator’s experience the total time may vary. Let’s start by talking about the disintegrating process (these steps may vary depending on the model of metal disintegrator you are running):
Of course, to start, you need to take the machine to the work site.
1) If you have a magnetic fixture getting it set into position will take approximately 1 minute.
2) You will want to make sure you have the correct size collet and electrode installed into the head. This takes approximately 2 minutes.
3) Connect power to your disintegrating head. This takes approximately 1 minute.
4) Connect power to your machine (twist lock connections). This takes approximately 2 minutes
5) Coolant is connected to the 3-way valve on the machine- 2 minutes
6) Final alignment of the head. 1 minute
7) Disintegration time (1/2” tap) 2 minutes
8) Pick out and clean up of the tapped hole. 2 minutes
9) Break down and put stuff away. 5 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
For broken taps:
¼” x 1” deep – 60 seconds
3/8” x 1” deep – 1:45 minutes
½” x 1” deep- 2 minutes
¾” x 1” deep – 4 minutes
Of course, it depends on the operator and how fast he is. Could be faster or slower.
Part #1
½ -13 Bolts in turbo housings
Machine: Model 2-DVQT
with 20 KVA power supply
Heat Setting: 6
Head Vibration: 100%
Electrode Consumption: .125”
Electrode Size: .375”
Electrode Type: Graphite (Poco EC3)
Fixture: Right angle plate
Disintegration time: 1:29 minutes
Clean-out time: 2:16 minutes
Total Time: 3:45 minutes
Part #2
½/- 13 Bolts in turbo housings
Machine: Model 2-DVQT with 20 KVA power supply
Heat Setting: 6
Head Vibration: 100%
Electrode Consumption: .125”
Electrode Size: .375”
Electrode Type: Graphite (Poco EC3)
Fixture: Right angle plate
Disintegration time: 1:33 minutes
Clean-out time: 1:42 minutes
Total Time: 3:15 minutes
Part #3
3/8”-16 Bolts in turbo housings
Machine: Model 2-DVQT with 20 KVA power supply
Heat Setting: 6
Head Vibration: 100%
Electrode Consumption: .125”
Electrode Size: .290”
Electrode Type: Graphite (Poco EC3)
Fixture: Right angle plate
Disintegration time: 1:19 minutes
Clean-out time: 1:30 minutes
Total Time: 2:49 minutes
We’re following up on the original article 10 ways you can use Electro Arc Metal Disintegrators with 10 more ways you can use these metal disintegrating machines! Electro Arc metal disintegrators are designed to quickly remove broken taps, drills, reamers, studs, screws, and other broken tooling from any material without damaging the threads or the workpiece. You can also emboss identifying marks on tools, dies, steel tools, cut oil groves inside bushings. Undercut recesses in hard machine parts, cut tool bit holes in boring bars, cut dogging squares, extend oil lines, and recenter hardened shafts. Check out additional applications illustrated below!
Your die shop can disintegrate round holes for dowel pins in die plates and cut intricate shapes for slug clearance in die shoes. You can salvage piercing dies where the piercing hole has been damaged or enlarged through wear and resharpening. Use the Electro Arc metal disintegrator to cut larger holes for inserting soft plugs so that locations may be picked up and soft plugs rebored for standard hardened die bushings. Disintegrate new holes in your die-casting dies where there has been insufficient coolant circulation. Emboss identifying letters on punch heads, minimizing the stock of heading punches you need to carry.
Your metal disintegrator will help you quickly and easily correct machining errors as shown above.
Use your Electro Arc metal disintegrator to relieve the bulk of metal in die sinking to keep displacement of metal to a minimum in hobbling the master.
Drill holes as small as .080 inches
Keyways are quickly and easily cut and enlarged in cutters, gears, bushings, etc.
With any angle access, create solutions for your engineering challenges.
Use your Electro Arc disintegrator to identify various metals in wear tests by disintegrating marks with different-shaped electrodes. You can core out test samples this way.
Cemented tungsten carbide can be drilled and counterbored for any size Allen head cap screw.
Also, provide threaded holes in carbides by disintegrating a hole of approximate size, fill it with brazing material, and drill and tap the hole to give it stronger threads with minimal time and investment.
Pierce blind holes and shaped holes in carbide and any material that conducts electricity.
The disintegrating process has a rapid heating and cooling process which leaves the Rockwell Hardness of the metal around the hole unchanged. Special electrodes can be purchased to pierce blind or through holes at any angle.
Not sure which one to pick? See more information on each head below:
Stillion Industries is currently seeking someone to handle shipping and receiving, including pick up and deliveries.
This position requires 5 days a week (Monday – Friday) 40 hours a week is not required but available. Operating hours are 7:00 AM 0 3:00 PM
Must have a clean driving record and be 18+
Responsibilities include:
-Fulfilling new orders
-Managing purchase order paperwork
-coordinating with the Office Manager
-Tracking and updating inventory
-Pick-ups and deliveries within 100 miles
Strong communication skills are a must! Must be able to lift 50 pounds.
Must be able to pass a pre-employment physical and drug screen. Benefits for full-time employees include health insurance, dental insurance, vacation time, and a retirement program with company match. Benefits begin on day 91 after a mutual review.
Stillion Industries is a small company with a relaxed working environment. We are celebrating 50 years of local machining service and own the Electro Arc and Ames product lines which we sell worldwide. Electro Arc products have been used by the manufacturing, repair, power generation, and government agencies for 75 years. We are an ISO compliant company and our product lines meet ASTM and NIST standards.
First of all, what is an Electrode?
An electrode is an electrical conductor, Electro Arc electrodes, formerly referred to as Disintrodes, are hollow tubing made of graphite, copper, or Molybdenum.
Electro Arc machines will operate with any material that conducts electricity as the electrode. Metal disintegration works on the principle of vibration, electrical spark, and coolant. The cutting power is a low voltage rectified DC current. Sixty sparks are discharged a second between the electrode and the workpiece. The coolant is passed through the hollow electrode onto the workpiece causing a thermal shock (heat and coolant). The material is fractured into minute particles and washed away by coolant. Both the electrode and the workpiece erode during the cutting process. With this in mind, the following information should then be considered.
Melting Temperature of various materials:
Molybdenum 4600 degrees F
Copper 2000 degrees F
Brass 2000 degrees F
Steel 2500 degrees F
It is important to use an electrode material that will break down less than the workpiece. Molybdenum has this advantage. The melting temperature is double that of the other electrode materials, which means you will erode more of the broken tool and less of the electrode. The disintegrating time will be faster and the labor cost lower. In comparison, other lower melting materials, such as copper, erode as rapidly as the work material raising the labor cost for removing broken tools. Molybdenum is a more expensive material to use as the electrode; however, the savings in labor in removing broken tools more than justifies the cost – a proven fact in the industry for over 25 years. Thousands of disintegrator customers use molybdenum or comparable high-priced material in the electrical discharge process.
Electro Arc electrodes are recommended for removing broken taps, drills or disintegrating any other hardened materials. A 12″ long electrode will remove approximately 30-35 taps. Studs and bolts, because they are not as hard as taps and drills, will cause the electrode to erode somewhat faster.
Electrode chart for removing various size screws:
1/4″ diameter screw requires a .200 diameter electrode
5/16″ diameter screw requires a .250 diameter electrode
3/8″ diameter screw requires a .290 diameter electrode
1/2″ diameter screw requires a .375 diameter electrode
9/16″ diameter screw requires a .437 diameter electrode
5/8″ diameter screw requires a .500 diameter electrode
3/4″ diameter screw requires a .625 diameter electrode
7/8″ diameter and larger screw should be removed by making two or three holes in the screw or bolt.
The diameter of these electrodes are close to the tap drill size for various threaded holes. After disintegrating you should be able to run a tap into the hole to remove the remaining shell. When making two or more passes to remove a stud, a certain amount of picking time is required to remove the remaining pieces.
Please see sizing an electrode for information about which electrode to use for an AC machine, which electrode to use for a DC machine, which electrode to use for a bolt eater, and methods to remove bolts, dowel pins, and drills with graphite electrodes or molybdenum electrodes. Contact us to purchase electrodes.
Selector Charts for AC/DC and Bolt Eater Metal Disintegrators for converting tap, drill and bolt sizes to electrode size needed. Selector Charts also have recommended machines power settings for the each size electrode.
Please note: You may add the electrodes to your cart and request a quote.
For Removing Taps:
Method #1 – Bolt Removal
Method #2 – Bolt Removal
Method #3 Bolt – Removal
For Removing Dowel Pins:
For Removing Drill
Molybdenum (Moly) Electrodes
Moly Electrodes have a higher melting temperature which means you will erode more of the broken tool and less of the electrode making Moly less expensive to use than other materials.
Graphite Electrodes
When removing large bolts .750″ to 19 mm and up use Graphite Electrodes for optimum performance and value. Graphite Electrodes only work on metal disintegrators with 20-KVA or DC power supply.
Square, Hex, and custom Graphite Electrodes are available upon request
