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Category Metal Disintegrator Applications

Can you Remove Tiny taps with an Electro Arc machine?

You can use Electro Arc’s IQ precision disintegrating head to remove taps as small as #0.  If you are a watchmaker you may have broken tiny taps that you are not sure how to remove.  You can use a Electro Arc metal disintegrator equipped with the IQ head such as our model 2-SEQ or 2-SQT.   You will want to special order small electrodes for your tiny tap sizes.    You will also need a pin vice since the smallest electrodes that we make and sell are size .040.

The model 2-SEQ features the power supply and coolant tank/system built into a cabinet on wheels. The largest power supply available will be the 20 kva-rated machine, as is the case with all of our machines. This allows you to remove taps up to 2″ in diameter in a single pass.  You can use it to remove bolts up to 1 1/4″ in diameter in a single pass.  If you are not  removing larger size taps, you can choose to step this down to our 10 KVA or 15 KVA option:

This machine includes our heavy-duty precision disintegrating head. This head allows you to disintegrate in small and large diameters. You can use the magnetic-based fixture that the head is mounted in on any ferrous surface. The model 2-SEQT and 2-SQT feature the auto-feed system, allowing you to run the machine hands-free. You have up to 9” of uninterrupted feed for hands-free operation.  Feed rate potentiometer with two selectable speed ranges for precise control. Adjustable automatic shutoff, and auto-stop capability. Plug-in integrated circuit board for serviceability. The manual spring-loaded feed is standard on all machines and assists you in feeding the disintegrator head in a continuous movement. Use the depth stop and automatic shut-off features to concentrate on the disintegration progress, and take manual control with ou simple lever at any time!  Use the depth gauge with adjustable depth stop and limit switch to set your machine for automatic shutoff at your desired depth.  This helps you avoid damage to parts that do not have through holes. 

The IQ precision head is available in full and short sizes for use with our fixtures.

Electro Arc's Model 2-SEQT

Electro Arc’s Model 2-SEQT features the IQ disintegrating head and also offers you the convenience of our smallest work surface, with a 19 X 19″ tabletop.  You also have the convenience of the cross-arm structure.  While the 2-SQT fixture offers versatility, the tabletop models offer a dedicated workspace.  This machine is also easy to move around and has a small profile. You can use the IQ disintegrating head for disintegrating small taps weather it is on a portable model or a table top model.

10 More Ways you can use Electro Arc Metal Disintegrators

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.

Why do Bolts Break?

Broken bolts causing downtime have long been the source of frustration.  Collectively, a broken bolt can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars between repairing the machine, scrapping parts, employee pay, and money lost on sales loss.  So why do bolts break?

Using the wrong Bolt

In some applications, the bolt may break because it is too long.  This can cause the bolt to snap in half.  Ensuring that your bolt is a secure fit can reduce the risk of bolt breakage.  

It’s not tight enough

The bolt may be loose as stated by Proven Productivity, fatigue failure, one of the causes is improper tightening of a bolt.

Fractured bolts

The bolt may be fractured which can be caused by extreme temperature changes or stress from movement of parts.  Thomas refers to this as “Bolt Locking” caused by large amounts of vibration which results in uneven stress on bolts can cause breakage.

The threads become stripped

The top of the bolt twists off, most often the result of tightening the bolt too tightly or using the improper tool for tightening the bolt.

The top of the bolt breaks off

As proven productivity states, bolt failure may happen as a result of fatigue failure.  This can be a result of not tightening the bolt properly causing stress and eventual failure.

What can you do when a bolt breaks?

Chances are if you have visited online forums or experienced broken bolts in a shop you know there are a lot of interesting tricks to removing broken, sheared off, stripped, and snapped bolts, screws, and other fasteners.

Ideally, a tap buster will remove your broken tooling in no time.  However these machines are expensive and your company may not invest in a tap zapper if you are not breaking off bolts, drills, and taps on a regular basis.  You may be able to find a shop that offers broken bolt removal service and that investment is well worth your time considering most of these suggestions also take a majority of a day to remove.

Penetrating fluids – this trick can help remove a broken fastener especially if you soak the part and wrap it to avoid evaporation.  This method is designed to crack the broken fastener at the last point of contact which may result in a bigger mess.

Depending on your situation, you may be able to improvise using hand tools.  Sawing or filing may easily remove the fastener as on a larger hex bolt.  Specialty stud removal tools and left-hand drill bits are designed to remove these broken bolts but they may not be as effective as advertised.

Are Metal Disintegrators EDM machines?

It may not be common knowledge, the specialty tool developed just for removing broken bolts was developed in the early 1940s.  If you have heard of a tap zapper or spark eroder, these are slang terms for the metal disintegrator. This machine can remove broken bolts in minutes.  The technology basis for this machine is EDM which has evolved to include many subcategories over the years as this technology has improved.

Why Do I Need DC Cutting?

D.C. cutting is direct current cutting, which is a naturally occurring process that moves metal from a positive pole (+) to a negative pole (-) when current flow is initiated (switched on) and subsequently interrupted (switched off). You may not know that this process is as old as the storage battery. It was also responsible for the problems of the early automobile ignition points and plugs – excessive wear on the positive terminals caused by the rapid switching of a D.C. circuit.

D.C. cutting is the basis for all convention and wire EDM machine technology (not to mention Electro Arc Metal disintegrators) and predates the electric light bulb.

DC Portable Metal Disintegrators
Heavy-duty power for onsite or
occasional use

How Does DC Cutting Work?

D.C. cutting or EDM cutting occurs when an ionized path is established (switched on) between a positive and negative pole and then broken (switched off) to stop the current flow. The simplest example is what occurs when the (+) and (-) poles of a car battery are momentarily (with jumper cables) touched together (switched on) and then pulled apart (switched off). When the cable clamps are examined you discover a crater on the positive clamp and an equal amount of material added to the (-) clamp – EDM in action!

Harness this D.C process to remove broken taps, drills, and bolts quickly and easily. Minimum heat is generated and low power is consumed because polarity is the major moving physical property. High amperage, can waste power as a violent arc is created generating excessive heat and causing extreme electrode wear.

How do Electrodes Work in the Metal Disintegration Process?

Did you know that any conductive material can be used as an electrode? The more conductive the electrode material, the more effectively an electrical process works, and this is an electrical process.

Electro Arc machines can be used with inexpensive copper tubing. Copper has superior conductivity (next to silver), low cost, and is easy to work with. It has the added benefit of being very conductive both electrically and thermally to aid in removing residual heat from the cutting area. We use other materials as electrodes for cutting operations where higher temperature arcs are required to remove high-temperature materials such as high-temperature bolts that are alloyed with molybdenum and other elements.

You need D.C. cutting because you are constantly searching for a better, faster, cheaper way to get your job done. D.C. cutting gives it to you because it moves metal faster through polarity while minimizing heat and power consumption through lower amperage requirements that always accompany the use of polarity as the major moving physical property.

How does D.C. cutting compare to A.C. cutting?

A.C cutting is the creation of a violent arc between a high melting temperature (molybdenum/melts at 4748 degrees Farinheight and 2620 degrees Celcius) electrode material and a lower melting point material (tool/steel/melts at 2500 degrees Farinheight and 1371 degrees Celsius) and the fact that the lower melting point material (steel) will melt faster than the high-temperature material (molybdenum). You will want to use DC current with carbide because it cuts faster than AC, you may also need a DC machine if you are planning to use your metal disintegrator on larger bolts.

Electro Arc’s AC metal disintegrators were the first metal disintegrators available on the market, released to the general public for purchase in 1947. While competitors came and went over the years, Electro Arc remained the best metal disintegrator manufacturer purchasing competing brands including Elox, AC machines are generally cheaper than DC machines and provide a larger variety of options for customization.

What Material is Most Efficient in the Disintegration Process?

First of all, what is an Electrode?

Various size electrodes in different levels of use with holders

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

Attaching an electrode

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.


How to Remove a Broken Tap Quickly

Electro Arc’s 3-S portable metal disintegrator is featured below. You do not need dielectric fluid to use Electro Arc machines, just coolant. The 3-S is easy on your pockets and convenient for you to use. Our metal disintegrators remove broken taps and drills without damage or coming into contact with the part. You can also use an Arc-er Head with other machine tools like the drill press in the video below:

What is a metal disintegrator?

You have probably heard a metal disintegrator referred to by many names including; tap extractor MDM machine, tap burner, tap zapper, and spark eroder. You can use these metal disintegration machines to remove broken bolts, broken taps, and broken drills without damaging your part. Cheap alternatives are available but can cause more damage or break easily. With an Electro Arc metal disintegrator, you get the precision, speed, and value without the headache of replacing parts on expensive equipment.

Broken tap removal service

You may experience broken taps in any situation, even when drilling and tapping a riffle, the risk of a broken tap is present. It may be tempting to use a simple cheap product like ex-out or Tap Magic, but as many of you know, this often makes the problem worse.

When you are working with broken taps it is important to remember that the center part is solid. Meaning the broken tap can be broken and essentially removed. Taps with a thread size smaller than M12 should be removed by breaking the center. In some cases, your tap will have a very large thread. If this is the case we advise that you divide it into halves for removal. You do not have to apply the electrode to the largest depth. When it reaches the desired depth just turn up the Arc-er head and begin to remove the debris. You can then continue the process of disintegration with your electrode. The power of a metal disintegrator is established by creating a series of electric arcs or discharges that erode the broken metals into smaller particles.

This produces sparks that move between the broken piece and the electrode cutting through the broken machine part.  A puddle is created by the spark (also known as the hot plasma) as a result of the workpiece being melted by the electrical discharge produced by the electrode. The small amount of dielectric is vaporized which creates bubbles around the spark.

Sparks illustrated

It is important to keep your work area clean. A slower removal rate increases the rate of tear which is related to the rate of removal. The head is located in the flush area which helps to speed up the time for metal removal. The result of the removal also affects the size of the spark. Big and long sparks lead to a bigger depth and a rougher surface. For a finer finish, smaller sparks, a higher wear rate, and low removal rate are required. There are copper alloys that have been designed to maximize the process of spark eroding and offer better wear resistance and improved machinability.

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How to Remove Broken Drill Bit From Metal

Are you wondering what the best way to remove broken drill bits from metals is? Electro Arc has been providing high-quality broken tap, drill, stud, and bolt removal EDM / MDM machines since 1947. Our technology safely removes the broken drill in seconds without causing any damage to your part. Our spark erosion and metal disintegration technology can save you thousands of dollars by not causing damage to expensive parts. Please, take a moment to review how our spark eroders work.

Examples of disintegration with an Electro Arc metal disintegrator

Get the Job Done Right with Electro Arc

Electro Arc’s unique process disintegrates only the center out of a broken tap or drill leaving its threads intact.  You can use this process to cut square or round shapes to back out studs or bolts or to remove large studs with a series of cuts.  Emboss identification on rolls of steel, bore, and counterbore holes.  You can reclaim expensive parts and provide immediate repairs on all types of equipment.  Thus you will experience fewer production overruns and late deliveries.

Model 2-SQT for removing broken drills:

  • Unlimited disintegration potential in a compact, versatile package 
  • For HSS tooling removal
  • Remove taps, drills, and studs from 0-80 to 2” (24.5 mm) in a single pass
  • The 36-inch maxi feature provides ultra-rigid support for absolute positioning

See more videos
Watch a Broken Drill Removed From Manifold

The following is a transcription of the above video. Please reach out to us here with any questions or concerns.

Hi and welcome to Electro ARC. Today we’re going to be demonstrating our DC direct current output disintegrating transformer which is optimally suited for removing broken carbide tooling. We have a broken 12 mm carbide drill selector. We’ve determined that we need to use a 312,000 electrode to remove the broken carbide drill.  The electrode is inserted into the disintegrator head. The machine is equipped with a disintegrator DC head and automatic servo feed, stop and start switches and depth stop. To begin the process i bring my electrode down on the broken tool, drop my splash bag, cover the edges with a rag, and using the start stop switches I begin the process. It tells us that we need 18 up through 9 by 32 in. Our machines can meet the needs of any part size shape or configuration. We’ve gone through and removed some of the loose bits of carbide drill left in the hole and there’s still a little bit of the drill down in the hole that’s not loose yet. So we’re going to take the disintegrator back down and we are still going to go with 1 in increments. As you can see, the head backed out and that’s indicating that we have  another loose piece of drill bit, so I can go in there and should be able to rummage around and find it, lets get our head out of the way and then with our compressed air we can clean out the hole and I can see bits of material down in there for us to pick out with some pics and pliers.  What we’ve done here is using our pics and and needle nose pliers is bring the chunks of the drill out of the hole and got to the solid drill and using a twisting action removed it from the hole leaving a clean hole undamaged for future use.

View more helpful videos for using your metal disintegrator on our new website for machine owners.

In the above video, Electro Arc’s 2-DVC DC metal disintegrating machine demonstrates the removal of broken carbide tooling. Equipped with our servo head with auto-feed allows for easy remote start and stop. Disintegrate up to 1 1/4 inch diameter in one pass. See more broken bolt removal examples.

Rivet Removal Using Broken Tap Remover

Using A Broken Tap Remover On A Rivet

Did you know that you can use Electro Arc tap removers to remove broken rivets?  You can see a demonstration of our Bolt Eater machine removing a rivet in the above YouTube video.  Electro Arc began offering the Bolt Eater(TM) in 2004 when we expanded our metal disintegrator line to include DC machines.  You can use our metal disintegrating machines to remove broken bolts, screws, dowels, rivets, taps and so much more!

More videos like these are available on Electro Arc’s old Youtube channel.  If you are interested in a metal disintegrator but are not sure which one might be the right choice, you will want to check out our machine builder.  This new feature takes you through the choices of AC or DC metal disintegrators, portable or tabletop versions, and the disintegrating head and column options offered with each of our 40 different metal disintegrating models.

Here is a transcript for the video Above:

Hello welcome to Electro Arc today we’re going to be removing an aluminum rivet using a portable DC metal disintegrator.  We are taking the time to put a rivet into a vise using a demonstration fixture we have here with our portable colony cross-arm to simulate a larger part in a demonstration like this.  So to begin a process we’re going to drop a splash bag and only remove the cap of the rivet. Now with the drop bag in place we can now turn on our metal disintegrator and disentegrate the cap on the rivet. The servo head is taking over the burning process. I think we’re through the cap now so we can raise our splash bag and see if our cap is loose. The cap is loose and actually pops right off in my hand.  Aftter removing the cap of our aluminum rivet we then inverted it in our demonstration assembly and now we are going to disintegrate the depth of the threads I begin the process the same way lower my Splash bag and turn on my disintegrator.

How to remove a broken tap with our metal disintegration technology.

 

Electro Arc metal disintegrators have many applications across industries, since purchasing Electro Arc in 2019 Stillion Industries has started a new YouTube channel to provide demonstrations of broken bolt removal and resources for metal disintegrator and Ames tester owners.

Remove Broken Dowel Pins with your Metal Disintegrator:

Electro Arc