drilling out fender mounting screws in forks?

[clerkkent]

I have several forks in my stash where the screw that mounts the fender into the bottom of the headtube has broken off. Any clever solutions on drilling out the remainder? Note, I do not have a drill press.

Thank you!

 

[Onewheelsqueel]

You can try drilling it out and using a easy out. Use as big of a drill bit as possible to aid in grip, strength of easy out, and relieving pressure of screw in the hole.

Or dill a smaller hole and then a reverse drill bit possibly.

Drill a hole and tap it.

Lastly just drill it out and use a self taping screw in the hole.

 

[Jpromo]

I'd recommend against an easy-out after a bad experience doing this very thing with one. Since they're hardened, they do not wear but they will shatter. I had one shatter inside the thread and ended up having to drill through the easy-out.. Burned through x number of drill bits before I popped the shards out and then could drill through the original screw.

I'd vote for just drilling it out and tapping it one size larger.

 

[Onewheelsqueel]

I've had bad luck with smaller easy outs. I found some square tapered ones that seam to work better. The real trick is centering the hole and going as large as you can with the drill bits. Start small, smaller bit centers easier and wanders less (unless they are to small then they flex) Then go in steps up to the largest bit as possible. Not a guarantee but tends to work with me.

And yes broken easy outs suck, taps are not fun either, but there's a tool for those.

 

[Jpromo]

I've had bad luck with smaller easy outs. I found some square tapered ones that seam to work better. The real trick is centering the hole and going as large as you can with the drill bits. Start small, smaller bit centers easier and wanders less (unless they are to small then they flex) Then go in steps up to the largest bit as possible. Not a guarantee but tends to work with me.

And yes broken easy outs suck, taps are not fun either, but there's a tool for those.

I have the tool for taps but it was a pain to use on the underside of a fork. So this is where I first tried putting my power drill in low, oil the tap and drive it in 8) works like a charm.

 

[Walker]

weld a nut to the broken off bolt and try to thread it out.

 

[Wildcat]

I use the small stone tip on my dremel for those, it will take enough off to let the remainder fall in, then it'll need tapped for the new screw. Same thing would work for a drill if you had a tip like a grinder.