Remove broken bolts or drill out broken screws?
If you need to drill out a broken screw or remove a broken bolt from metal, you can use an extractor. This practical tool makes it easy to remove a broken bolt or broken screw.
Your workpiece is ready but then a bolt breaks off inside the material. It’s very annoying, but fortunately easy to resolve! An extractor makes it very easy to remove the broken bolt. Extractors are available separately, but also in a handy set.
Remove a broken bolt in 3 steps
These steps will help you drill out or remove a broken bolt:
1. First, determine what size extractor you need. The table shows at a glance which extractor you need for which bolt size and which pre-drilling diameter applies.
Extractor No. | Range | Pre-Drill Size |
1 | M3-6 | 1,8-2 mm |
2 | M6-8 | 3-3,5 mm |
3 | M8-11 | 4-5 mm |
4 | M11-14 | 6-7 mm |
5 | M14-18 | 8-9 mm |
6 | M18-24 | 12 mm |
7 | M24-33 | 15-16 mm |
8 | M33-45 | 20 mm |
2. Pre-drilling is preferably carried out using a carbide tipped drill bit. This drill bit has hard metal cutting edges and is widely used for drilling out bolt ends.
3. Turn the extractor counter-clockwise in the hole after pre-drilling using a wrench to remove the broken bolt.
Remove a broken bolt in 4 steps
These four steps will help you drill out or remove the broken bolt:
1. First, determine what size extractor you need. The table shows at a glance which extractor you need for which bolt size and which pre-drilling diameter applies.
Extractor No. | Range | Pre-Drill Size |
1 | M3-6 | 1,8-2 mm |
2 | M6-8 | 3-3,5 mm |
3 | M8-11 | 4-5 mm |
4 | M11-14 | 6-7 mm |
5 | M14-18 | 8-9 mm |
6 | M18-24 | 12 mm |
7 | M24-33 | 15-16 mm |
8 | M33-45 | 20 mm |
2. Use a 41.520 type burr to flatten the broken bolt. Next, use a conical burr (41.620) to make a centre hole.
3. Then proceed to pre-drill, preferably using a carbide tipped drill bit. This drill bit has hard metal cutting edges and is widely used for drilling out bolt ends.
4. Now turn the extractor counter-clockwise in the hole using a wrench to remove the broken bolt.
Extractor or left tap
An extractor is often called a left tap; not to be confused with left-cutting taps. To remove broken taps from material, flute tap extractors are available.
Go to the range of extractors