<html>
<font size=3>I would laboriously route a slot in the top with a Dremel
Tool and carbide bit <br>
for a screw driver to remove the tap.<br>
<br>
Second plan of attack would be to drill a hole with the carbide bit and
<br>
attempt an easy out. Or perhaps consult a machinist first.<br>
<br>
As a final endeavor, I would use the carbide bit and drill out as much of
the<br>
tap as possible and try to remove the loose pieces or drill them out with
a<br>
larger bit. Don't drill all the way through, you want to preserve
the threads<br>
on the bottom if possible.<br>
<br>
Once the tap is removed and the hole is clean, the threads can be rebuilt
with<br>
MarineTex Epoxy or maybe a helicoil.<br>
<br>
The repair I made with epoxy a while back used a drill bit shank which
was the<br>
same diameter as the inner diameter of the threads on the lower portion
of<br>
the hole. I applied a mould release to the shank and inserted it up
through the<br>
bottom.<br>
<br>
Apply epoxy first to the walls of the top section and then insert the
shank so<br>
that it sticks up above the plate enough to swab the shank with more
epoxy<br>
and pull it down into the hole so as to fill it as much as possible and
still have<br>
a little protruding above the plate.<br>
<br>
Once cured, remove the shank and start you tap from the bottom through
the good<br>
remaining threads. That will chase the tap tight up the center.<br>
<br>
Make sure you have the right threads per inch . . .<br>
<br>
Then insert a new agraffe and fit it precisely, don't stress the threads
by overturning.<br>
<br>
Good Luck, take you time, it's a long, tedious drilling operation.<br>
<br>
Jon Page<br>
<br>
At 11:25 AM 5/29/99 -0400, you wrote:<br>
>A customer was referred to me by a very good technician who had the
miss <br>
>fortune of breaking a tap while retapping agraffe threads. The
tap broke off <br>
>nearly flush with the plate. This is a S & S S? circa
1920's. It is the <br>
>fourth agraffe in the tenor section. The tap is firmly imbedded
into the <br>
>plate. It will not turn. I made a tool with two rods to
fit into two of the <br>
>four flutes to attempt turning it out. The rods broke. Is
there a <br>
>commercially available broken tap removing tool?<br>
><br>
>I attempted to drill the tap out. My titanium bits did
little. Though the <br>
>grinding bits I used to flatten out the top seemed effective in
removing <br>
>material. Is there a solution here?<br>
><br>
>The customer does not have enough money for rebuilding the piano
(which it <br>
>could use) so removing the plate and coming in from the bottom is
out.<br>
><br>
>My last idea (which I don't care for) is to drill a new agraffe hole
infront <br>
>of the old. There is plenty of room in the plate. Will
this cause any undue <br>
>weakening in the plate, and how badly will the tone on the now 1/2 -
3/4 inch <br>
>shorter be affected?<br>
><br>
>I know this is not your everyday type of repair, but any input would
be <br>
>greatly appreciated.<br>
><br>
>Andrew Remillard<br>
> </font><br>
<br>
<div>Jon Page, Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass.
<a href="mailto:jpage@capecod.net" EUDORA=AUTOURL>mailto:jpage@capecod.net</a></div>
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