Removing grease zerk

[musselmark]

No the head was gone, the threaded portion was the only part left with hole through it. I was trying to enlarge hole to allow easy out to fit but it just rounded over the bits cutting edge. Heated with torch to try and anneal it but still wouldn't drill. ( and these were not dollar store drill bits)

 

[DwayneB]

No the head was gone, the threaded portion was the only part left with hole through it. I was trying to enlarge hole to allow easy out to fit but it just rounded over the bits cutting edge. Heated with torch to try and anneal it but still wouldn't drill. ( and these were not dollar store drill bits)

Sounds like a real PITA! That's usually how things work for me as well.

 

[fried1765]

Well I just tried all the suggestion. It was hardened steel for sure. I ended up welding over the hole and filled the recess of the pin with weld then drilled and tapped for a new grease zerk. The new pilot hole was smaller than the hole left by the broken zerk so went in through it and the outer part I filled with weld was far enough away that it drilled and tapped without touching old zerk.

Like others here I have never seen a hardened grease zerk.
That said: my go to fix for a typical situation like this, is my set of left hand drill bits.
It is often not necessary to drill very deep, before the broken zerk/bolt starts backing out.

 

[Oldoak]

"my go to fix for a typical situation like this, is my set of left hand drill bits." But he may have been right handed.......

There are also carbide tipped drill bits for drilling through hardened steel alloys. Although, using a drill bit that small in a hand held drill would most likely resulted in snapping off the carbide tip.

I just can't imagine a zerk fitting as hard as the O.P. had to fight.

Edit: Yes, I agree with what mykleh added below about using carbide tooling. Carbide tooling is best used in a machine shop environment where the speed and feed can be infinitely controlled. That is why I stated a carbide tipped drill bit in a hand held drill may not work so well.

 

[mykleh]

problem with carbide tooling is it likes uninterrupted cutting surfaces.. very prone to chipping or breaking on uneven surfaces then your REALLY have a mess on your hands...

 

[Gary Fowler]

I never saw a zerk that was that hard to remove. I have removed them by driving the handle end of a triangle file into the broken off zerk before I got my ease-out tools.
Glad you were able to get it fixed.

 

[geo315]

You have a old file with a sharp end on it? Normally they are square so you can put a handle on the file. Tap it in and unscrew it.

Geat idea. I just put your way to the test and it worked great. Thanks Geo.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I never liked drilling or grinding a broken grease zerk fitting. There is no way to remove ALL the metal particles, some of which may be forced into the area that will be lubricated when a new zerk fitting is installed. I would only drill or grind as a LAST resort.

EZ-outs have been my weapon of choice for decades. They come in all sizes from the tiniest to those large enough to remove broken off threaded pipe ends.

Put some axle grease in the flutes of the drill bit. Same with taps. I saw this trick on another thread the other day.

Ron