broken screw

[Ron Nossaman]

Wasn't thinking, broke a screw installing new shanks and flanges (pressing
the washer into the flange). Dug out a box of new screws, replaced the old
ones I'd already installed, and finished the set. Life is good again,
except for that broken screw. I prick punched the center of the shank
(slightly below the surface), center drilled it a bit with an 1/8" center
drill, and drilled about 1/4" down into the screw with a #58 (first little
one I came to). I ground a three cornered point on a 2 1/2" sheet rock
screw (very hard steel), drove it into the #58 hole in the flange screw
until the corners bit, and turned the broken screw out with a Phillips
screwdriver. Very slick, and under ten minutes start to finish even with
the five minutes of head scratching before I thought of the sheet rock
screw. Absolutely no damage to the rail, hole, operator, or schedule, but
the sheet rock screw was killed in the attempt. Seemed like a fair trade to
me. Try it sometime.

Back to work.

Ron N