broken steel brush in threaded hole

dian · Jul 4, 2021

i pushed the hex-drive brush into a m10 blind hole and wanted to twist it out to clean the thread as i have done hundreds if times. it broke where the two wires join and they now portrude by 1/2" (or less). hole is overhead on a car.

it could not be pulled out, as the wires are now expanded. i grabbed the wires with channel locks and tried to twist the brush out. it didnt move. i twisted the wires in the screw-in direction, hopinng they would collapse again, but it was impossible to pull the brush out with human force.

- grab the wires and use some pulling contraption?
- weld them together, so they dont expand and hope brush comes out the regular way?
- twist them together and then weld? (no idea if its possible.)

any thoughts before i break or melt them off?

DDoug · Jul 4, 2021

dian said:
i pushed the hex-drive brush into a m10 blind hole and wanted to twist it out to clean the thread as i have done hundreds if times. it broke where the two wires join and they now portrude by 1/2" (or less). hole is overhead on a car.

it could not be pulled out, as the wires are now expanded. i grabbed the wires with channel locks and tried to twist the brush out. it didnt move. i twisted the wires in the screw-in direction, hopinng they would collapse again, but it was impossible to pull the brush out with human force.

- grab the wires and use some pulling contraption?
- weld them together, so they dont expand and hope brush comes out the regular way?
- twist them together and then weld? (no idea if its possible.)

any thoughts before i break or melt them off?

Try attaching the electrode connection from your welder to the center stem.
Should melt out all the little wires without much heat into the part.

Be quick on the switch though

tdmidget · Jul 4, 2021

Clean 10mm holes with a 10mm brush and that won't happen.

doug8cat · Jul 4, 2021

If it is a through hole just push it through the rest of the way with a punch. Welder idea is good too just zap and clean up with the correct sized tap.

michiganbuck · Jul 4, 2021

I made a jack off puller with using a straight jaw vise grip, adding a 2 foot long running-thread and a piece of round stock for the knocker, Yes with a nut at the end for a stopper.
I bet that would pill the brush.

calvin b · Jul 4, 2021

Dian, Sir
You always could get a tube a shove it over the bristles and just pull the brush out.. Depending on how much clearance you have you can even thread the inside of the tube so the bristles have something to grab on to. Just a thought for you.
Hope this helps
Stay safe
Calvin B

Scottl · Jul 4, 2021

digger doug said:
Try attaching the electrode connection from your welder to the center stem.
Should melt out all the little wires without much heat into the part.

Be quick on the switch though

That would work best with one of the little 120v "buzz box" type welders and a foot-pedal switch on the input. I have used same to create improvised spot welds. Without a foot switch next best bet would be a carbon electrode in the stinger quickly touched to the brush center.

OR,

With a conventional welder turned as low as possible use something like aluminum which won't weld to the steel. This if no foot pedal or carbon.

cyanidekid · Jul 4, 2021

using the welder sounds like a risky proposition, it could wind up welding the brush in the hole! :eek:

.
I thing michiganbuck has got it, vise grip slide hammer

sfriedberg · Jul 4, 2021

michiganbuck said:
I made a jack off puller with using a straight jaw vise grip, adding a 2 foot long running-thread and a piece of round stock for the knocker, Yes with a nut at the end for a stopper.

Known in other industries as a slide hammer. I'm not sure I would have recognized "jack off puller" without the description, michiganbuck.

John Garner · Jul 4, 2021

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation, but a half inch protrusion of the broken brush should be enough to grab with Vise-Grip-type locking pliers to twist the brush out of the hole.

dian · Jul 5, 2021

thanks, guys. its a blind hole and again, if you try to twist it out the two loose wires expand. i was actually going to try diggers suggestion, as the frame is aluminum. but the next thing that happened, is that the portruding wires broke off.

then it struck me, i took a small screw driver and was able to push the bristles up, step by step, a lot of them falling in my face for 5 minutes. the brush came out with pliers. (its astonishing every time, how talking/writing produces new ideas.)

i learned:

- never use the brush in a deep, blind hole (or extremely carefully)
- never alow the brush to take a bent, the wires are not spring steel
- all brush manufacturers are f.o.s., because if they would wind the wires the other way, this could not happen. (all brushes seem to be wound clock-wise, even the bottle cleaning brushes in the kitchen.)

Mechanola · Jul 5, 2021

Softer brushes with a shot of alcohol (into the bore, not your throat). Why metal wires.

Trueturning · Jul 5, 2021

Mechanola said:
Softer brushes with a shot of alcohol (into the bore, not your throat). Why metal wires.

Apply to project then take two swigs. Lol

Scottl · Jul 5, 2021

Mechanola said:
Softer brushes with a shot of alcohol (into the bore, not your throat). Why metal wires.

One thing that might help in future is to either bond the (shank) wires with epoxy or a bit of soft solder.

Many, many times I have had to "finish" the manufacturing process on small items like that. Years ago I bought some flint ignitors for gasoline lanterns and after one of them came apart where it was press fitted I soft soldered them all to enhance reliability.

dian · Jul 5, 2021

Mechanola said:
Softer brushes with a shot of alcohol (into the bore, not your throat). Why metal wires.

unfortunately that will not clean off locktite. (you saw this was overhead, right?)

Jpg366 · Jul 5, 2021

Use a tap to clean threads.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

michiganbuck · Jul 5, 2021

we used to take a high-grade bolt of the correct thread and with a parting wheel by hand cut flute gullets so it looked like a tap. That made an OK thread cleaner but not as good as would a wire brush.

It seems that a steel wire brush could be harmful to aluminum threads.

OT: dian I sure hope it is not raining in CH. I do have an extra inflatable boat up at camp.
shipping it to ch would be costly. Ch could add one more new law.."Everybody downstream must wear a life jacket 24/7."

dian · Jul 5, 2021

probably depends on the hardness. if i push it in and wind it out i never noticed any scratches.

michiganbuck · Jul 5, 2021

dian said:
probably depends on the hardness. if i push it in and wind it out i never noticed any scratches.

And if the shop gets washed away the nobody would know there were scratches.

DDoug · Jul 6, 2021

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