Removing a stuck allen bolt

[02GF74]

you need to keep the drill steady or else you end up with a snapped bit in the bolt which is even harder to drill...... so to answer your question, no, a hand operated drill will not work.

re: seat post clamp - can you get junior hacksaw blade or a dremel cutoff disc in the gap? even if it means a bit of damage to the clamp - it will be cosmetic, it will allow you to remove the seatpost and the clamp; then you can use a drill press with the clamp in a vice to drill out the bolt.

for the steerer, that will be 6 mm bolt so you are bese using a 6 mm drill to drill off the head -you will then hammer the start fangle washer out through the steerer and if money is tight, again use drill press to remove the bolt.


beware of cheap extractors - they have a tendancy to snap making the job more difficult.

 

[young Ed]

supper glue or much better araldite or jbweld a bar to the offending bolts
strong enough, no heat like welding and should just get the job done. oh and you don't need a welder
Cheers Ed

 

[mickle]

If the seat clamp is removeable - rather than part of the frame - dont fanny about, just cut through the bolt where its visible in the slot. Dremel preferably but a hack saw blade will do. It might help to remove the seat to give a bit more room. If its integral with the seat cluster youll have less room for error so do what you can to protect the frame and seatpost from the blade.

 

[mickle]

Oh and if you use an angle grinder, keep it away from your soft dangly bits.

your dangly bits are soft?

 

[HLaB]

I've used the needle nose pliers technique in the past and Ive also given up and went to a bike shop, IIRC they had allen keys in half sizes and managed to get a 4.5mm in what originally was a 4mm hex bolt.

 

[gbb]

Stay away from angle grinders and welders
I'm a maintenance engineer and neither would get anywhere near my bike...and i use them on a daily basis. Go for the least invasive first, the araldite suggestion may work if the thread itself is loose.
Loose bolts with no head at all can sometimes be spun out using a pointy implement
Torx bits are good if you can hammer one into the damaged head, thats one of my favourite methods. Imperial allen keys can be used in a similar way, one will usually be a bit larger than the damaged portion. .
Screw extractors as a last option, mainly because they require accurate drilling through an often thin bolt..get it wrong and you'll go off line and start drilling away the threads themselves.