Removing a broken whammy bar from the block.

[Rick Gentry]

Howdy.

I am considering trying to remove the threaded portion of a whammy bar that has broken off in the block. It is about 1/4" deep, and someone before me had tried to remove it with an easy out, and that broke off and is stuck in there too.

This is not an expensive guitar, but I was thinking that it would be a great exercise in case an old Floyd Rose comes along that needs the same fix. Suggestions? Drill out and re-tap?

Thanks, Rick G.

[Mike Kolb]

Whoever named those tools "easy-outs" was a cruel tool himself. Anyway, I've had good luck with laying-in a couple of drops of WD40 overnight, dremel-in* a rough slot into the broken face and back the piece out with a slot-head driver. If that fails, drill a smaller hole as deep as you can into the face, jam a small hex wrench into the hole and back it out. But the overnight WD40 soak is the common denominator. As always, share whatever works? Good luck.

* a new verb?

[Cliff Morris]

With an easy out snapped off in it this ain't going to be a cakewalk. You probably won't be able to drill into the easy-out so I would shine a light in there and see if you can see anything you could snag with a dental pick. If you can get something to snag onto you might have a prayer. There are two penetrating oils that I believe are better than any others. Kroil (creeping oil) which you should be able to get at most industrial hardware stores or ACF-50 which you can get at an aircraft supply or some gun shops. ACF-50 will creep through a lap joint in a riveted aircraft skin and then through the strss cracks in the paint over the rivets. If ACF-50 won't break it loose you better just have it EDM machined out. Help the oils out a bit by warming the part under a heat lamp then try to turn the stub out with the dental pick. If it wont turn you could try putting the trem block in the freezer for a half hour or so then warm the outside with a torch and see if you can expand the outside a bit to loosenit's grip on the stub. Use common sense on this stuff so you don't ruin the finish or spend too much time on something you could just replace easier.

[Cliff Morris]

Just a little more on this problem. Easy outs are generally a bad idea for stuff like this for a couple of reasons. #1 you have to drill a hole in the broken off part. If the stub isn't jammed at the bottom of a threaded hole and you start to drill it with a standard drill bit the drill may very well get a bite on the broken stub and run it all the way to the bottom and jam it there. #2 Usually a drill this small is not stiff enough to drill straight so it wanders into the threads of the hole and jacks the whole part up anyway. #3 if you manage to drill the hole then cram a tapered easy-out into the hole the taper just wedges the broken stub against the threaded hole and makes it impossible to turn until you snap off the hardened easy-out and we are back at the original start of this post.
I have seen this work a few times. Take a piece of wood or plastic that's about the size of the hole and insert it til it touches the broken off part. Turn the wood or plastic in the correct direction to unscrew the stub while tapping gently on the end of the stick or plastic rod. If there are jagged parts to the stub they will sometimes grab into the softer material enough to turn the stub out. Good luck

[Len Biglin]

Hi Rick , I have had some sucess with these and I can say that a gas torch is your best friend here , find a method of turning the stub , by hook or by crook , then heat the side of the block and you'll be amazed at how quick the thing lets go.But as we know from Cliff , the main deal is some way to turn it.I think my last one was a hole drilled then a phillips screwdriver tapped into the hole (just the tip ). I have the image of a broken easyout jaggedly sticking out etched in my mind . There's a look of finality (if that's a word)....good luck Len

[Rick Gentry]

That's exactly the image. The easy out is protruding about 1/16" from the socket. All of these suggestions are great, and though I will probably replace the whole thing, this thread definitely made me think. Thanks everybody.