What home improvement work did you do today?

Welp, I guessed wrong!

 

Almost like it never happened

 

Pics?

 

Oof.

It wouldn't be left hand thread, would it?

 

Tac weld a bolt nut to the face and back it out with a wrench?

 

Cut a slot in it with a Dremel small cutoff wheel to make it a flathead. If that’s hardened steel it may take a disc or two.

Get an impact hand driver, flat head bit in the slot.

Get hammering. You may want someone holding your bar while whackin’. Don’t we all want someone holding our bar while whackin’?

 

He was trying to break it before getting 20 miles on the bike.

Yuge success!

 

Tungsten carbide drill bits. It looks like you've got a good starting point based on the indentation. Start with the smallest bit and keep getting larger, it's called step drilling. Slow speed and plenty of lubrication, cutting fluid would be best, WD40 or motor oil would probably work also. Patience is your friend, so go slow. It might take many hours, or even slip into days. Eventually it will either collapse on it's own or you'll be able to use an extractor. If you have to use one, soak it in penetrating fluid several times for a few hours each, overnight is even better.
As has been said, you have to figure out if it's a left hand thread if you have to spin it out.

 

I've had success with dremmels and making it into a slotted screw before. Those damn aluminum screws get stripped so easily. And a lot of bikes use them.

 

That combined with a hand impact driver is clutch. Everyone should have on in their toolbox. Saved my ass on a number of car/truck door latches in the past.

Though I've noticed with the newer ones (Lisle would be my go-to brand), you need to continue twisting the driver in the appropriate direction or it'll ricochet* back and potentially kick the driver into running the opposite direction. Also, you hammer too hard on something like sheet metal (again, thinking about door strikes/latches), you gotta be careful not to bend the metal with your striking force. My vintage Lisle unit, you twist to click into CW/CCW setting and hold it firmly, it just works. I didn't have the same experience when I decided to refresh with a newer Lisle tool in the last couple years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTQxzxNdKhU​

 

I call my setup a "shouse" at 1500 sqft. 1200 shop and 300 living. Barndo's are big business around here, but very few are prioritizing the shop space. It mostly just means I want a big house and don't care about the outside architecture.

I've been daydreaming lately about doubling the shop space. That would let me add a lift, have a dedicated wood working space, and double the size of my welding and fab area. Maybe someday.