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Working on a Cessna 172 in Phoenix, I found a stripped bolt on the landing gear mount.
It was 110 degrees in the hangar and I was ready to call it a day. The bolt was in a tight spot, and my first thought was to drill it out. Then I remembered an old trick a mechanic showed me years ago: using a left-handed drill bit. I grabbed one from my box, went slow, and the bit caught the bolt and backed it right out clean. What's your go-to method for a stripped fastener in a bad spot?
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charles6405mo ago
Left-handed bits are the only reason I still have any hair left... The real trick is not celebrating too early and dropping the little guy into the abyss of the airframe. Been there, spent three hours fishing it out with a magnet on a stick. A good extractor set is just a backup plan for when the lefty bit laughs at you.
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corap213mo ago
haha @logan_wells i feel that deep in my soul. i once snapped a bolt extractor off IN the bolt and had to spend a whole afternoon drilling it out with a carbide bit. lefty bits are great until they're not, then you're just standing there holding a broken tool wondering what you did to deserve this. i started keeping spare extractors in every toolbox after that disaster.
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