I'm so screwed (1 Viewer)

[Ken Shiring]

Guys, please help me. I am in a bad spot. Here is the lowdown:
I am currently finishing off a complete set (sans sub) of Audax HT speakers. All of them are functional and assembled, but the finish has not yet been applied. After testing my two surround channels (they sounded great), I was taking the drivers off and the crossovers out so I can veneer the cabinets.
The cabinets are constructed out of MDF. The front baffle is 1" thick, with 3/4" pine "anchors" placed on the inside of the baffle at each bolt through hole. These anchors are used to provide a better gripping surface for T-nuts, which are hammered in with JB weld on the underside for added strength.
While taking the last bolt out of the woofer, the bolt got locked with the t-nut. They locked each other so hard that it stripped the t-nut off of the pine anchor. Now the bolt, with the stuck t-nut, spins freely in its through hole when twisted. I seem to have no way of ge
tting the bolt out, and thus the driver and the crossover network too. I need this very badly, because I can't leave it like it is.
This problem gets even worse. There is not enough of the bolt head sticking out of the front to cut the head off with a Dremel. Worse yet, I can't access the inside of the cabinet (much), because the tweeter hole above the woofer and the terminal cup hole are both around 2" around. This is not big enough to get my hands in. It makes it only barely possible to insert pliers.
My first though was to rub the t-nut with adhesive, to get it secured back onto the pine anchor. I have tried this twice, once with wood glue and the other with a more liberal coating of JB weld. Neither had the strength to hold, becase when I tried turning the bolt, the friction between the bolt and the nut was so strong as to break the adhesive bond.
Yet a third problem is this: I noticed the bolt has settled back into the cabinet a little. I wanted to tap it back out toward the front to make another evaluation of trying to cut off the head. When I was tapping it, it appears that I have bent the bolt itself, so it is no longer straight.
I am out of ideas now. I appeal to anyone with a creative mind on how to get out of this mess. I can't afford to build another cabinet, and at this point it is looking like I may have to destroy the driver to remove the bolt. I really don't want to do this, but I'm not seeing any other way now.
Here is a pics of my situation:
Front baffle view
Inside shot

 

[Dustin B]

Do you have a drill press or can you get access to one to try and drill the screw out?

I'm not sure if this is a very good idea with a driver right there, but it does qualify as a last resort idea.

 

[CarlDais]

uh oh....I did something similar a few years back. I am a Dentist....so I took it in to my office and drilled it out with a nice carbide bur. Are you on a good & friendly basis with your Dentist? It'll take about 5-10 minutes at best. You next option would be sacrifce the outside portion of the bolt hole on the driver, thus allowing you to slide the driver off the bolt at an angle.

Best of luck to you.....it's always something ISN'T IT?

Murphy's Law prevails.

 

[Jeff Rosz]

you could do the same thing carl did but using your dremel tool. i assume you were trying to use a cutoff wheel? just get an engraving bit for the dremel and carefully chip away at the head of the screw.

 

[rodneyH]

jeff, I thought a dentist drill was a Dremel tool-TIC, I have a brother that is a dentist and I just tell him that he uses a dremel tool that he soaks in alcohol over night.

 

[Jeff Rosz]

hmmmm,
maybe i could be a DIY dentist. jeff's house of piehole pain opening soon.

DIY forum members get discounts of course. you too could have a smile like this

 

[TerryC]

This sounds simple and similar to the dentist approach.
Go to Home Depot or Ace hardware or whereever dremel bits are sold. Get a high speed cutter or carbide cutter. Just gouge off the head of the bolt and push it into the box, remove the driver and whats remaining of the bolt.
Take a look at the following picture so you know what to look for its part# 9903.
Link Removed
Link Removed

 

[Ken Shiring]

TerryC, Jeff, and Dustin :

Thank you for the sage advice. I think my plan of attack is now this:

1) Buy the carbide cutter bit reccomended by Terry. See if I can get the bolt head off that way.

2) If that fails, I have a friend with a workshop at his house, with a nice drill press. He will let me come over and drill out the bolt.

One more question about this : With Dustin's idea, how does coming straight down on the bolt help me? I'm guessing that the drill press bit will only rotate the bolt inside of it's hole. Unless the downward pressure of the press is enough to stop the bolt from spinning.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[Jordan Tracey]

My Dad has a drill press out in his workshop, and you can apply QUITE a bit of downward pressure with one of those things. Just make sure you clamp the cabinet down good before you go about drilling away with a drill press..

 

[Cam S]

I think the drill press aproach could damage the suround of the speaker, so I think the best bet would be to use a carbide grinding bit to try and grind the head of the bolt off. Good luck though!