Tapping broken taps (a.k.a. I'm all tapped out)

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by dlavery

But sometimes the tap may be too small for these to work. If you break off a small tap in the bottom of a 3/4” hole, you can use an old machinists trick to remove it. Steel taps will dissolve in a solution of alum and water. If the part you are working on is aluminum or some other non-ferrous metal, you can dissolve out a broken tap.
-dave

p.s. Important Lesson learned: DO NOT use your spouse’s expensive aluminum Calphalon pans as the “heating vessel!” The alum solution will very effectively remove the anodizing from the pans and leave bare aluminum.

Dave,
This is the first time I heard of the Alum trick. Pretty cool. On the second one, that is a pretty tough fix. I wonder if Tom Edison had to put up with that?!? You would think that restaurants would kind of spread the word so they could drum up some business.