Removing a small tap

[Tom Vogel]

Yesterday I broke off a 10-24 tap that was 5/8" into the cast iron portion of one of my spindles. The tap snapped off 2 threads down into the hole. Crap...
I remember reading on the Practical Machinist Forum where a guy said he used his tig torch to build up the tap with .040 stainless rod. He used a .040 tungsten and a 1/2" gas lense to build up the tap to about 1/4" above the hole. Then he placed a small washer and nut over the built up tap and welded the nut to the tap. Then he backed it out with a wrench.
I thought ,"that'll never work", "that tap is in there tight and its tool steel".
I was wrong, it worked, see my pic.


I know this will probably get moved and thats fine, but I thought it was a neat trick for you guys to catalog in your mind for future use.