Save the trammel!
Jim Reed @ Tallahassee
>So I am looking in the box of trammels and find a sad little one where the point was broken off. These Stanley #4 trammels have points that are 1/4" drill rod with a 1/8" neck. The neck allows the point to seat tightly, but does create a weakness. The threads of the point can get rusty and stuck. Then when the ham fisted carpenter locks the point into a vise to unscrew it (because he wants to sharpen the point), he breaks it at the neck. Now the threads are below the surface with nothing to grab. That was the case when I acquired the sad trammel. I put on some WD-40 and let it soak. Then I whacked the threaded rod with a punch. Then I used the drill press to drill a small hole in the center. Then I put my screw extractor into the hole and turned enough to hear a crunch. Now my screw extractor tip was sheared off snug into the hole. I worried it for a long time and finally extracted the pieces. Then I used one of those resharpened carbide dremel bits to drill all the way through. Then I screwed a sheet rock screw into the hole and everything started to move. The picture shows the drill bits, the trammel, and the little bead of threads that came out of the hole.
