Dear all,

I unfortunately broke the belt hook, and one of the screw broke as well, and the tip got stuck in the hardwood (see attached pictures). This is a grand stick, and any help would be appreciated on how to fix this.

I think I know why it happened. I don't know if this is common, but I only play in sitting position and I am using the lap dawg (which is super useful by the way). However, I tend to bend down a lot. For example to interact with a pedal board manually or to pick up things (cables, etc). Looks like this last time, it put too much stress on the belt hook and the thing snapped. I could feel it coming though, probably due to months of repeated stress.

I have a few questions:
1) What would be the best way to remove that screw tip that was left stuck in the wood? I could see 2 options. Cut around a little bit then grab it with a pair of pliers. Or make a groove in what's left of the screw (I don't know with what), and use a flat screwdriver to make it come out. Or any other suggestions would be super appreciated if this has ever happened to anybody.

2) Would anybody know the size of the screws (2 top ones) that are used to attach the belt hook to the hardwood?

3) I may consider ordering another belt hook, but for sure I would need to get that screw tip out somehow. Or are there any other options to completely replace the belt hook for sitting play?

Any suggestions or advice would be of course super appreciated! Shipping the stick for repairs is going to be very difficult as I am currently based in Asia. Thanks a lot!

Michael

carefully center punch the screw, so your drill does not walk, get an easy out set from the hardware store, drill small hole in the screw, tap the easy out into screw and turn it out. if you cut a slot in the screw chances are you will damage the wood. you can use a dremel tool with a cutting disc, for that.

(reverse) left hand drill bits should do the trick.
https://www.amazon.com/Comoware-Drill-T ... 07QKS4Z71/

A left hand drill that small, will probably break when it bites.
Whatever you do, try to get a good hard center punch, which will give the drill a good starting point.

A machine screw in wood is a tight fit, and hard to reverse.

I think a good screw extractor is your best bet.
Good luck. Go slow.

If your going to drill into a broken screw, I don't see any reason to not use a left hand (reverse) drill bit? I've used them in my machine shop for over 20 years and never had any issues with them. If you are worried about breaking a bit, just purchase a higher quality bit. If you don't feel comfortable doing this job, take the job to a machinist.

Just saying, when using a hand drill it is difficult to stay steady, and keep a good angle, Unless you have a rigid setup. Left hand drill it, if the screw doesn't come out, you can use the appropriate sized extractor to finish the job.
Center punch.

you could drill a shallow hole in scrap piece of wood the diameter of the broke screw - no deeper than what screw is sticking out. then drill the center of the hole with the small size bit through the scrap wood that is the drill size used for the screw extractor. clamp the scrap pc over the screw to improve control / alignment in drilling the screw.

I'm thinking, worst case scenario, you could leave that broken screw in the hole and mount the new belt hook slightly lower on the instrument, provided you can use the height adjustment feature of the hook to maintain the desired height of the instrument.

He would have to drill, and tap 3 new holes, butchering the board.

Thanks all for the replies. I wanted to report back as I was able to found a fix. I brought it to a luthier, and he used a Dremel with a flat disc (as was suggested) to make a slot. Then the screw was removed with a flat screwdriver. This worked very well. There were a few scratches in the wood due to the Dremel but nothing bad at all. And not something that will be noticeable since it's now hidden under the new belt hook. Just wanted to share the solution on the forum in case it happens to anybody else.