: Boy, oh boy, I hope someone can help me out with this one: I'm attaching the
: brass stem bands to my stripper Osprey canoe. I drilled and countersunk
: the holes in the bands. I started drilling holes in the stems for the
: screws, a few at a time, as I bent the stem band around the stem. I was
: screwing the stem band in place with STEEL screws to make threads for the
: brass screws I will use in the final installation when one of the STEEL
: screws broke off. The broken end of the screw is now about 1/8" to
: 3/16" below the surface of the stem.

: Does anyone know of a "simple" way to extract the broken piece?
: Barring that, here is what I see as my options: 1. Get one of those little
: hole-saw-like deals that are made for cutting around broken screws and try
: to extract it that way, then fill the hole with epoxy/filler, redrill the
: hole in the same place and proceed.

: 2. Don't bother extracting the scew. Fill the hole with epoxy/filler. Buy
: more stem band material and drill so that the new hole falls in a slightly
: different location. Unfortunately, this will delay the launch, since I
: have to mail order the stem band mat'l.

: 3. Don't bother extracting the scew. Fill the hole with epoxy/filler. Fill
: the countersunk hole in the stem band with silver solder (I have some
: experience with this, and when finished the solder looks a lot like
: brass). Drill a new hole in the brass band in a slightly different
: location and proceed.

: Any suggestions are welcome. (And here I though I was going to have this baby
: in the water this weekend!)

: Ken Sarkozy

Ken, If you can live without the screw in that location, Cut the shank off another screw and silver solder the head into the countersink on the band. It will look like there is a screw there and wont ruin your spacing. Fill the hole with broken screw with thickened epoxy. When you install the band put a little 5 min epoxy on the back of the band at the problem area and tape it with strapping tape till it sets. You should still be able to remove it later by heating the band with a soldering iron to soften the epoxy.

Larry C.

PS/ The Ospery is a sweet boat!