You know that pin that you are supposed to punch out when completely disassembling a Mazzer doser? The one that keeps the bottom bolt from turning, so you can screw the bottom doser vane off. Yeah, don't EVER try to "just use a nail."



It's stuck. Irretrievably stuck in there.



It's all chewed up and bent from the past hour of pliers pulling, wiggling, and straining on it. I don't seem to be physically strong enough to pull it out. I tried a lot of things. I would try more, but I'm tired of bleeding...



No one ever tells you that the inside edges are really pretty sharp.

Anyways, I'm rather discouraged, and aside from getting my strongest friend to hold the doser frame down tomorrow while I pull with all I have, I don't know what to do.

I don't really know what it's stuck on. I was hammering it in with a fair amount of force trying to push that pin through. My only thought is that it somehow got directly inside the pin (which is cylindrical) compressing it to the sides of the pin hole (so it wouldn't push out) and got wedged.

So my questions are:
Why do you think it's taking so much force to pull out?
Could something potentially break from pulling up on that assembly?
Are there any general knowledge tricks for getting such things out? There's really not very much room to work. It's difficult to establish a fulcrum.
What should I do now? My doser is not functional because of a tiny nail. Curses.

Small needle-nose locking pliers might help. Strong enough to grip, and hopefully narrow enough.

You need to grip as far down on the nail as you can, so that the torque-while-lifting force applied does not twist the nail shaft only but twists the embedded point too. You don't want the nail to break off with the tip embedded, so be mindful of fatigue, not your own, but the nail's.

My question is were you able to get the pin out? If so you may want to try getting a small drift or punch from your local lowes or home depot and try gently persuading it by tapping it out from the bottom instead of trying to pull it out from the top side. It looks like the nail you used may have been to big for the hole so make sure if you use a punch it is smaller than the pin that came out to make sure it wont bind in the hole.

I assume you want to remove the doser vane assembly; if so, you need to remove the retention bolt on the underside of the doser:


Photo courtesy of Bernie Digman (flickr)

In the photo above, the pin is knocked down so the bolt can turn. Once it's out of the way, you can follow the steps in How To Remove Mazzer Lower Doser Vane WITHOUT BREAKING!

Hopefully you were able to remove the nail with brute force. If not:

1. Because the coefficient of thermal expansion varies with the two materials of the nail and the plate, heating the area, perhaps with a heat gun, handheld torch, or soldering iron may make enough of a difference to allow the nail to be removed intact. Just remember that metal is conductive so things may get hot. The idea is similar to running hot water on a jar to loosen the lid.

2. If extraction of the intact nail is not possible, you can drill it out. Use a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel to cut the nail relatively flush to the plate, remove as much of the nail as you can with a engraver's burr, then use a sheet metal drill to drill out the nail. Always wear safety glasses when doing this type of work.

3. Strongly consider replacing the brass plate, considering the structural deformation that has probably occurred.

drdna wrote:Hopefully you were able to remove the nail with brute force.

If I understand correctly, the OP can drive the pin out from the other side using a flat head punch. Or just snap it off at the base since it's not causing any harm.

drdna wrote:Strongly consider replacing the brass plate, considering the structural deformation that has probably occurred.

Unless the doser binds, I see no need to worry about replacing parts. One of my kids once knocked my Mazzer Mini off the countertop. Although it dented the doser and took a chunk out of the hardwood floor, it worked fine. I eventually replaced the doser for cosmetic reasons (it wasn't cheap!).

I have not tried again yet because I decided I wanted someone else to help me hold it down.

definitions:
pin = mazzer rolled pin
nail = stuck finishing nail

The nail was not too big for the pin hole. It slid in and out easily at first until I hammered it in.

The pin has not been punched through the other side. I don't think that it has moved at all. I've tried tapping the pin from the bottom towards the top of the doser in order to push the nail out some, but it somehow seems less sturdy from this direction. I'm pretty sure that I have not permanently harmed anything, but when I hit on the pin, the whole assembly (brass colored gear, bolt, star doser vane) move some. In fact, I can push on the bottom and it slides up and down, as if spring loaded, a couple of millimeters. Is that normal? Does this direction require more care? Does this sound like the best idea?

I definitely would like to extract the nail whole above cutting it flush. In that thought, I'm going to try again with locking pliers. I think I might use them like one uses the claw of a hammer. My pliers have a pretty big grabbing width. If I were to grip the nail low, almost flush with the vane, and then push the pliers sideways away from the center bolt, using the top of the vane as a fulcrum, would that break anything? Tons one people have snapped the vanes off, but is the top a bit sturdier?

If that plan doesn't sound good / work, I'll just pull straight up again.

I do have a torch and a soldiering iron, I might try that eventually.

I am extraordinarily appreciative of the help and advice.

Here is an idea I just thought of. Attach a drill to the nail, spin the nail with the drill and pull it out while it is turning. Try to get the nail as straight as possible first. Using a Dremel could also work.

Rather than using the pliers perpendicular to the nail, like a lever, I'd be inclined to grip the nail low with the locking needle-nose pliers roughly parallel to the nail, and then pull up while twisting slightly in each direction. You want to work the nail loose gradually in small increments rather than pry it out with brute force, I think. I don't know how much leverage you'd get from a small pair of needle-nose locking pliers, for one thing (they're quite short), and with the pliers-parallel approach, you can avoid placing stress on the vane.

mini wrote:I have not tried again yet because I decided I wanted someone else to help me hold it down.
The nail was not too big for the pin hole. It slid in and out easily at first until I hammered it in.....

What has seemingly happened is that the softer nail has wedged itself into the rollpin's hollow center and wedged itself in, and thus has increased the pin's pressure onto its surroundings making it even tighter in the bore.

I have a pair of the needlenose locking pliers and they do work well in such instances. I would not suggest twisting on the nail as it will fatigue quickly and break. Attach the pliers as low on the nail as possible so that the handle of the pliers is sticking up out of the doser. Pull straight up, but do not jerk on the pliers. Slowly increase the pulling force. You may even want to apply a strap to the pliers for a better grip. be aware that when it releases the pliers may go flying, so be careful,- no stupidest video entries, please.

Driving it out from the opposite direction with a proper drift is the next step. A quality drill bit of about the same OD as the roll pin is the best choice if a proper drift is not available. File or grind the end of the bit square so that it rides on the pin with no chance of wedging itself into the pin. many light to medium taps n the drift is the best advice.

If the nail breaks off, don't panic. Use a Dremel as suggested earlier and the smallest bit or burr you can find and slowly drill out the nail, and if some of the pin is drilled that's OK.

Bottom line is that you can cut the nail off flush, put it back together, and forget it ever happened, no?

LESSON: A finishing nail is NOT a suitable replacement for a drift.

And you call those cuts!? I get worse than that playing with the cats or washing the cars!