Hi Folks, We are presently restoring a Frati Orchestrion which had
almost every screw in the stack break off leaving about a third of the
thread still in the wood. No part of the old screw above the wood.
After working on 2 screws (of the aprox 60+) for half an hour I decided
to use my head and try a few other methods. The best I found was to
take a piece of brass tubing about 5/64 worked best on these screws,
cut the brass into lengths of about 2 inches and place in my electric
hand drill. I then simply placed the brass tube into the hole where the
old screw was broken off and drill down. Always go slightly deeper than
the broken screw, that way the wood below the screw will snap off
inside the brass  letting you pull up the brass tube, leaving a clean
hole minus the old screw. If the screw still won't let go Just undo the
drill chuck leaving the brass tube in the wood and pinch the brass tube
with your pliers, this tightenes the brass around the broken screw, and
turn brass tube and screw out. The brass tube will be pluged solid so a
new tube is needed for each screw. We then drill out the screw hole
with a proper size bit and put a hardwood dowel in the hole and glue
with Tightbond This dowel is then drilled ready for the new screw. I'm
sure everyone out there knew about this trick but me but if you didn't
I hope it helps you out sometime.

Ron Schmuck  The Great Canadian Nickelodeon Co.Ltd.