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By the looks of things, a "handy" homeowner glued a tub drain in place well over 20 years ago. The metal is now so corroded and brittle that it's falling apart with minimal amount of pressure. It has no crossbars for a drain key, it's too brittle for an extractor, and there's barely any metal left for pliers (just a bit where the threads were glued). I'm at a complete loss as for how to remove this thing.

Busted drain

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  • A thin small screwdriver Work it slowly between metal and plastic threaded area until you can get needle nosed pliers in. Then peel the metal away from the plastic
    – Kris
    Sep 5, 2021 at 12:50

2 Answers 2

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Get a hacksaw blade and slowly cut a vertical slot in the metal. Check the cut often because you don't want to cut into the threads, just touch them. Then try to bend outward at the cut. If it doesn't break at that point, cut another slot the same way about an inch away from the first slot and pry that section out.

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  • Thanks mate! My hacksaw has terrible teeth and it wasn't doing much more than surface scratches. It gave me an idea tho, and I was able to get it off in a few seconds with a dremel. Threads are still in tact and a new drain has been installed.
    – Xerk
    Sep 5, 2021 at 15:47
  • Glad it worked out.... Good question and good photo for your first one.
    – JACK
    Sep 5, 2021 at 16:30
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I've successfully used what I call an inside-out pipe wrench. It grabs the inside of a pipe.

The correct name is a Drain Key. It was a little awkward to use but it works. There are other models and versions.

enter image description here

https://www.grainger.com/product/SUPERIOR-TOOL-Drain-Key-Drain-Key-1TKC2

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