Vermont Castings Madison coil thermostat rod broke off

[CordWrangler]

I have a Vermont Castings Madison with the coil thermostat adjustment. When adjusting it the other day, the rod part broke off and I'm left with a piece still in the hole. I put some penetrating oil on it but can't seem to get a good enough grip to turn it out. I can sort of get a hold of it with a needle nose pliers, but not enough to unscrew it

I've never used a tap and die set, so I'm not confident I could redo the hole. Also, the rod is so small that I'm not sure an extractor would work.

Because it screws into the cast iron of the stove, does that make it more difficult?

Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated on getting the rod out of the hole?

 

[mellow]

Can vice grips get ahold of it? I would put that on then use a torch to heat up the rod and see if you can get it to unscrew.

Short of that I would try a small extractor (ez out).

 

[CordWrangler]

I've tried vice grips but can not get a hold of it. I can sort of get a hold of it with a very slender needle nose pliers but can not turn it. I even tried to turn it when we had a fire going, thinking the heat might help but still couldn't get it to turn.

This rod is probably only about 1/8" diameter. Is that too small for an extractor?

 

[mellow]

The smallest bit and extractor on this harbor freight set should work: http://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-screw-extractor-set-40349.html

Might want to buy a higher quality bit at a local box store.