Fastening collar removal apparatus, methods of making a fastening collar removal apparatus, and methods of removing a fastening collar secured to a fastener

A method of making a fastening collar removal apparatus comprising:

• forming a collet in a closed configuration, the collet comprising:
• a first section comprising a substantially cylindrical shape;
• and
• a second section operatively coupled to the first section, the second section comprising:
• a collet cavity extending therein, wherein the collet cavity is configured to receive at least a portion of a fastening collar secured to a fastener;
• and
• at least two fingers formed by at least two axial channels in the second section, wherein at least one of the at least two fingers comprises a blade extending inwardly relative to a longitudinal axis of the collet;
• and
• inserting a fixture into the collet cavity to spread apart the fingers, thereby changing the closed configuration of the collet to an open configuration, wherein in the open configuration each of the at least two fingers comprises an outward taper relative to a longitudinal axis of the collet;
• heat treating the collet in the open configuration to create a heat-treated collet;
• and
• removing the fixture from the heat-treated collet.

A method for removing a fastening collar secured to a fastener comprising:

• positioning a collet cavity of a fastening collar removal apparatus around the fastening collar secured to the fastener, the fastening collar removal apparatus comprising:
• a collet comprising:
• a first section comprising a substantially cylindrical shape;
• and
• a second section operatively coupled to the first section, the second section comprising:
• a collet cavity extending therein, wherein the collet cavity is configured to receive at least a portion of the fastening collar;
• and
• at least two fingers formed by at least two axial channels in the second section, wherein at least one of the at least two fingers comprises a blade extending inward relative to a longitudinal axis of the collet, wherein in an open configuration of the collet each of the at least two fingers comprises an outward taper relative to a longitudinal axis of the collet;
• and
• an anvil comprising a first end, a second end, and an anvil cavity extending into the anvil from the first end and configured to receive the collet, the anvil configured to decrease the outward taper of the at least two fingers responsive to forcible contact between the first end of the anvil and the second section of the collet;
• after the positioning, forcibly contacting the second section of the collet with the first end of the anvil and thereby decreasing the taper of the at least two fingers;
• and
• deforming the fastening collar by forcible contact with the blade on the at least one of the at least two fingers, thereby enabling removal of the fastening collar from the fastener.