I did it.

I couldn't get everybody hot and bothered and let it slide so I went into the shop and did pretty much what I thought. First I punched a not-quite centered dent in the back of the screw. Then I chucked an aircraft bit in the drill press on a slow setting and drilled almost through it. I heated it with a torch to loosen the screw, seated an easy-out in the hole and it absolutely wouldn't budge. So, I reamed it with an even bigger aircraft bit, chopped in on maybe 3/4 mm of the screw proud of the surface to destroy the remnants of the threads with a sharpened prick-punch and a pair of hemostats. That took a few minutes and I was lucky I had something to work with.

Once I had enough threads clean to seat the screw from another plane, turning that drove the other chunks into the cavity. The threaded portion of the hole is only about 5/16" deep and then it opens up in the housing. Most of the old screw is still in that cavity. I cleaned up the swarf, dried it off and put it back on the shelf pending a new screw from Ebay.

Thanks again and best wishes on your projects and for the holidays. sh

Cheers, sh