How to extract stripped drywall screw
bigbob2
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
I am trying to resurrect a messed up gooseneck from an interior handrail. The person who installed it used drywall screws to connect the separate pieces….aghhh! Anyway, I got all the ones out I needed to remove except one. I tried to drill and tap it, but the screw is too hard. What do I need to do get this thing out without destroying the surrounding wood? Any ideas? Do I need to get harder drillbit?
Where is Sphere when I need him!!
Replies
First grind off the head, then use a hollow drill screw extractor.
Or, if there is any of the Phillips head left, try an impact driver.
Another option: If you can remove the head (drill/grind/break it off), then often you can separate the two pieces. Then the screw is easily removed with pliers.
the screw is countersunk about 1/4 to 5/16" into the oak rail piece. I don't want to enlarge the hole, so I tried to drill into the screw and tap it to reverse it out. I can't get a bit to drill into it. I can't get to the head to drill it out. ????
I think that for case like this that you need to go oversize.The is a specific wood screw extractor that is basically a hollow tube whose edge has saw teeth cut into it.Drills out a core including the screw.
sometimes you can get away with driving a #1 square drive in to the stripped socket and turning it out that way.. if it won't quite grab us a #2 or a 3 or a 4...
don't beat the square drive in.. tap it in untill it gets a purchase..
a #20 or 25 Torx will work when a philps won't...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Edited 4/7/2005 12:06 am ET by IMERC
drill with a metal drill bit, the same size as the head of the screw. drill untill there is no head left.. then your piece will just pop right apart.
I've had mixed results using the screw extracters sears sells, i've seen them under different brand names
sometimes they worked for me, sometimes they didn't.
the adds say they will extract screws whose heads are stripped.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
You are right, the screw is probably to hard to drill into. Time for Plan B, or is it C? Use a core plug bit, the kind that drills a tapered hole for a tapered plug. You should be able to easily buy pre cut 3/8" diameter plugs. Drill the 3/8" hole centered around the stubborn screw, extract the remains and use needle nose vice grips to unscrew the screw. Install the plug, flush cut, sand, and voila!
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
Get a Left Handed,Multi-Torque, Reverse Thread Piffinizer."If 'tis to be,'twil be done by me."
LOL, I clicked on this thread wondering how long it would take for my name to be brought into this!Odds are, the shank is already broke off about a quartter inch below the shoulder of the head.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I like the above.
What about drilling small holes all round it,worked for me once......There is always one.Must be God testing us out!
Have you tried a left-handed drill bit?
You can buy left hand carbide drill bits at http://www.mscdirect.com that will drill through hardened screws, but it might be cheaper to buy a new gooseneck. You can buy right hand bits, too, but the point of the left hand is that it might grab the screw and turn it out.
Can you mount it in a drill press for better leverage/exact location?
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
Depending upon how deeply the screw is countersunk, and how much cutting you want to have to repair in the wood with color putty.... I have always had good luck cutting a slot in the screw with my dremel and a cutting wheel. Then use a straight screwdriver to extract it.
You got all the screws out but one...right? One drywall screw holding the piece on...right? You know, drywall screws can break.
Use a rubber mallet and whack it hard...or twist it off. The screw will break.
Davo
wasn't it just a short time back we went thru this 'cause one screw was holding a bank of upper cabs???
you listening Piff???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I hurt my back and went to bed early last night - nothing serious - I thihnkWhat I believe I would do with this is to take my wife's dremel with the smallest diamond tip, and surgically remove wood from around the screw shank. After teh joint comes apart, it shouldn't be too hard to twiggle what's left of it out.this kind of stuff is why I hate using SR screws for anything other than SR. When I see it I growl. but when I hear about it like this, I can laugh
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Dino to that. You know..Ditto to ..break the screw.
I am here..pbobly not too much too add tho'.
Heat it witha 40w or higher soldering gun, then needle nose dykes to get a bite on it.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success, is not pleasing others, it is pleasing yourself"
So the head is stripped - in the reverse direction. Could it still have some grab in the forward direction? If so, then continue screwing it down. One of two things will happen: a) the screw will be driven deeper and through the oak (unlikely) or b) the head will snap off. Voila!
Then you can use a 1/16" bit to drill a few holes around the shank of the screw in order to lessen the grab potential of the treads. Next, set a block of wood under the rail/ gooseneck as close to the screw as possible and whack! it up. Voila! all over again.
Frankie
Okay, now I know how many ways there are to skin a cat.. or in this case to extract a screw!! Given that it was impossible to describe exactly the situation when I posted, it's hard for some of you to know that #1)as messed up as it is, this is a goose neck I am trying to save; #2) the screw is very deep, and goes into a 45 degree angle joint connected to a 5" or so return; #3) I have tried to tap/drill it, so there are no slots at ALL left to try to catch.
What seems to be the best idea here is to use the core/plug extractor mentioned in one of the earlier posts. there is plenty of wood, and I am replacing the screw with a legitimate bolt that should have been used in the first place.
If I can get this reinstalled for the client, I can save them some serious $. Thanks for the advice. Some great ideas here for later use, to be sure!
this is first thing you probably tried, but if im wrong, and you havent tried it, try it..Grab the exposed head with small snub-nose vise-grips and twist it out.______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
so how would he get the nose of the pliers down in that hole around the screw?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
perhaps im picturing the situation innacurately. (yikes, sorry about my poor spelling)______________________________________________
--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad
One more idea. For this you need to be real good friends with a dentist, or have a dentist in the family. Cut a slot for a screwdriver in the remains of the head using a dental drill.
-- J.S.
I have had luck in similar situations drilling the head off by using a carbide masonry bit. Better if the bit is new or if you can sharpen, yes you can sharpen a masonry bit on a 'grey wheel' on a bench grinder but it wears the wheel a little, it some.
Masonry bits are sold cheap and you only need a 3/8" or so. Might be with buying a new Vermont American, any cheap brand, masonry bit. Idea is to drill square into the head. Effectively removing the material of the head of the screw until it is either gone or the material fastened will slide off of it.
Good luck.
If the head is still there try an impact driver, a hand held mechanic's tool you strike with a hammer while twisting. A little valve lapping compound on the head will increase traction. Every northern shade tree mechanic knows this stuff.
was hanging doors all weekend.... love Gary Katz's door-hangin jig! I went into my favorite tool shop on Friday looking for the screw remover that reminds me of a hole saw. He didn't have one. So when I get a chance in the next day or so, I am going to use a plug cutter. Best idea so far given the depth of the screw in the wood, (so it would be impossible to get anything down there to cut it off.)
I have not tried this, but I have heard of people using steel tubbing from an auto supply store. Used for brake lines. And using a file and sawing teeth in one end.