removing wood screw

[joe milana]

So i'm puttin' in the last screw on 7 pair of full mortice hinges and I snap the head off the screw! F@#%! How do I get the broken screw out? In the medical field, a trephine is used which cuts a core out removing the screw and a cylinder of bone. Is there a "core" drill that would drill a 1/4" core hole, then I could glue a dowel in the hole, and drive a new screw?

[Richard Wolf]

Joe, make your own core bit out of 1/4" brass rod found in hobby shops. File teeth in the brass with a file.

Richard

[Jim O'Dell]

I believe that there is. I have no idea where you would get one. Rockler, Woodcraft and Mcfeeley's would be the first places I would look. Jim.

[Lee Schierer]

Sorry to hear your problem. Yes they make a hollow drill for removing screws they are called screw extractors and several sources sell them. http://www.woodcraft.com/Images/products/124210_230.jpgWoodcraft is one source.

To avoid future problems, drill correctly sized pilot holes and always lube the threads of your wood screws with beeswax (toilet bowl rings work, but may leave stains). Parafin does not work very well. You can get bees wax from any beekeeper or from some of the normal woodwork supply houses. A few candles are made from beeswax. A beekeeper will be the best value for quantity.

When inserting brass screws "tap" the hole with a similar sized steel screw.

Good luck.

[Dave Sepucha]

I've had luck with cheapo screw extractor kits. HD carries them and they're typically next to the drill bits.

This is a cheap set from Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-16270-Extractor-5-Piece/dp/B000KKR7JM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1261429256&sr=8-3

[Michael Poller]

I have something along these lines:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952157000P?keyword=screw+extractor

Though it's not that exact one because I remember it being cheaper.

Has proven to be very very useful and has helped me remove busted or stripped screws many times with ease.

[joe milana]

Joe, make your own core bit out of 1/4" brass rod found in hobby shops. File teeth in the brass with a file.

Richard

Richard, I have some brass tubing, but I figured it would be too soft.

[joe milana]

I've had luck with cheapo screw extractor kits. HD carries them and they're typically next to the drill bits.

This is a cheap set from Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-16270-Extractor-5-Piece/dp/B000KKR7JM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1261429256&sr=8-3

Problem is, these are tiny #3 screws. Not much to grab hold of

[joe milana]

Sorry to hear your problem. Yes they make a hollow drill for removing screws they are called screw extractors and several sources sell them. Woodcraft is one source.

To avoid future problems, drill correctly sized pilot holes and always lube the threads of your wood screws with beeswax (toilet bowl rings work, but may leave stains). Parafin does not work very well. You can get bees wax from any beekeeper or from some of the normal woodwork supply houses. A few candles are made from beeswax. A beekeeper will be the best value for quantity.

When inserting brass screws "tap" the hole with a similar sized steel screw.

Good luck.

Lee, Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks.
These supposedly ARE steel (nickel) screws from horton. They are not magnetic though. Maybe nickel plated brass. I've always used a bar of soap. I'll give the beeswax a try.

[Chris Eck]

If the screw is still proud of the surface, a quick fix I use at times is to use a small hack saw to carve a new flathead "groove" in the screw body. Once it's deep enough, you can simply unscrew it with a thin flathead screwdriver. I had to do this on a brass hinge screw for a tea box I made a few months ago.

[Kevin Groenke]

If the screw is still proud of the surface, a quick fix I use at times is to use a small hack saw to carve a new flathead "groove" in the screw body. Once it's deep enough, you can simply unscrew it with a thin flathead screwdriver. I had to do this on a brass hinge screw for a tea box I made a few months ago.

You can do the same thing if it's broken at the surface by using a thin abrasive cut off disc in a dremel tool to make the slot (especially if the hinge will cover the area around the screw).

[Thomas S Stockton]

If the hinge has three holes just put in the other two and take an extra screw and cut the head off of it and epoxy or superglue it in place. Nobody will ever know and it won't really make it any weaker. You should do this after the piece is finished and if possible in place and no other adjustments will be needed. you might need to file down the backside of the screwhead to make it sit flush.
If you want to get it out I usually drill a series of small holes around the broken screw right up next to the brass, you can then grab it with a pair of needle nose pliers and screw it out.
Plug the hole with something and your good to try it again. I use wax on little screws and pre-drill. depending on the wood taping the hole with a steel screw helps a lot, but I find wax makes the biggest difference.
Tom



















Tom

[Josiah Bartlett]

If you can't find one of those screw extractor bits then a plug cutter bit works just as well, it just hogs out more wood.

[Dick Bringhurst]

I've used the ones Lee shows. The first time I used it it walked all over the place. Take a piece of thin scrap and get a hole through if with the extractor, then clamp the scrap piece over the broken screw as a guide to prevent the "walking". Dick B.

[Lee Schierer]

Lee, Exactly what I was looking for! Thanks.
These supposedly ARE steel (nickel) screws from horton. They are not magnetic though. Maybe nickel plated brass. I've always used a bar of soap. I'll give the beeswax a try.

Both nickel and steel are magnetic, so if your screws aren't it is unlikely they are either material.

Soap is hydroscopic (it attracts water) so it may rust steel screws. Some soaps also contain oils which may stain the wood. Beeswax will not stain the wood and won't mess up solvent based stains or finishes. I just drag the threads across a bar of wax and drive the screw. It takes half the torque with bees wax to drive a screw as compared to the same raw screw.

[J D Thomas]

What Lee posted is exactly what I had to do in exactly the same situation you encounter. The last damn hinge screw in an Arts & Crafts end table I built snapped. And I even "pre-tapped" the screw hole with a steel screw and the POC still broke. Why do hinge makers included such inferior screws! But I digress...

Get one of these extractors and IIRC they're run in reverse on your drill. I then drilled the resulting hole a bit larger to make way for a white oak plug. The good news is that it's covered by the hinge. Bad news it just takes longer to finish things.