Good Screw Extractor ?

[Doug Hobkirk]

I am finally getting around to buying some screw extractors. What works well?

My Sawmill search only found old posts. It seems like there may have been improvements.



I added this to my Amazon Wish List a while ago. Which means at the time I'd seen something that made it seem good. But of course I cannot remember the details now!
Alden 8440P Pro Grabit Broken Bolt and Damaged Screw Extractor 4 Piece Kit (http://www.amazon.com/Alden-8440P-Grabit-Damaged-Extractor/dp/B001A4CWHO/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t?ie=UTF8&colid=33FPG82YOYR27&coliid=I2MNFMQ4T0UDVH)

The top negative review: "First time I used it to extract a broken bolt and the bit broke, lodged firmly inside. Created more work for me, a simple task now made complicated as I could not drill the broken bit out as it was harder then the drill bit I had. Wouldn't dare use it again."


See why I want your feedback?


Thanks

[Jerry Bruette]

Blu point by snap on makes a very good screw extractor set but it's pretty pricey

[Roger Feeley]

I found a set of left handed drill bits at a tool specialty store. I store them with some bolt extractors figuring that drilling the hole for the extractor counter clockwise would be better than aggravating my problem by drilling clockwise. Every time I've used the left-handed bits, the bolt has come out. I haven't used the extractors since.

For extracting broken wood screws, I have some of those hollow bits that drill out the wood around the screw. Then you put in a dowel. They work ok but the dowel is end grain and not optimal.

[Wade Lippman]

For extracting broken wood screws, I have some of those hollow bits that drill out the wood around the screw. Then you put in a dowel. They work ok but the dowel is end grain and not optimal.

I've used those maybe 5 times. About the only thing I use screws for is to attach hinges, and then the hinge hides the dowel.

[Larry Frank]

This is the one that I have and it works pretty well.

Alden 4-Piece Grabit Broken Bolt and Damaged Screw Extractors Set

I like the fact that it has a drill thing on one end that you use first and then turn it around and the extractor fits exactly in the drilled hole.

[Doug Hobkirk]

This is the one that I have and it works pretty well.

Alden 4-Piece Grabit Broken Bolt and Damaged Screw Extractors Set

I like the fact that it has a drill thing on one end that you use first and then turn it around and the extractor fits exactly in the drilled hole.

Well, that's certainly on-point! That's the set I linked to in my original post.

[Ellen Benkin]

I have the Grabit set. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. To remove old deck boards I sometimes had to chisel around the screw until I could grab the head with a set of locking pliers and manually unscrew it. I didn't care about the boards and this was painfully slow but it did work.

[rudy de haas]

I don't know the general answer to this, but did learn about one specific problem the hard way. When we got this house some planks on the outside deck were rotting because of the way it had been built. ( 4 x 4s laid out on plastic on bare ground. The plastic collected water, the 4 x 4s rotted..)

The screw heads were dirt filled and rusted. After trying several kinds of extractors I found the obvious solution: a high presure washer with a very tight nozzle cleaned the heads; after a day or so drying, spraying some rust removing gunk from my local Canadian Tire store and waiting another day let me take most of them out very easily.

The new deck is on well drained gravel, but the lesson I learnt was to clean doubtful screw heads very carefully before trying to remove them.

[Doug Hobkirk]

I don't know the general answer to this, but did learn about one specific problem the hard way. When we got this house some planks on the outside deck were rotting because of the way it had been built. ( 4 x 4s laid out on plastic on bare ground. The plastic collected water, the 4 x 4s rotted..)

The screw heads were dirt filled and rusted. After trying several kinds of extractors I found the obvious solution: a high presure washer with a very tight nozzle cleaned the heads; after a day or so drying, spraying some rust removing gunk from my local Canadian Tire store and waiting another day let me take most of them out very easily.

The new deck is on well drained gravel, but the lesson I learnt was to clean doubtful screw heads very carefully before trying to remove them.

Good lesson, Rudy. Thanks. I will remember that.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I am not sure that I have ever successfully used my set, but I have certainly tried it a few times (like maybe four times). An old rusted screw on a bathtub faucet into the fixture. I ended up drilling it out and rethreading the hole.

has anyone actually successfully used one of these? Perhaps I am just using it incorrectly (looks like the same set you linked to). Step 1, cut into the head (or what ever). Turn it over and those "teeth" should grip the edges. It has simply never been able to grab sufficiently well to turn it out.Perhaps I should search youtube to see someone make it work.

[William C Rogers]

I have used mine twice. Worked like a champ one time, didn't work the other. Based on Amazon reviews seems to work most of the time looking at good vs bad ratings.

[Wayne A Hall]

If you are tying to get screws out of wood, simply drill a few relief holes around the broken screw with a small drill bit. Then take an ordinary roll pin that is equal or smaller than the screw and drive it over the top of the screw. A few turns with a pair of vice grips and it will unscrew. Just make sure you don't drive the screw out the back side. You can buy roll pins at just about any hardware store for just a few cents.

[Stan Calow]

Depends on size of screw and what its in. I had to get out 12 screws that were stuck in oak. The heads snapped off when trying the left-hand drill type extractor. Ended up getting the hollow bit extractor- type, which was burned up and dull after 6 screws. So became a one job buy. Most wood screws I use are too small for the drill to get a grip.

[Ellen Benkin]

Wayne --

That is sort of what I did with my deck screws except I used a cheap chisel to expose the heads of the screws and used a vise grip to grab the heads and unscrew them. It's tedious but it works. Also, I didn't care about beating up the boards as they were going to the dump.