Advice on how to repair sheared cabinet hinge screw

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Any ideas on how to fix this?
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I’m not sure how to get the broken part out to put a new screw in.

I’d like to get a screw in since it is only 2 screws per hinge.


It is 1 of 3 hinges for the door so it may be ok to glue it in once finished. Any advice to repair it is appreciated.

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[Zachary Hoyt]

I would take the hinge off and drill down beside the broken screw end using an old drill bit, then use needle nose pliers, and anything else you may need, but try to keep all the damage on the side of the broken screw toward the main body of the hinge. Then once the broken screw is gone I would drill a larger hole or a pair of holes that remove all of the damaged wood and plug the hole or holes with a glued in dowel. Then once the glue is dry cut off the dowel flush to the wood, drill a new screw hole and put in your new screw. You should be able to keep all of the dowel under the hinge if you're careful. I would use a real hardwood dowel, oak or maple or something, not ramin wood like you get at the hardware store. If you have a plug cutter you could make a plug out of a scrap from the wood you used to build the cabinet so it would match, instead of using a dowel. There are doubtless other ways, this is just my suggestion.

[Steve Demuth]

I would make an attempt to screw the stub out with drill and screw extractor, or just a left hand drill, but I don't think you'll succeed. I wouldn't push that - take care not to do more irreparable damage. After that doesn't work, the best thing to do is to core the screw out, make yourself a dowel with matching wood, including grain), glue it in, and start over. You've got enough hide from the hinge that the match may not even matter, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Doug Garson]

I would trace the outline of the hinge on the cabinet and then remove the hinge. You now can use a sharp narrow chisel to remove enough wood from around the screw (keeping inside the area covered by the hinge) so you can grip it with a pair of vice grips and twist it out or pry it out. Fill the hole with filler (thickened epoxy would be my first choice), drill new hole using the hinge as a guide preferably with a Vix bit (self centering bit) and replace the screw.

[Sanford Imhoff]

The best tool I've found for removing small broken screws is the UNSCREW-UMS.

https://tltools.com/

[glenn bradley]

I have used these (https://www.woodcraft.com/search?q=%23124210&button=search) and made my own with tubing using a file to crudely cut the teeth.

[Bill Dufour]

Buy a hollow roll pin that just goes over the screw shank. Grind one tooth at the split like a hole saw. Use it as a hole saw and go m as deep as the screw tip.
I would then cut a round plug to glue into the hole. Make sure it is cross grain not end grain like most dowels that you can buy. Then either drill it for a new woodscrew or drill it for a machine screw and nut.washer on the back side. If space allows use a fender washer even if you have to grind it oval to hide it.
Bil lD.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-8-Pack-36-mm-Roll-Pins/4563414
PS: They make left handed drill bits that may work to get it unscrewed.
(https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-8-Pack-36-mm-Roll-Pins/4563414)

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Great advice!
The roll pin idea would’ve been perfect.
I took Zach’s advice and drilled beside it then used needle nose pliers to turn it out.
I didn’t even think about end grain versus straight grain for my dowel. That’s good advice too.
I drilled it for a 1/4” dowel but the top was a little bigger so I turned a dowel down on my lathe that had a taper to fill the hole.
it looks like it worked out well. I’ll get a screw later and finish the repair.

Thanks for the quick and helpful advice!!
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[Jim Becker]

I have these little "screw remover" things that were clearly made from a cotter pin type thing but likely hardened and they have "teeth" on the end that help grip the broken screw. They have "saved the bacon" a number of times over the years.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Jim I’ll have to buy a set of those for next time!

[andy bessette]

The ones I have look like this, except the teeth are reversed so you run the drill in reverse.

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[Jim Becker]

The ones I have look like this, except the teeth are reversed so you run the drill in reverse.

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Yup...exactly what I was describing. Thanks for posting the image!

[andy bessette]

Forget who I ordered them from, one of the popular online/mail-order outfits had them in a set of 3(?).
One caution--you have to be careful against not tightening the drill chuck too much, or these might collapse, as they are brittle.

[Bill Dufour]

The roll pins are hardened spring steel so they last. How many times are you going to use this tool anyway? esy to resharpen with a dremel.
Bil lD

[Zachary Hoyt]

That's a smart idea about the roll pins, I'll have to remember that one.

[Andy D Jones]

The best tool I've found for removing small broken screws is the UNSCREW-UMS.

https://tltools.com/

Thanks for the link; that's going on my Christmas list!

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Andy I agree but I think I'll beat Santa Claus to it and place an order. Thanks Sanford!

[Lee Schierer]

Eric, a good way to avoid shearing screws of any size is to (1) drill pilot holes and (2) lubricate the threads by dragging them across a lump of bees wax. I don't recommend soap because they can contain oils which will stain your wood and paraffin doesn't stick to the threads very well.

[Mark Wooden]

After I lost the store bought version made from a spring pin (referred to as "roll" pin here), I started making my own, only take a few minutes with a triangle file to file the teeth. The idea is to use the size thats close to the root diameter-the shank- of the screw and start sawing around and down it with the drill running in reverse. The spring pin will expand a little and grip the screw shank and wind it out most,-in my experience, all- of the time, no filler plug needed. And if it doesn't, it'll core around the shank and then pull it out, which has never happened to me. I even backed a broken tap out of some aluminum plate with one once.
I forget the name of the company that was making them commercially, but they are a great little CYA tool!

[Tom Bender]

Installing a dowel and cutting it off flush can result in scarring the adjacent finish. Better to install the right length dowel so it drives just below the surface. A little more prep but then you're done.

[andy bessette]

Installing a dowel and cutting it off flush can result in scarring the adjacent finish. Better to install the right length dowel so it drives just below the surface. A little more prep but then you're done.

Actually it is better to install a plug, not a dowel, with the grain lined up with the parent wood. Cutting it off flush then involves just a few strokes from a chisel, which can usually be done without scarring the surrounding finish. The plug necessarily must be finished. This for making a repair that will show.

Otherwise, if the repair can be hidden beneath the hinge, a dowel will work fine.

[Thomas McCurnin]

+1 on a hollow screw extractor, then a dowel.

[Wayne Cannon]

The ones I have look like this, except the teeth are reversed so you run the drill in reverse.

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That's what I use, followed by a plug. Makes a very neat job.

I have also had success with "screw extractors" for larger screws. They are effectively a left-handerd drill designed to bite into the screw once started, and back it out. However, the screw extractors are hard to keep centered on small screws & damage the surrounding wood near the surface, again, for small screws.

[Phil Mueller]

To prevent delicate screws from breaking, I add a little insurance by pre-screwing the pilot hole with a properly sized gimlet. I rub a little wax on the gimlet which “lubricates“ the threads in the wood for the screw.

[Jim Becker]

That's what I use, followed by a plug. Makes a very neat job.

If you have the right size of those toothed extractors, it will grab the broken off fastener and back it out of the hole, not requiring plugging...just a new screw.

[Alan Lightstone]

To prevent delicate screws from breaking, I add a little insurance by pre-screwing the pilot hole with a properly sized gimlet. I rub a little wax on the gimlet which “lubricates“ the threads in the wood for the screw.

That's what I do too. I've broken off too many screws in the past. Especially the little brass ones. Aaarghhh!!!

[Floyd Mah]

Here's another way to back out a broken screw. Use a Dremel tool with an abrasive disc, the thin ones that can cut off metal. Cut a groove in the screw shank that you can fit a flat head screw driver in and give it a try. I know flat head screw drivers aren't the best for turning screws, especially ones that are tight, but it's a 5 minute solution if it works. If it doesn't work, it doesn't burn any bridges and you can go on to something else.