Five methods to remove a stripped screw

Use better screws. If I twist the head off a screw, my first thought is about the economy of cheap zinc washed screws and how I thought saving $0.10 pales next to wasting 10 minutes of my time removing the broken cheap screw.

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Do I have to watch this video, or may I just say that diagonal cutters are a very good way to get a stripped pan head screw unstuck.

And yeah, don’t go near a power driver, David, until you learn how to set the clutch low enough that it gets to do its job to save your screws. And replace your Phillips driver bits often, and use the right size!

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Spoken like a true Canadian :wink:

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No true Canadian uses Phillips screws (unless forced to by the fact that the goddammed things are everywhere).

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SpeedOut also works well on security screws

My Gods I feel manly for watching that commercial. I think I grew hair on my chest!

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Also, don’t use a Phillips driver for a Pozidriv screw.

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Oh, I don’t disagree with you, I hate freakin phillips. There’s just something about getting a Canuck started on Robertson; if they have an opinion it’s always a strong one- consternation mixed up with national pride in way I haven’t seen one react to anything else.

I see a slotted screw, I figure you took the time to put it in carefully. I see Robertson or torx I figure you knew what you were doing. I see phillips and I know you just grabbed the cheapest crap at hand.

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You have no idea the weight that came off my shoulders when I learned to adjust the clutch while building.

“More power is better, right!?”

My LiON impact wrench is my FSM tool of choice. Enough power to send a 3" screw through hard wood (why would I do that!?), and a clutch so easy to use even a moran like me can figure it out. Never stripped anything with it.

Now, my 15 amp dual handle driver is for… Different… Tasks.

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I think it has something to do with the fact that almost all regular screws sold in Canada are Robertson head, so any DIY’er has a lot of experience with them. When it becomes necessary to work with Phillips and other fasteners, their inferiority is frustrating, not to mention having to own a zillion screwdrivers of different types when four Robertsons would do just about anything.

And that’s just my short-form rant. :grin:

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With great testosterone comes great responsibility.

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There’s a nice moment at 8:09 in that video: The spinning 1/4" hex drive on the screw bit appears twisted. Probably because of the scan rate of the CCD in the camera that captured the footage. Neat.

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manual impact driver - - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NPPATS/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b2cMYAl_c_x_w

or JIS screwdrivers (swoon) https://www.amazon.com/Hozan-JIS-4-JIS-Screwdriver-3rd/dp/B00A7WAHTU

I stripped a screw just last week, trying to change a washer in a leaky faucet (I did the wd40 thing first because it wouldn’t move, but because of the distance and angle I couldn’t get in with enough force to move it, just enough force to strip it.

I didn’t have any extractor bits, although I tried needle-nose vise-grips but couldn’t get a grip.
Turns out I did come up with one of the solutions - using a dremel to cut a flathead slot which worked well but did some damage around it, but then it gets covered up in the end.

I think the phillips are far more likely to get stripped than robertson (square) and still don’t get why robertson screws dont get used much in the US, they are superior. (I’m in Canada).

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I have a bendy screwdriver that goes round corners. It’s brilliant for fiddly shit like that.

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My brother-in-law who is a plumber showed me one like that - with a ratchet as well.

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That’s the badger, aye. People keep asking to ‘borrow’ it, and I’m all like, fuck no, cos I’ll never see it again.

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Very timely as I had a stubborn TapCon in the brick outside my office door. Rubber band failed, but #2 loading the screw head into the drill chuck directly did allow me to finally back it out.

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5 - plug cutter? No way I’m gonna risk chewing up my precision plug cutter on a cheap wood screw.

How about #5: vice grips?

Actually, here’s my list:
1: use a quality, not-worn-out, driver bit
2: learn how to use the clutch
3: predrill when needed,
when needed:
4: vice-grips,
or, rarely:
5: left-handed drill bit and extractor

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