Thread: Help please need a good screw extractor for #2 screw

So, you may already know all this but with a screw that gauge you should wax the thread, screw it half way in then remove, wax again and in you go again to the hilt.
Is the screw for a hinge? what type? is there enough cover from the hinge to allow you to dig around it then grab it with point nose pliers then fill the hole?
Can you move the hinge to one side and start again.

I've been caught in that situation, and resorted to using a small (1mm or 1/16") drill on either side of the screw, then working needle-nose pliers down to wriggle and extract the screw. I then drilled a 1/4" hole and glued in a plug.
I now use steel waxed screws first, then replace them with brass ones at the finish. Steel screws are a bit like hens' teeth though, especially 2g.

An engineer on a guitar forum told how to do this . Its very good.

Get a bit of 1/4 " or 1/2" plate steel . Drill a hole through it with a diameter the same as your screw problem.
You've now made what I was told is called a Dummy Plate.
Place the DP hole directly over your screw with paper or leather in between to protect the finish and help stop it moving sideways.
Clamp it down both ends. Drill out the screw. The DP stops the drill sliding off the top of the screw as it drills it out.

Rob

I’ve got 2 options for you. Firstly one of those diamond drill bits you get to drill a hole into tiles. Get a 5/6mm one to suit the size of your dowel and your good to go. Alternatively I used a piece of brass tubing in the same size with some slots filed onto the one edge to make a cutting edge. It works just as well and leaves a perfect hole to plug with a dowel and start again.

You can see my brass tube in action in this post

Yet another walnut box
Yet another walnut box

Some great suggestions above. If you think you’re likely to find yourself in this position regularly a surgical-quality trephine might help. Search for ‘osteo trephine’ or ‘dental trephine’. First example I found:

3C83BAA9-082B-4EC2-A74C-68ED7C409236.jpg

Regards,

Brian

Originally Posted by auscab

An engineer on a guitar forum told how to do this . Its very good.

Get a bit of 1/4 " or 1/2" plate steel . Drill a hole through it with a diameter the same as your screw problem.
You've now made what I was told is called a Dummy Plate.
Place the DP hole directly over your screw with paper or leather in between to protect the finish and help stop it moving sideways.
Clamp it down both ends. Drill out the screw. The DP stops the drill sliding off the top of the screw as it drills it out.

Rob

Hi Rob, Do you set the drill on reverse to drill the screw out, or do you mean you drill through the screw?

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

Hi Rob, Do you set the drill on reverse to drill the screw out, or do you mean you drill through the screw?

Yeah Sam you drill right through the screw. As long as its Brass or Mild steel it works very well. The Dummy Plate guides it so it stays on top of the screw. That's impossible to do free hand.
With the later hardened steel modern screws it wont be working . You would have to use the hollow tube type extractor for them .
Or drill a lot of small 1mm to 1.5 mm drill holes around the screw until it loosens. That just means plugging a bigger hole with your timber.

Originally Posted by auscab

An engineer on a guitar forum told how to do this . Its very good.

Get a bit of 1/4 " or 1/2" plate steel . Drill a hole through it with a diameter the same as your screw problem.
You've now made what I was told is called a Dummy Plate.
Place the DP hole directly over your screw with paper or leather in between to protect the finish and help stop it moving sideways.
Clamp it down both ends. Drill out the screw. The DP stops the drill sliding off the top of the screw as it drills it out.

Rob

That is a fantastic suggestion. I frequently work with very hard exotic hardwoods and have had this happen more than once. The last one happened in some Bubinga. I drilled the pilot hole slightly oversize. I waxed a steel screw and ran it in and out. The brass screw still snapped! Very frustrating after spending hours and hours making the box only to have that happen at final assembly.

Originally Posted by ciscokid

That is a fantastic suggestion. I frequently work with very hard exotic hardwoods and have had this happen more than once. The last one happened in some Bubinga. I drilled the pilot hole slightly oversize. I waxed a steel screw and ran it in and out. The brass screw still snapped! Very frustrating after spending hours and hours making the box only to have that happen at final assembly.

So ... if so many makers are experiencing brass screws snapping during install .... then what happens in use over the longer term for the customer???

The screws that you managed to "just" get in before they snapped will have been stressed significantly to the point of almost failing and are at risk of then failing in normal use.

Not good for your reputation as a maker. Probably a good case for brass plated steel screws imho.

Hi Everybody. Thank you all for the good advice. I decided to try and recommend for all to buy the Un-screw-um from Fuller. Screw Extractor Sets

The reviews of these types of products on woodcraft and rockler were poor seems many broke. I researched and found what look like a great company and I am not sure what grade steel they used I think its HSS. Anyway they work like a charm you can buy 1 for I think $10 or a set for around $50 (5 bits) sizes 5/32”, 3/16”, 7/32”, 1/4”, and 5/16” unscrew-ums see pics- This is extremely hard purpleheart and I was right off the edge less then a 16th and it cut perfectly. I will post pics later- Thanks again- Barry

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

So ... if so many makers are experiencing brass screws snapping during install .... then what happens in use over the longer term for the customer???

Nothing . Once they are in they are fine.

You quickly learn with brass screws there is no cranking them around tighter trying to get the slots all lined up.

I sometimes have given a hole waiting for a brass screw a tap with a tapered punch that matches the screw . And inserted a steel screw first as well. + bees wax or paraffin.

Originally Posted by ciscokid

That is a fantastic suggestion.

It is a good one . Imagine building a guitar and the last thing fitting the tuners to the polished head and that happens. It happens a lot . same with doing repairs on old guitars. The forum I read it on was The Australian and New Zealand Luthiers Forum . The engineer was a New Zealand member. I forget his user name though.

Originally Posted by ciscokid

I frequently work with very hard exotic hardwoods and have had this happen more than once. The last one happened in some Bubinga. I drilled the pilot hole slightly oversize. I waxed a steel screw and ran it in and out. The brass screw still snapped! Very frustrating after spending hours and hours making the box only to have that happen at final assembly.

You went to so much effort on that one . You must have tried to hard ? Or tried lining screw slots up ? Were they slotted?

I have broken steel screws trying to hard. Mild steel ones.

The guy who invents a way of perfectly aligning slots in screws would be appreciated. The starting point of a thread and the slot are probably different on every screw (Ive never checked ). The only way would be test fitting each screw to see where the slot ends up when the screw is tight and adjusting the starting point in the job for each screw.

You fellas talking about waxing threads on screws reminded me of once when I was making house frames on a job and one bloke would rub a 3" nail in his hair to "grease it up" to be able to not bend the nail during the hammer process. Now that I am "old" Carpenter I can pass on these little rituals.

On the same job we had a German and Italian in the crew. We were nailing up Gyprock with Clouts. The Italian asked the German for some Clouts that he needed to finish that sheet.....he "hay John give me some Clouts" and the reply came from the German...."No Clouts in Australia, only sunshine". The Italian's English was not good enough to get the joke