Methods for removing stripped and broken wood screws

When screwing a self-tapping screw into solid wood, you may encounter the notch on its head being torn off or the head itself being torn off. As a result, a screwdriver or screwdriver can no longer unscrew the damaged fastener. Despite such difficulties, it is possible to remove a damaged screw in several ways.

Restoring a notch on a soft cap

With soft screws, the notch on the head breaks off even when screwing in, so dismantling later is problematic. This problem is especially common on door hinges, since the gold-plated screws that come with them are worthless. But they can be unscrewed if you take a good bit from a screwdriver and with a couple of blows of a hammer, like a chisel, squeeze out a new notch in the head.

Application of the extractor

For screwdrivers, special extractors made of hardened steel with threads are sold, which can cut into the self-tapping screw and get stuck in it. Afterwards the nozzle is unscrewed with the screw. This device will help even with licked bolts.

Warming up the screw

This method allows you to unscrew a screw with a damaged cross, if it is still partially preserved. Using a soldering iron or iron, you need to heat the fastener head. Heating will cause the wood near it to dry out, so the actual diameter of the planting hole will increase. Of course, the metal screw itself will expand, but after cooling it will return to its usual volume. Perhaps after this a slight notch will be enough to unscrew the fastener.

Cutting a groove in the wood around the head

If you are doing rough work, when the aesthetics of the surface is not so important, you can simply cut a groove in the wood around the head so that you can then grab the screw with pliers and unscrew it. The method will help if the self-tapping screw is not long and the wood is soft, since otherwise it will require more effort than can be developed with your hands.

Notch on the screw shaft without a head

When screwing long balls into hard wood, the cap often comes off, leaving only the threaded rod sticking out. If it cannot be unscrewed with pliers, then you need to cut a groove on it with the edge of a file or a hacksaw. After this, you can try to unscrew the fasteners with an ordinary flat-head screwdriver.

Drilling fasteners together with wood

You can simply drill a hole around the screw with a tubular cutter or core drill.

Since such attachments are drilled only along the rim, the screw itself will remain intact. Having gone deep enough, you can simply break out the screw along with the surrounding wood. There will be a large hole in the center that needs to be filled with an insert of a suitable diameter; if the surface is then painted, the defect will be invisible.

When drilling with a factory-made or homemade cutter made from a steel tube, it is difficult to hold a drill that breaks out, so it is better to use a drilling machine.

If you need to work with a drill or screwdriver, then to position the cutter you can use a homemade stop made of a piece of wood. It is enough to drill a through hole in it and apply the template to the screw head, and it will not allow the cutter to move to the side.

These methods will allow you to remove fasteners even from hard wood, regardless of the degree of damage. Of course, you have to tinker, so if you have to screw bad screws into hard wood, then it is better to lubricate the surface of the thread with wax or soap. Such fasteners are easier to tighten, so the situation with the head breaking off or the notch breaking off will happen less often. Unfortunately, if the screw has been in the wood for a long time and needs to be unscrewed, then wax and soap will no longer help, so you will have to use one of the proposed methods.