The head of a screw is stripped and you want to get it out? Instead of buying special tools or drilling it out you should try a rubber band first. It can help you remove a stripped screw in no time.
The Trick With the Rubber Band
If a screwdriver does not hold anymore in the stripped head of a screw use a rubber band. Put it between the screw and the screwdriver and push down as hard as you can while trying to turn the screwdriver. The rubber increases the friction and gives the screwdriver much more grip. While the metal of the driver tends to easily slip on the screw, it now gets a much better hold.
- The head of this screw is quite damaged…
- …and the screwdriver looses its grip.
- Placing a rubber band in between…
- …makes it easy to turn the stripped screw.
- Make sure to only use rubber bands you don’t need anymore!
- Not a lot of tools are needed to remove a stripped screw.
Other Ways to Remove a Stripped Screw
If the screw is really damaged or so tight that you are not able to turn it by hand you have a few options:
- Use an impact driver. This rather inexpensive tool gives the screw a torque when you hammer on its back.
- Try a screw extractor. With these special bits you first drill a little hole in the center of the screw and then use the threads on the other side to get a grip in the hole.
These two tools are definitely nice to have in your boat’s tool box. If all these options do not work your last resort is to completely drill out the screw and fill the hole with thickened epoxy.
Do you also know a trick or boat hack that makes life on board easier? Let us know so we can write about it!
