Extracting stripped screws

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Rick Granick

Rick Granick

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This is tangentially related to equipment... I'm repainting the wooden seats and backs of chairs that are screwed to the metail chair frame with "cheapass" flat head hex screws. Several of the screws are in so ridiculously tight that the hex holes have stripped out. Two out of the four chairs are finished and they look great, so I'm hoping to be able to get these other two chair backs off. The seats on these are finished too. Any advice on how I can get these stuck screws out?
:whacky: Rick

bracket.jpg
threads.jpg
screw.jpg
 
If you have a rotary tool (Dremel) you could make a slot and use a flathead driver.
 
As small as those screws are, I wouldn’t be too hopeful of making a screw extractor work. I’d try using a piece of rubber to help your Allen key get a bite. If you can budge it, you could then grab it with vise grips and spin it out. Then replace with better screws.

Good luck!!
 
Thanks, everyone. I got a 2-ended screw extractor bit. It did need to get far down into the screw head, but it worked! Had to do 3 screws total. I watched a video of Tommy from This Old House showing how to do it.
:popc: Rick

That Ryobi set looks nice, but I just bought a single bit. I had to guess on the gauge of the screw (it's Metric), but picked the right size one.
These screws only had hex drive for aesthetic reasons. They were made of pretty soft metal, though. :icon11:

(BTW, I chose the Rolleye smiley because that's what my wife does when I start "talking shop".)
 
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