How to remove a stripped screw?
There are various methods you can try to remove a stripped screw. Some will require special tools (e.g. screw extractors), others just patience or a steady hand. In this short guide I present you 7 possible solutions.
Rubber band
Putting a rubber band over the tip of your screwdriver may give you enough traction to get a screw out - at least in some circumstances. If this doesn't help, proceed to the next method.
Attacking from the side
If you have access to the sides of the screw head, get a set of needle-nose pliers, vice grips or other appropriate tools and clip onto the screw to turn it. (Careful about the surrounding components though.)
Turning it into a flat head screw
Try to grind a straight line into the stripped screwhead and then remove it with a flat head screwdriver. You can do this e.g. with an appropriate power too.
Superglue
Find a screw with a flat tip, and superglue (carefully) it to the stuck screw. Voilá! You have a healthy flathead screw ready to be removed.
(I've seen similar suggestions with supergueing a screwdriver to the stipped screw – in case you hate your actual tool...)
Drilling
If that fails, your next option is to drill the head partially or completely off. How usable this method is depends on your access to the other side of the screw.
Drill the screw head
Drill the screw head with a thin drill bit. You can use a hand drill or a power drill. A hand drill may be a better choice when you work around fragile components like on a PCB.
Screw extractors
There are drill bits made specifically for removing stripped screws, available for $8-20, just like these screw extractors: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=screw+extractor
Some say this is the simplest and cleanest way to remove the screw.
The screw extractors come in a 4-6 pieces set and work with any drill and many screw sizes (2-12mm). These tools are used to reverse the damaged screw counterclockwise until it is released.
Just two simple steps will get the job done: Use a suitable size screw remover to drill a hole into the screw head and it’s easy to extract the screw or bolt using the extractor tool (the other end of the bit).
The advantage of the screw extractor is that it is wound the other way. I.e., when they bite in, they loosen the screw (while a drill bit biting would tighten a screw).
Wera - Pozidriv screwdriver
This bonust tip comes from u/diepsean19:
Another hobby he has is fishing and through the years of fixing and servicing higher end reels someone told him to use Wera size 0 or 1 pozidriv screwdrivers on philips. They just grip the philips heads insanely well and he hasn’t stripped out a screw since then (which happens more often than you think when you’re dealing with a reel that has a season of salt in it).
It’s just something that’s carried over to keyboard building for him since the screws are about the same size sometimes a little smaller.
People strip out screws pretty regularly. Obviously, you probably could strip it out if you really tried but at that point you’re just cranking a god awful amount of pressure and are more likely to shear off the screw where the head meets the threads than to strip out the head pattern.
And here are the screwdrivers in question for those who are interested:
- regular size used for reels for years
- precision form factor which is more appropriate for use in keyboards.
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That's it. Hopefully you managed to solve your issue with one of the methods presented above. For more tips check the Keyboard Builders' Digest, especially the Tips & Tricks column.