clifto wrote:
Tom McQuinn wrote:
Recently an aircraft mechanic showed me how he gets phillips head screws
out. First off he said he never uses a chrome tipped screwdriver. He
uses the hardened tip kind - black on the end. Then when a screw head
started to strip he would put valve grinding compound on the tip of the
screw driver to make it grip.

Sears sells a product called Grip Doctor in a 3.5 oz. bottle. Very
much like the valve grinding compound you mention, it's made the
difference for me a few times since I bought it.

If you're not able to take the time to go out and buy real
penetrating oil, I've had good luck using WD40. The
difference is that I first wet the joint with WD40, then
give it a drop or two of light oil. This works particularly
well on hinges, for example. The WD40 carries the oil with
itself into the joint, and when it evaporates the oil is
left behind.

The suggestion about adding a grit to the screwdriver tip
works well. You also might consider making a 1-time
investment in a "drive" type of screwdriver. It's a heavy
duty version of the old Yankee screwdriver. You insert an
appropriate screwdriver tip, then tap the end with a hammer.
The screwdriver converts the tap into a rotary motion to
break the screw free.

Finally, you might consider using a rotary cutter in a
Dremel or even a hacksaw blade to crosscut the Phillips
screw head and use a parallel (no bevel) flat blade driver
as a last resort. Heck, you might even just drill the
darned thing out and use a bigger screw to replace it, but
don't tell anyone I suggested such a simple solution. grin

Mark