On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:01:59 -0800, Mac Davis
wrote:

On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:20:06 -0500, Bill wrote:


A drop of thin CA (superglue) works well also.. When the screw is
started, a little sideways pressure breaks the bond..
I used to worry that the CA might fill the screw head but it never
has..

I thought this was good enough to share.

Posted by Bob La Londe in the newsgroup rec.crafts.metalworking


Sometimes you have to put in a screw in a place that you just can't get
your hand in there and if you drop the screw you are totally hosed. I
was repairing a broken wire in my boat yesterday and ran into one of
those. Of course it's a stainless steel screw so a mag tip wouldn't work.

I couldn't find any of the screw holder screwdrivers I used to have, and
it was late enough I wasn't confident in finding one at any stores that
would still be open. I considered making one, but thought maybe
somebody else would have a better solution. I did a search for DIY
screw holding screwdriver or something like that and found a good tip
that worked perfectly.

Poke the screw through some cling wrap.
Place the screw on the screw driver.
Wrap the cling wrap around the screw driver to hold the screw firmly
against the tip.
Start the screw a couple threads.
Pull back the cling wrap and screwdriver to tear the screw through.
Remove the cling wrap.
Tighten the screw the rest of the way.

Its simple, elegant, works very well, and I wish had thought of it.
Another trick that I have found works very well is to slip a
paperclip onto the shaft of the screwdriver, ten just hook the loop of
the paperclip over the head of the screw to hold it on.
Easier to do than describe.