Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Richcosta wrote:
Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


Short tern, use a Dremel type tool and a disk to cut a slot in the head.
Turn with a standard screw driver.

Long term, think about investing in some Torx and square head screw drivers.

In article , Richcosta wrote:
Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Almost certainly Robertson screws:

http://www.robertsonscrew.com/

They're actually pretty good. You can easily find the
special screwdrivers and/or bits to fit them. Even
the big box stores usually have some.

But if they're rounded, your best bet is a damaged
screw remover. Sears sell them:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...id=00952154000

Don't pay the regular price unless you need it right
now -- they seem to mark them down to $4.99 or $9.99
on almost every sale event. Worth buying a set at
that price. They work more often than not although
it's not a perfect solution.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richcosta wrote:
Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.
-snip-

Not all that creative- but how about a screw extractor?
['easy out' type]
http://homerepair.about.com/od/inter..._extractor.htm

[hollow bit type]
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product...erings_id=2354

I've never used the latter- and have had various results with the
former.

Jim

On Dec 20, 4:18 pm, Richcosta wrote:
Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I have also had good luck using a cutoff attachment to a dremel
tool. Use it to cut a narrow a slot across the top of the screw and
then use a regular screwdriver to extract the screw. It is simple to
do and has always worked for me. I have found this method to be
easier than using a screw extractor. If you do not have a dremel,
they are fairly inexpensive and are an extremely useful tool to have
in your tool bag. So you can use this problem as an excuse to buy
one.

Richcosta wrote:

Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

so where are you? Robertson screws we got here in Canada.
There is or are extractor bits available in varying sizes
depending on the screwhead which when you turn them left
(like unscrew) byte into the head and unscrew or loosen
the screw
rw

--

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:18:57 -0800 (PST), Richcosta
wrote:

Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Take a spare Robertson bit and shorten it by a small amount
leaving sharp corners. The bit is tapered so that it should also
be a slight bit larger and impossible to bottom out completely.

Next take your special made bit and attach it to a impact driver
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_driver

On Dec 21, 12:36*pm, wrote:
On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:18:57 -0800 (PST), Richcosta

wrote:
Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? *These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. *They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. *Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Take a spare Robertson bit and shorten it by a small amount
leaving sharp corners. The bit is tapered so that it should also
be a slight bit larger and impossible to bottom out completely.

Next take your special made bit and attach it to a impact driverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_driver

You can also, sometimes, tap them around with a small chisel util you
can get pliers or some kind of vise-grip tool onto them?
Sounds like someone has 'screwed up' (excuse the pun) some either Torx
or Roberstson screw heads. When replacing use something that you have
drivers for.

Sounds like you have some Robertson screws. Must have gotten them from a
Canadian friend as we don't normally allow Americans to use them ) ( long
bitter patent war).

Seriously these type of screws can be removed using a screw extractor. The
extractor looks like a drill bit but the spiral is in the opposite
direction. When you turn this extractor counterclockwise the spiral digs
into the screw head and the screw comes out naturally. This toy has saved
many a project, There are typically 3 sizes of these extractors. They are
hardened steel . Ask santa to bring you a kit of 3. The kit should set you
back roughly $18 us


"Richcosta" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I agree with tnom. I call them a hand impact driver. Position
the tip, crank to the left, hit with a hammer. It will take out
some mighty stubborn screws, like stripped out #3 Phillips head in
hinges, etc.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:18:57 -0800 (PST), Richcosta
wrote:

Hi,

Any creative tips for removing screws whose heads have nothing
to
catch? These are neither regular or Phillips Head screws. They
have
a special bit, kind of in the shape of a square. Anyway, the
inside
of the head is now a round, smooth circle.

Any ideas for removing them would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Take a spare Robertson bit and shorten it by a small amount
leaving sharp corners. The bit is tapered so that it should also
be a slight bit larger and impossible to bottom out completely.

Next take your special made bit and attach it to a impact driver
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_driver

On Dec 21, 4:36*pm, "DanG" wrote:
I agree with tnom. *I call them a hand impact driver. *Position
the tip, crank to the left, hit with a hammer. *It will take out
some mighty stubborn screws, like stripped out #3 Phillips head in
hinges, etc.

snip

Harbor Freight 93481 $6 with bits. If you've never used one it will be
revelation.

Joe