Is there any trick to make unscrewing easier from old wood?

[owen]

Smacking the screwdriver in hard with a hammer first works sometimes

 

[Skydivermel]

Heat the screws up. The hotter the better. They will expand and contract and be easy to remove. I wouldn't use steam.

 

[Stevekane]

My approach is to clean the slot then using a crappy old screwdriver that you can wallop, give the screws a few good clouts to try and set it into the wood and give it a bit of room to move, then a cheap Impact driver works well as its being driven into the slot whilst being turned a little and avoiding “cam out” but lately Ive been very pleased with my makita impact driver which has extracted plenty of screws I would have struggled with,,and ref the comments above, if you snap off the screw then its out of the way and you probably haven't damaged the face which might allow you to get another fixing.
Steve.

 

[Old.bodger]

Heat a metal rod to red hot, apply to screw head. Use a good screwdriver and it will usually move!

 

[Bingy man]

I will need to buy an extractor, as the heads are so soft. Screws do turn, but the flat heads just destroy themselves before I can apply any torque.

There are many different styles and types but I prefer these (see pic ) drill as far down as you dare depending upon screw size with a suitable pilot drill and use the extractor anti clockwise with a slight downward pressure. If you have a tap and die set use the tap holder and clamp it onto the extractor and off you go

 

[TRITON]

Hows this getting on ?. Any luck.

 

[John Hall]

I think you need to change your way of thinking with this problem. If the heads are that soft, the rest of the screw will be the same, and will easily snap and disintegrate if any force is used I would either try and drill into them, or maybe try a Dremel with a small carbide burr, and grind them away. Or use a small drill bit to drill a few holes right next to the nail or screw, allowing it to be loosened , then repair with a dowel and glue. Damage is easy to repair, and quite therapeutic

 

[tibi]

Hows this getting on ?. Any luck.

I have tried the extractor but the screw heads just snapped off. So I need to use the plug cutter to cut around the screws.

Here is the failed attempt with the extractor

Here is another female part from the vice screw that I need to unmount

Here is the back side

Probably I will buy a new 50 mm oak board and replace all those old wooden parts where the hardware was, so I will just remove the hardware from the wood and do not care about the leftover holes.

 

[tibi]

There are many different styles and types but I prefer these (see pic ) drill as far down as you dare depending upon screw size with a suitable pilot drill and use the extractor anti clockwise with a slight downward pressure. If you have a tap and die set use the tap holder and clamp it onto the extractor and off you go

I have bought a similar one and used the tap holder, but the screw heads snapped off. so I will drill out the heads and remove the vice hardware parts from the wood.

 

[okeydokey]

Having just seen the photos why not just drill out the screws and use nuts and bolts to refix the items using countersunk bolts (are they called machine screws)?

 

[AESamuel]

Apologies to ask such a basic question but are you using a decent bit? I've found most slotted bits are awful, they aren't ground with parallel sides but are tapered so they mush the heads up. Using one that's too thin will damage the heads too, needs to be a snug fit.

 

[John Hall]

I’d try carefully punching them out from the back, then glue a dowel in the hole

 

[tibi]

Apologies to ask such a basic question but are you using a decent bit? I've found most slotted bits are awful, they aren't ground with parallel sides but are tapered so they mush the heads up. Using one that's too thin will damage the heads too, needs to be a snug fit.

I have tried multiple bits, but any moderate torque would destroy the slot. And I have used an appropriate size, but to no avail.

 

[Bingy man]

I have tried the extractor but the screw heads just snapped off. So I need to use the plug cutter to cut around the screws.

Here is the failed attempt with the extractorView attachment 131660

Here is another female part from the vice screw that I need to unmount
View attachment 131661

Here is the back side
View attachment 131662

Probably I will buy a new 50 mm oak board and replace all those old wooden parts where the hardware was, so I will just remove the hardware from the wood and do not care about the leftover holes.

Having seen your photos what size is that threaded section - looks like 1/2” or 3/4” if plan a has failed then plan b - drill out the heads as you would a rivet , heat the metal up and use the same size threaded pipe and resort to brute force and hammer the iron through . No doubt the steel has reacted with the resin’s within the oak not to mention if they went in with a tight fit all those years ago they don’t want to give up. At least then you can use plug cutter to remove any remaining screw bodies and maintain the original bench . Turn the damaged piece round 180 deg and repair holes ,, you can then mount the vice/iron ware from scratch into solid timber

 

[Bingy man]

Having seen your photos what size is that threaded section - looks like 1/2” or 3/4” if plan a has failed then plan b - drill out the heads as you would a rivet , heat the metal up and use the same size threaded pipe and resort to brute force and hammer the iron through . No doubt the steel has reacted with the resin’s within the oak not to mention if they went in with a tight fit all those years ago they don’t want to give up. At least then you can use plug cutter to remove any remaining screw bodies and maintain the original bench . Turn the damaged piece round 180 deg and repair holes ,, you can then mount the vice/iron ware from scratch into solid timber

The bench remains original and the repaired section will tell its own story in years to come .. good luck again

 

[tibi]

The bench remains original and the repaired section will tell its own story in years to come .. good luck again

Thank you, but I cannot turn the wood 180 degrees, because there are other cutouts in the wood that cannot be flipped. I can only repair holes, plug them with a dowel and drill holes in the same position.

 

[maryaswoodworker]

I have in the past got a piece of steel tube, filed some teeth on the end and used it like the plug cutter around the edge of the nail/screw. You can go right down the sides of the screw to the bottom, you will have to plug after though.

 

[Rob_Mc]

I would snap the heads off by applying excessive torque using an impact driver and then trepan around the broken screw with a core drill. A core drill is like a very small diameter hole saw and has a wall thickness which is typically much thinner than that of a plug cutter so you are left with a much smaller hole. They also cut faster and easier than a plug cutter to a few inches of depth.

This is the sort of thing I mean;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/perfeclan-...sprefix=small+diameter+hole+saw,diy,77&sr=1-5

 

[tibi]

I would snap the heads off by applying excessive torque using an impact driver and then trepan around the broken screw with a core drill. A core drill is like a very small diameter hole saw and has a wall thickness which is typically much thinner than that of a plug cutter so you are left with a much smaller hole. They also cut faster and easier than a plug cutter to a few inches of depth.

This is the sort of thing I mean;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/perfeclan-...sprefix=small+diameter+hole+saw,diy,77&sr=1-5

Hole saw usually requires centering drill bit so that it does not dance around when starting the hole. How is this maintainted when there is the original screw just in the center.

 

[Bingy man]

Hole saw usually requires centering drill bit so that it does not dance around when starting the hole. How is this maintainted when there is the original screw just in the center.

There seems to have a decent depth to those cutters as per rob _mc has suggested so if you go down this route then drill a hole with cutter in say 1 1/2 timber and then clamp to your oak board with the hole aligned over your screw and drill through into your board . You will only have to start the hole by a few turns on each screw and then remove 1 1/2 timber to complete holes all the way through. Used a similar method to drill two 16 mm holes through a tiled wall that had to be accurate to install a shower and it worked a treat . Wall had only been tiled a week prior so she wanted no damage. I agreed to fit shower for free and replace tile if I did any damage so came up with the timber idea to stop the drill skidding over the tiles , tried it out at home on a scrap tile and job done and I got a decent tip for no damage..