I just saw a home improvement tip that might work

I never tried this, but the tip says if you have a stripped Phillips screw, you can put a rubber band between the tip and the screw to help remove it.

Good idea?

Reply to
Metspitzer
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Coarse valve grinding compound works better, if you have some handy.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

I doubt the rubber is strong enough to do any good.

You might be able to slot the head with a dremel and small cut off wheel. Use slotted screw driver.

. Christ> I never tried this, but the tip says if you have a stripped Phillips

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

The supply houses were selling a squeeze tube of a grease like compound that had grit in it and was meant to allow a damaged Phillips head screw to be removed easily without the driver slipping. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

How will that help stripped threads?

Reply to
Al Borland

Very little. Might help stripped screw slot.

. Christ> >> I never tried this, but the tip says if you have a stripped Phillips

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Bad plan. If you have damage the thing, use an EZ-out. Replace.

Reply to
krw

That sounds like... exactly the same stuff :)

Can't blame them though, as your typical FLAPS probably doesn't sell valve grinding compound anymore as hand-lapping valves is pretty much an obsolete procedure. I think I picked up a little tin at an automotive swap meet ages ago and still have most of it.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

I think it's about stripped heads. I have no idea what part the rubber band plays.

This site makes a similar claim:

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I'm not buying it.

Reply to
Dan Espen

I believe modern engines have hardened valve seat inserts in the heads to resist wear since the lead additive, which would lubricate the valve seats, has been taken out of gasoline. Of course you must have valve seat inserts in aluminum heads but I think even iron heads need them with today's unleaded fuels containing ethanol. I don't think good old valve lapping compound with the rubber stoppered hand lapping tool would work on the newfangled hardened valve seats. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Really, the best solution is for more Americans to ask for Robertson or Torx drive screws so that your hardware stores start carrying them.

I've been doing DIY work for well over 20 years now, and I don't even keep any Phillips or slot screws in stock. Everything I have in stock and use now is either Robertson or hex drive.

Once you guys start using Robertson screws, you'll never want to go back to Phillips drive.

So far as the stripped Phillips head screw goes, I'd try jamming a small slot screw driver into the drive diagonally and try turning it that way. Drilling the head off and twisting out what's left with a pair of vice grips would be my next move. I agree that trying to grind a slot in it with a Dremel usually doesn't work. That's because often the slot isn't in the middle, and when you twist with the slot screw driver, you only end up breaking off the smaller part of the head.

If you have good access to the head, another thing to try would be to grab onto the head with a pair of side cutters and try to twist the screw out that way.

Reply to
nestork

All of the newer circuit breaker panels I've serviced or installed have Robertson screws on the breakers, the neutral and the ground bars. The large connections are the traditional Allen socket lugs. I've seen the Robertson screws showing up more often plus the Torx, both standard and tamper resistant, have been around for a while in vehicles and all sorts of equipment I work on. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

You really need to know Jesus, so you have a plan.

Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Ah, so it doesn't matter if it's a bad plan?

Reply to
krw

No Jesus, no peace.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Do you notice that you can put a lot more torque on a Roberston screw without getting that queezy feeling that the screw driver tip is about to slip out of the drive?

Robertson screw drivers almost never slip out of the drive on the screw.

Reply to
nestork

I'm thinking there might be some science to support it.

The coefficient of _rolling_ friction between iron wheels and steel railway track is very low, which is why trains get surprisingly good fuel economy once they're up to speed.

Now, when you're turning a stripped screw with a screw driver, it's really the friction between the driver tip and the screw head that's preventing the tip from slipping. That's STATIC friction, whereas trains are all about rolling friction, and I understand the two are completely different. But, I also know that friction is one of the least well understood phenomena in this world. So, lets presume that there is low friction at a steel on steel contact.

By putting the rubber between the screw driver tip and the screw, you now have a very much higher co-efficient of friction both between the screw driver tip and the rubber and between the rubber and the screw, and therefore very much more friction preventing the screw driver tip from slipping.

However, it seems to me that what a person would need here is THIN rubber given the small clearance between the driver tip and the screw drive, so I think a better tip would be to use a condom or a latex rubber glove, both of which are made of much thinner rubber than an elastic band.

Anyhow, that's the best I can do.

Reply to
nestork

I like them because I can tighten the lugs on breakers and the connections in panels by feel a lot easier than Phillips head screws because I don't have to push down hard on the driver. There is one thing about Phillips head screws, folks rarely use the correct bit, blaming their screw up on the screw. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

I have put a small piece of sandpaper in the screw head before to get a better grip but sometimes the paper is too thick to get in there. ^_^

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

Square drive is all I use for wood, unless it's something that comes with it's own screws. People argue about drive types. But they all work for me. And bits are dirt cheap, so you can have them all.

Reply to
Vic Smith

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