|Our local pub closed and sold off some tables. I bought a nice solid |wood oak one, with two drawers, but each was sealed shut from beneath |with two large screws (to keep people from putting empty crisp packets |in). | |No problem I thought, but I can't budge the screws at all. I've hit |them on the head with a hammer, and put in some oil, but nothing works. | |It looks like I will have to drill out the screws. Does anybody know |how I should do this? I have an elderly electric Black & Decker hammer |drill, but would it work on metal screws? And what kind of drill bit |should I buy? The screws appear to be standard slot-headed.
Guys guys guys.
If you *read* the OP, you should see that this fellow is likely in England or some English speaking country other than the USA. Telling him to go to Sears or Harbor Freight probably isn't good advice.
I wouldn't try to drill these out until I had totally messed up the slots in the heads. Get a *well-fitting* screwdriver and put a lot of down force on it while turning it with a wrench if necessary. This is probably a two person job.
If this fails then you turn to the drill. And no, a hammer drill is inappropriate. In theory, you want a range of drill bits. You will start off small and drill down the exact center of the screw and then enlarge the hole with larger sizes until you just remove the metal without damaging the wood. In my earlier days in an automotive machine shop, I've drilled out hundreds of broken studs in cast iron blocks and heads using this technique. But with a smaller, tapered screw in wood, this isn't going to happen.
You will not find the exact center and the drill bit will wander into the softer wood. Resigning yourself to this proposition you might as well just try drilling a hole(s) parallel to the screw shank and hope that this relieves some tension on the screw that allows it to be withdrawn. The limiting case will be when you drill a series of holes around the screw and break it out.
Good luck.
Wes