[Dorian2]

I picked up a couple of solid core doors off of Kijiji for my Music room in the basement. Got a great deal ($20/door) with all the hardware on still. I proceeded to take the hinges off of the ends of the door, only to totally shear off a screw head. The remainder of said screw is stuck in the wood, but because the head of the screw is toast, my screw extractors are rendered useless. Any ideas on how to tackle this?

You can see it in the top right of the larger hole there. I was going to try digging it out with a pair of needle nose pliers, as seen from the slight mess in the 3rd hole, but thought I'd hold off before I went too far.

Any of you guys run into this situation and have a fix? I do a little bit of wood work but nothing like many here do. I'm pretty amateur at this.

 

[Dorian2]

I was considering one of these hollow screw extractors as a possablility, but they are out of stock on the 1/4" ones. I want to keep the hole as small as possible to avoid more damage. The other ones I found on Amazon seem really cheap and apparently break easily.

Hollow Screw Extractor 5/16

 

[dcole]

Vice Grips. Grip on to it and turn the vice grips. The clamping force holds on to the screw and the width of them help give you a mechanical advantage while turning the screw out.

 

[LanceT]

Use one of these to drill around it and pull the wood plug out. Obviously sized appropriately...

 

[Dorian2]

I have a hole saw. Do they make em that small? 1/4" or under?

 

[capnjim]

Can't you just move the hinge over a bit?

 

[keto]

Move the hinge 3/4" up or down

 

[vokey design]

Use one of these to drill around it and pull the wood plug out. Obviously sized appropriately...

You could use a 3/4 hole saw to remove the screw and the wood around it, then fill the hole with 3/4" dowel available at every home building store or canadian tire.

 

[cboutilier]

I'd weld a nut onto it and turn it back out.

 

[BrianW]

...or get a punch the same diameter of the screw and drive it far enough in to glue a dowel, redrill and install a new screw...

 

[Dorian2]

Thanks for the ideas guys. A number of responses were things I thought of but wasn't too sure of. I'll let you know what technique I use when I'm done.

 

[Dorian2]

Can't you just move the hinge over a bit?

Move the hinge 3/4" up or down

At this point I'll refrain from moving the entire hinge. I just want to keep both the door and the frame as is....if possible. I cetainly won't rule either of these out though. On that note though, I'm going to do a few measurements of the door frame where it''ll go to see if moving the hinges might already be necessary to begin with anyways.

 

[Dorian2]

I'd weld a nut onto it and turn it back out.

I don't have a welding gun or torch...plus I have even less of a clue how to use one properly to do it. Thanks though.

 

[Dorian2]

Done. I found the magic tool to do it, which is one method that I at first thought wouldn't work. But that was because the site I read it on mentioned using it slightly differently....to use a Dremel tool to slice into the head. I used the small fine rotary cutter of the Dremel to cut tightly around the screw, which in turn gave me the clearance I needed for my 2nd set of special toOls. My old trusty needle nose pliers...lol. I had another screw in another hole that was busted, I'm not sure why they use brass Phillips screws in solid core door hinges...but nonetheless. here's the end result of the one I was worried most about. This hole had 2 screws in it. Guess they sheared it at installation.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I usually get a lot of food for thought like this when others post good suggestions. It's a bit like improvising the leads you guys are leaving me with. I'm funny that way.

 

[Dorian2]

Now about filling the holes? Should I still use an appropriate Dowel and a drill? Not sure if that plastic wood stuff is very good in this application.

 

[cboutilier]

Now about filling the holes? Should I still use an appropriate Dowel and a drill? Not sure if that plastic wood stuff is very good in this application.

Dowell and glue would be the proper way. Glue and toothpicks would be sufficient.

 

[vadsy]

Now about filling the holes? Should I still use an appropriate Dowel and a drill? Not sure if that plastic wood stuff is very good in this application.

these are solid doors? if so, just a longer screw and call it a day

 

[Dorian2]

Dowell and glue would be the proper way. Glue and toothpicks would be sufficient.

I saw a guy on youtube yesterday use a Golf tee for something very similar, so I might try that.

these are solid doors? if so, just a longer screw and call it a day

This makes total sense, but I prbably want the little bit of extra reinforcement...just in case. @Lincoln has mentioned you a few times personally to me, so I do trust you BTW. I might be PMing you on some work if you aren't too busy.

 

[vadsy]

I saw a guy on youtube yesterday use a Golf tee for something very similar, so I might try that.



This makes total sense, but I prbably want the little bit of extra reinforcement...just in case. @Lincoln has mentioned you a few times personally to me, so I do trust you BTW. I might be PMing you on some work if you aren't too busy.

absolutely, I’d be happy to chat

 

[Lincoln]

I saw a guy on youtube yesterday use a Golf tee for something very similar, so I might try that.

I also use golf tees to fill holes Pete. Just make sure you get wooden ones, not plastic. Put some glue in the hole, drive in the tee, cut it flush with one of those Japanese saws we like so much. Done deal. if it's something real important, I'll even sand the paint off the tee first to make sure the glue gets a good hold.

In the real world, unfortunately nobody takes the time to remove a broken wood screw. They just swear, put another screw right beside it and pretend it never happened.

You can also use something called a "plug cutter" usually 3/8" in size, to cut a plug of wood out around the screw, then drive/glue a plug the same size into the hole.