sorry, strongly beg to differ, screws are engineering tools, function trumps form, you use the best you can, screws can be plugged or filled.Sorry, strongly beg to differ, pozi-drives, or worse torx head are just WRONG in an old house.
The previous owner must have had a bargain bucket of pozi plaster screws, the damn things were everywhere and I take great pleasure in replacing them.
Yes, I always clock the screws and line up the slots, only question is which way? Horizontal or Vertical ?
link broken, but nice, they do look different, more crisp, I do love old screws, obviously, in their place, in furniture, door sets etc, but not a fat arse quarter incher with a saucer sized razor sharp head splitting my floorboards...
Nah, I would reserve that for the various patterns of cross-head screws that some pillock decided to paint afterwards. For these I keep an old Spring Hook and a Dentists Pick/Probe to remove the paint as, if anything but the smallest residue remains, it will defeat the purchase of even the best screw-driver available almost irrespective of the muscle and dexterity of the handler.
Thanks for all the advice Toby. (Slopes off to local hardware store for a Wiha bit driver...)57!!! They do look amazing, although my preference would be to paint.
Do not worry about the effort, it sounds perfectly normal.
I have screwed several hundred thousand screws, albeit mostly in, but the same rules apply.
Impact drivers are a scam and pointless for wood. The impact force simply gets absorbed by the wood rather than being transferred, also the jolt means more risk of camming out. Joe public (including most trades) are too lazy to work it out, and it becomes herd mentality, they are simply a joke, lol. If you look you will see impact drivers (not wrenches!) are the cheapest tools a company makes, they often like to pair these with a cheap drill driver in a set as a loss leader to hook you into their battery eco system, oh and their expensive 'torsion bits' I have neither and remove screws no impact driver even can, total marketing bollox. A cast rotating hammer and spring are cheaper to make than complicated planetray reduction gears and provide massive torque numbers. Let's face it, most people are too lazy / dumb to work out how a tool works, they simply look for the highest number, 'look Martha! it's 3 million foot pounds and only £49.99!'...They actually are annoyingly loud and can damage lathe and plaster. Amusingly, utterly pointless and slightly detrimental, if anyone thinks they are better than a normal drill-driver then they simply don't know how to use one, same rules above apply, good bits, good holders, maximum parallel pressure.
Anyone reading this selling their impact driver and buying a £25 Wiha 300mm bit driver will be pleasantly surprised and the only annoyingly loud noises will be coming from your body
Rant? Possibly, but this knowledge is a game changer.
It's also great fun when a builder gives up after hanging off the end of max volt power Mawaltkee 3 million foot pound impact to waltz over with your Wiha and unscrew it by hand... 'there you go'.
As I said, if I have a stubborn screw most times (and 100% of the time with slotted heads) I try to remove them / tighten them by hand, much, much safer.
I know it can be counter intuitive that a human arm can apply more force than a pointlessly and deceivingly highly rated torque machine, but there you go!
I would emphasise the need to push with all your might to keep the bit engaged, then slowly turn with all your might! It's a recipe for hernia or back damage, so it's not easy or fun! But it is the most effective method. I have removed screws after gorillas have attempted with their 18V high torque nothing burgers.
Just be prepared for your bits to bend / break, screw head to burr or snap off, nothing you can do!
One or two layers of washing up glove or part of rubber band can sometimes help, much like in opening a pickle jar. (for horizontal screws you can even scrape some 80 grit abrasive into the slot)
Machining your own or griding down a larger bit can be great, you really want as large a bit as possible with the closest fit, not sure about the heat treatment though! Hard = brittle = snap.
Removing a screw with a snapped head is another kettle of fish! You often have to hack it out. Sometimes you can hack at the top and try and twist it out but this often doesn't work. Normal pliers are close to useless, I have tried hundreds of pounds worth of tools, mole grips don't usually work either. Japanese made Neji sauraus are better than normal pliers but frankly prerty poor quality for a Japanese tool, mine got damaged on first use. The best I have found are from Knipex, I have the whole range. I would also get a pair of their pincers and bolt cutters.
The Knipex twin grip slip joint pliers are probably the best in the world. I have removed several hundred thousand fixings with my various Knipex and selection of Japanese cats paws. Actually you can remove screw shanks with those too sometimes, the steel is so hard it bites in, even to screws, just remember not to cheap out, you MUST only buy Japanese, ie Bakuma, Ice bear, Mokuba, Shark Grip or the Japanese made Estwings.
Drilling around is often the best option.
If you leave a big hole (you will) then a two part epoxy repair resin / filler (I get mine from 3C Sealants) will give you a firm hold, although you may need to pilot drill with a tiny bit.
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Sorry, yeap your right.
Be careful of your back and remember its not magic, if its stuck stuck it wont budge or the head will snap. But it is the best of all the methods, I guess metal workers have EDM machines as a last resort and we have plug cutters.
Wish I'd seen the start of this thread (of course pun not intended...). I've tried WD40, followed by paint stripper (that loosened the 1st one of three demons) and am now onto rust remover. Yes, pushing on the screwdriver (I've got a very nice one with a very short fat handle wihich seems to give lots more purchase) and turning very slowly has mostly done the trick; not this time, yet.
