Stubborn wood screws

[MadJake]

Hi all

I’m starting a restoration of an old half plate camera and am struggling with removing some tiny wood screws that hold a brass fitting onto the body. I’m starting to damage the heads. Any tips/tricks for removal?

Thanks

John

[OKAROB]

John, If you don’t have a good set of screw drivers of various sizes it easy to destroy screw heads. Get a good set with long handles and good grips such as those made by Wiha. Small jewelers screw are difficult to grip and get good/proper torque. It is critical that the width of the blade and thickness match the screw head as close as possible. If the head is corroded away then there was another recent thread on how to remove screws with broken and damaged heads.

These same screw drivers are great for repairing shutters as well especially in the smaller sizes. The good thing about Wiha is that you can buy individual replacements screwdrivers as you damage or wear them out. This happened to me when I encountered a reverse threaded screw on a copal shutter. https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?177265-Removing-rusted-screws-(from-an-Ansco-8x10)

[xkaes]

Your options depend on the screw -- the size and shape of the head. Is it 1/8" or 1/2" wide? Is it slotted or phillips? Is it rounded or flat? Is it flush or raised? A picture is worth a 1,000 words -- you should know that by now.

[xkaes]

This happened to me when I encountered a reverse threaded screw on a copal shutter.

Good point. You have to know which way to turn it.

[Tin Can]

You learn by doing

I have many tools for this

Left hand drill bits

Easy Outs also left hand

The wood is more important than the screws

IMHO

I buy screw's by the 100

eBay

By now

Trade Wars are brewing

[xkaes]

Are you sure they are wood screws? Check the other side of the fitting. It's possible that they are machine screws with a "nut" on the other end.

[domaz]

Did you try solvent or penetrating oil? Not ideal on wood I know but a drop or two might do wonders.

[Drew Wiley]

Antique brass wood screws can be problematic and non-standardized. Sometimes you have to grind your own screwdriver tips to fit, or carefully file flats on round-head screws to allow a small plier jaw to bite. Natural mahogany oil can seep into there over the decades, or residual varnish oil, and act like a cement. Shellac might also be present and acting like glue, which can be softened with strong alcohol or by using a hea gun. Antique restoration specialists often encounter these kinds of problems.

[Greg]

Some methods that I have used in the past:
1. Heating the screw with the tip of a soldering iron then letting the screw cool down. Worked a few times.
2. Tried using a very small torch but always scorched or burned the wood around the screwhead - DO NOT TRY THIS.
3. Custom grinding down the tapered heads of screwdrivers making them non-tapered heads to exactly match the slots in the screwheads. Worked a lot of times.
4. Soaking the area around the screw with water. Never worked.
5. Put a drop of Aluminum Cutting Fluid on the screw and soak overnight. Seemed to work.
6. Drilling out the screw and replacing it with a slightly larger brass screw. Last resort but had to do this many times especially when the head of the screw broke off.
good luck

[MadJake]

Thank you all for your comments and advice.

These are all standard screws. The Victorians kept it simple.
I do have a good set of small screwdriver bits but the handle is small so I can't get the leverage. I also have 3 turnscrews too but they're a bit too big. On other stubborn screws, I did find penetrating oil worked but not with these. Part of the problem I have is the difficult to remove screws aren't brass and have rusted. Greg, great suggestions, I'll give them a go. Pic of the offending screws below.
250163

[xkaes]

You may end up having to drill them out and using the next thicker screw -- but try everything else before that. Depending on how small these are, a SMALL screw extractor might work -- but that means new screws too.

[MadJake]

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing. The thread parts were so corroded it would be almost impossible to get them out with a screwdriver.

[peter brooks]

I know that you've sorted your problem, but this may help others in the future.

When I worked at a furniture restorers in the 1980's we frequently came across very stuck and rusty steel screws, often of the hand-cut variety. The trick to loosening them was to give them a couple of sharp smacks with a hammer on the end of a screwdriver (plastic handled of course). This tends to break the 'weld' of centuries old crud that has formed between the screw and the wood.

Obviously you would have to be very, very careful with tiny brass screws but a similar technique may help.

As others have said, a correctly fitting screwdriver is absolutely vital, whether for taking screws out or putting them in. With old style screws (with a 'shank' that has no screw thread) properly sized pilot holes with clearance are vital, and always put in and remove a steel screw first before the final fit of the brass one.

Just my tuppence / 5 cents (or whatever) worth. :)

[MadJake]

I know that you've sorted your problem, but this may help others in the future.

When I worked at a furniture restorers in the 1980's we frequently came across very stuck and rusty steel screws, often of the hand-cut variety. The trick to loosening them was to give them a couple of sharp smacks with a hammer on the end of a screwdriver (plastic handled of course). This tends to break the 'weld' of centuries old crud that has formed between the screw and the wood.

Obviously you would have to be very, very careful with tiny brass screws but a similar technique may help.

As others have said, a correctly fitting screwdriver is absolutely vital, whether for taking screws out or putting them in. With old style screws (with a 'shank' that has no screw thread) properly sized pilot holes with clearance are vital, and always put in and remove a steel screw first before the final fit of the brass one.

Just my tuppence / 5 cents (or whatever) worth. :)

Great tips! The problematic screws were mostly rusted iron/steel screws. The wood must have been damp for some while as the screws rusted and sort of expanded and became one with the wood.

[Reinhold Schable]

As Tin Can says: “you learn by doing”
~this may take a few years~

You can also wreck by doing.
Screwdrivers must be SHARP !!
A belt sander works nicely to sharpen flat blades.

Reinhold

www.re-inventedPhotoEquip.com