Thread: Allen Head screw removal

Tip of the day,

If you have a stripped allen head screw and your wrench just turns on the inside then here is an easy way to remove them.
Take a Dremel tool with a cut off blade and just put a slot across the head of the screw. Now you can use a straight bladed screwdriver to remove it. This is a no fuss or muss way to get them out.

May be a way of doing it Roger but normally if you have rounded out the allen hole they are bloody tight and to tight for a screwdriver there is no easy way of doing it

Cheers Mike

Hi Mike,

Trust me this one is easy. The rounding out comes from people trying to put the screw in too tight and the metal that the screw is made from is soft. The rivnuts and plastic that our screws go into won't let it get so tight it won't come out if sloted. It works every time and not one has ever given me a problem once sloted.

Originally Posted by Roger Lee

Hi Mike,

Trust me this one is easy. The rounding out comes from people trying to put the screw in too tight and the metal that the screw is made from is soft. The rivnuts and plastic that our screws go into won't let it get so tight it won't come out if sloted. It works every time and not one has ever given me a problem once sloted.

I have had to do this a couple times, and it also is not a sure fire method. It sometimes works and sometimes doesnt. The times it does not work is when the head of the screw breaks before the shaft is able to turn. Then, what you will get is a badly broken screw that is even harder to remove.

The most reliable method I have found is to use an easy out by drilling down inside the head very slowly. The slow drilling speed is needed to penetrate deeply into the shaft. Then, slowly turn with the easy out. This is the most reliable method of the many I have tried.

Hi NavyGolf,

They can break if you notch down into too far into the shaft of the screw and don't just notch the head. Most of our screws on the CT anchor plastic in a rivnut and they usually aren't that tough to remove. I haven't had one on a CT break off yet. The one reason I do the notch method is it is just faster for me. I have had to drill some bolts and use ease outs, but those are the really tough ones and haven't been in a CT.

Coal mine mechanics use both methods with one difference. If you are going to drill the screw out, purchase a left handed drill bit. Sometimes the left handed bit will catch and break the screw loose and even back the screw out at the same time.

Tim:
In my almost 70 years I have never seen or heard of a left hand drill bit.
Good Old George

Hi All

GOG, I have a left hand tool bit for doing this. you can get them from Sealy Tools.

I agree with Roger, that a slot made in the head of the socket flange bolt is the easiest way of doing this. I just use a small hacksaw blade, and just go far enough in so i can get a flathead screwdriver in

cheers neil

GOG.
A Yahoo search comes up with over 7 million matches.

Tip

Originally Posted by Roger Lee

Hi NavyGolf,

They can break if you notch down into too far into the shaft of the screw and don't just notch the head. Most of our screws on the CT anchor plastic in a rivnut and they usually aren't that tough to remove. I haven't had one on a CT break off yet. The one reason I do the notch method is it is just faster for me. I have had to drill some bolts and use ease outs, but those are the really tough ones and haven't been in a CT.

I agree that if the shaft is not tightly bound, that you can easily remove. However, an easy-out will work just as well in such cases as require cutting a slot, and there is less risk of damage with an easy-out. There are some screws on the CT that have been found with either too much locktite, or epoxied in place. Those are the tough cases where the head will break before the shaft turns if you try using the slot method.