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Aug-01-2009,6:52am#1
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Freeing up a stuck screw?Any suggestions, or magic recipes
for freeing a stuck screw on a set of tuners? My usual trick of clamping the screwdriver in a pair of pliers to get more leverage just results in the screwdriver blade bending alarmingly with no sign of the pesky screw moving at all Judging by the other screws - it looks to be rusted solid in the headstock - I'd rather not resort to drilling out if I can help it - so any other ideas?
Probably flogging a dead horse yours, John.
Aug-01-2009,7:24am#2
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Hi John - Whatever you do,don't be tempted to use ANY form of oil on the screw. One thing that i've done in the past & apparently it's an old trick,is to try to get a tiny drop (or drops) of vinegar around the screw hole & let it soak in. Vinegar is very penetrating & just might do the trick. Before you replace the screw either the current one or another one,let the screw hole dry out - that's why you don't want to use oil - that stuff won't dry out. Put a small amount of Petroleum jelly on the tip of the screw thread before you screw it in.
If you get really desperate,you could try using a very hot soldering iron to heat the screw,thus making it expand & then try to remove it. But do it bit by bit,not all at once.It's doubdtful if a tiny screw could expand sufficiently to split the wood,but be cautious. In the past,i've used both methods for removing severely stuck screws,usually with some success. Your idea of drilling out the screw must be the last resort. It can be done,but you need to be able to clamp the headstock firmly & to have a decent pillar drill. It's not something to be attempted by hand,when the drill can slip all over the show. The other problem is that wood screws are tapered whereas drills are not. If you drilled the screw out,you'd have to replace it with a larger sized one,either that or plug & re-drill the hole - a better idea,
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Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.Aug-01-2009,9:21am#3
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Don't use petroleum jelly on the screw, as it will give you the same results as using oil! Try rubbing the screw tip across the bottom of a candle. In woodworking, using a LITTLE wax (parrafin or bees) has been standard way of dealing with a sticky wood screw for many years.
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Aug-02-2009,1:21am#4
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?From the limited description I assume the screw is holding the base plate to the headstock, not a button to a shaft. I would heat the screw with a soldering pencil. If it has any glue holding it the glue will be released, if it is rusted into the wood, the wood should soften immediately adjacent to the screw.
Aug-02-2009,2:54am#5
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Todd - You are of course correct - but a TINY amount is all that's needed after the existing screw has been removed. Candle wax,bees wax & even soap has been used,but again, a tiny amount.You don't want to fill up the hole with candle wax either. I really HATE it when i come up against screws which have rusted into wood.The worst case being when the head comes off due to trying to un-screw it with a screwdriver.Then you have to deal with the shank of the screw with a pair of pliers,most time the darn things twist off. I'm talking home repairs here,not instruments,which is even worse,
IvanWeber F-5 'Fern'.
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Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.Aug-02-2009,3:52am#6
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Thanks for the toughts everyone, I'll try some gentle heating later.
Ivan: I assume that the big vat of boiling silicone oil I just mixed up is not to be used then
Aug-02-2009,8:21am#7
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?An old trick with stuck wood screws is to try tightening them before unscrewing them.
Good luck!John
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Eastman 604, 2007 | Thomas Buchanan Octave Mandolin, 2010Aug-02-2009,11:43am#8
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?A technique that I occasionally use for stuck wood screws is to use my fret hammer to give the screwdriver a sharp tap while turning. It will usually break any glue loose that is not too gummy. Failing that drill it out CAREFULLY.
Aug-02-2009,2:19pm#9
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Quote - Ivan: I assume that the big vat of boiling silicone oil I just mixed up is not to be used then
Hey Tavy ! - It's only of use if you louse up big time,
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Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.Aug-03-2009,6:08am#10
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Well: after a titanic battle between man and rust, the man one, and the rusty screw lost. So I guess the vat of boiling oil will have to wait for something else Originally Posted by Ivan KelsallQuote - Ivan: I assume that the big vat of boiling silicone oil I just mixed up is not to be used then
Hey Tavy ! - It's only of use if you louse up big timeThanks everyone, John.
Aug-03-2009,10:43am#11
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?John,
Did you just use brite force and ignorance or did one of our suggestions work?
Well done, anyway!John
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Eastman 604, 2007 | Thomas Buchanan Octave Mandolin, 2010Aug-03-2009,11:52am#12
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Well, what I had forgotten was that I did get it to turn slightly when I first tried to move it - so I tightened it a bit then wiggled to and throw a bit. After that it would still only turn through about 10 degress before sticking fast again, but with some brute force and my screwdrived clamped in a pair of pliers again for more leverage I slowly got it to turn. It was a real struggle all the way out though, never turned more than a few degrees at a time, and with that extra leverage on the screwdriver I was right on the edge of breaking the blade (or the screw) all the time... Originally Posted by MandophyteJohn,
Did you just use brite force and ignorance or did one of our suggestions work?Still it's the little things like this that get us up in the morning right?
Thanks everyone!
John.
Aug-04-2009,12:24am#13
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?I'm glad that you got it out whichever way you did it. A stuck woodscrew is the ONLY thing i can think of worse than tuning up the 'E' strings on a Mandolin !,
IvanWeber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
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Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.Aug-04-2009,3:20am#14
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Indeed: although I did recently have a tailpiece on a vintage cittern that was fixed in place with nails. Took me ages to figure out why they wouldn't unscrew !! Originally Posted by Ivan KelsallI'm glad that you got it out whichever way you did it. A stuck woodscrew is the ONLY thing i can think of worse than tuning up the 'E' strings on a Mandolin !,
John.
Aug-04-2009,3:26am#15
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?The nails had heads that looked like screw heads? That's a rotten trick! Originally Posted by TavyIndeed: although I did recently have a tailpiece on a vintage cittern that was fixed in place with nails. Took me ages to figure out why they wouldn't unscrew !!
John.
Aug-04-2009,5:26am#16
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?No, it's more stupid than that: I simply couldn't believe that they could be nails (it never entered into my head actually), I thought they were either rivets or screws that had had their heads taken off. So I used a dremel to cut slots in the heads, then started turning them to no effect... it was only when I did get the first one out that the penny dropped Originally Posted by Chris KethThe nails had heads that looked like screw heads? That's a rotten trick!
John.
Aug-04-2009,9:42pm#17
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Re: Freeing up a stuck screw?Nails have been used in lutherie for centuries. That's how a lot of old, and I mean old, violin necks were put on...hot hide glue and a nail.
Rick Turner
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Freeing up a stuck screw?
for freeing a stuck screw on a set of tuners? My usual 
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Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall
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