I made the mistake of trying to remove a Schlage lockset with a regular screw driver too many times. (The knob makes it impossible for an ordinary driver to seat properly on the Phillips screw head. So every time I touch it, the screw heads get worse.) Now I've stripped both screws.
I installed the door knob in the main entry two years ago, and it gets a lot of use. I originally attached the screws with threadlock because I was so fed up with re-tightening them every few months. I was expecting them to be a bit stiff. But since I was the one who put the thing together, I thought I could just carefully back it out. It got it off once, but not any more.
So I wised up (a bit) and bought a $3 offset screwdriver, but the screw heads are too worn. The offset driver just slips out of the heads no matter how tight I grip it, and I've cut both hands trying to hold it steady.
I tried setting up a screw extractor, but the knob prevents me from drilling through the center of the screw. I also tried tapping the handle-end of a flat head screwdriver, with the flat head tip placed on the axis, to try and get some counterclockwise rotation, but the threadlock seems to prevent any movement.
Unfortunately I may have to completely destroy the lockset to get the thing off, which seems like a complete waste, but I'm running out of ideas. Is there anything else I can do that might remove it, without losing any more blood?
Best Answer
I'd drill the existing screw head off, use a bit slightly larger than the shaft of the screw but smaller than the hole in the knob. The stripped out screw should keep the bit fairly centered even when used at a slight angle. Once each head is removed you can pull the knob and try a screw extractor on what's left, but there's a good chance you'll need to replace the entire lockset at this point.