I'm looking for a way of removing a sheared-off stainless steel woodscrew embedded in a hardwood plank that is accessible only via a 5.5mm diameter circular hole in a metal panel.
The screw is secured fast, so will need a good amount of torque to remove. The hole is too small for needle-nose pliers and the metal panel can't be removed without a lot of effort.
Because the exposed part of the shaft is mangled at the top, I've thought about several possibilities:
- A female square/hex key narrow enough to fit into the hole.
- A square/rectangular cross-section metal tube that I can fasten over the exposed shaft.
However, short of going bespoke, I'm not aware of any standardized tools/materials like this.
I'd be grateful for any advice on how I can get it out, short of drilling it.
Best Answer
A quick update on this question that I asked several days ago.
The way of removing a sheared screw like this is by attaching a tubular diamond drill bit (for drilling into tiles, as in the image below) to a power drill. The internal diameter of the drill bit should match the diameter of the shaft of the screw, so that it fits tightly. In this case, a 3mm internal-diameter drill bit.
If the drill is spun in reverse direction while forward pressure is applied, the diamond encrusted tip of the drill bit bites into the screw thread in counter-clockwise direction, turning the screw.
The more tightly the screw is embedded, the more forward pressure may be needed to turn it.
If the first attempt fails, and you just end up cutting away the thread, leaving just the shaft, using a smaller-diameter drill bit (just enough to bite into the outer circumference of the shaft) may work.