Not strictly audio but related and a real mess. I wanted to open up the cabinet of a cdp to change a tube inside which involved removing 6 small phillips screws with a recessed head,... and of course, there is always one that pretends to be sword Excalibur. Sadly, after I had attacked it with every imaginable screwdriver, I noticed that I had literally milled out the head. So I now have an unbudgeable screw with a perfectly round cavity on the head sitting on a rather sensitive piece of gear (the plate I have to remove holds most of the electronic circuitry, the cd drive and the tube, go figure). Anyone faced a similar conundrum and solved it? Thanks for not laughing 8^(
Something along the lines of the Sears extractor are reverse threaded drill bits. The counter clockwise cutting force is applied. If the hole gets deep enough, use typical extractors. A lot depends on the type of metal, size of the screw and the type of head. I can see how the Sears tool would work great in general, but I have reverse threaded dills down to 1/16". Places like McMaster Carr have them.
As long as everyone is chimming in; *Replace any other screws with new ones. Chances are they are jacked up as well. *Clean out the holes with compresed air before reinstalling the screws. *Don't over tighten the screws when you put them back in. That's what started this whole mess in the 1st place. Good luck, John
What I would do is the easiest thing first. I would take a pair of diagonal cutters & see if I could squeeze into the sides of the screw while turning. I've done this on audio gear but learned this trick working on vehicles.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.