5 Ways to Remove a Stripped Screw

It feels like the absolute worst when you are just about done dissembling a piece of furniture or a project, only to have your last screw get stripped and effectively stuck in the wood, no matter how much you try and wiggle it out. The breakaway torque, or the force needed to start a rotation between the micro fasteners and its matching thread, is sealed tight. Luckily, before you throw your screwdriver across the room, we would urge you to try out some of these tricks for how to remove a small stripped screw from wood first.

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1. Using a rotary tool like a Dremel or something similar, try cutting a narrow notch into the small screws head. Then take a flat head screwdriver and see if you can unscrew it that way. A similar version of this can be done with a Phillips head, where you just drill a hole tiny enough to fit the X of the screwdrivers head into it and unscrew it.
2. There are tools that exist call “screw extractors”. They act much in the same way the screwdrivers do, but they’re specifically made to extract broken or stripped miniature screws from their holdings. This is the easiest method to get rid of stripped screws, guaranteed.
3. A popular life hack involved putting a thick rubber band over the screw head and unscrewing the micro screws like before. Occasionally, the rubber gives the screwdriver the extra grip it needs to extract the screw.
4. If the screw head is partially exposed, using a pair of needle-nose pliers may be all that you need to get out those pesky tiny screws. Simply gripping the sides of the screw and unscrewing them that way could get it out.
5. If the project you’re working on is not delicate, you could also take your hammer and try and hammer your screwdriver deep enough into the screw to pull it out. If the metal was weak enough to strip, it could be weak enough for the screwdriver to punch through.

A stripped screw is a pain. No matter how hard you try, it sometimes seems like it’s never going to come out. There are a few other ways to try removing a stripped screw, so if none of these methods work for you, just keep looking. We hope you found these tips for removing a stripped screw from wood to be helpful.

For more info on micro fasteners, please visit usmicroscrew.com