Replacing stripped screws?

[SMILEYSIXX]

While putting straplocks on my bass, I stripped the head of the screw. Now I can't get it in or out and it's stuck in the wood. What do I do?

[JackANSI]

Screw-Out?

http://www.sears.com:80/shc/s/p_1015...5_00952154000P



I know Dunlop straplocks have screws that are a fraction wider and a bit longer than almost any OE screw I've come across so you have to re-drill or the screw becomes a pain to turn and you usually strip it.

[aproud1]

Vice grips? or drill?

[SMILEYSIXX]

The problem is that the screw is hidden inside the straplock. If you have dunlop straplocks you know what I'm talking about. I can't get to the screw in any way.

[basscheez]

This isn't easy, but you might be able to use a Dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut the straplock away from the screw, then turn it out with visegrips.

[SMILEYSIXX]

That might be the best way to go. If I turned it out with vice grips, would there be any damage to the screw holes? Could it be repaired with wood putty?

Since the screw was already pretty far in, I was considering putting wood putty under the edge of the straplock to secure it in place, because there isn't realled a need to ever remove the straplocks (not anytime soon anyway), but would there be any drawbacks to this method?

[JackANSI]

Putty will crumble quickly. If you could find something like a nylon washer that would fit snugly but not 'give' in a bad way. Still not nearly as good as getting that screw out and doing it right.

I'll get flak for saying it probably, but its not going to be as secure as a tight, snug fit against the wood.

Think about this analogy: On a car if the lug nuts are loose, it can bearly hold its own weight without damaging(bending or breaking) the studs, but when torqued to spec, they can hold many times that weight (even when adding in forces of the car being in motion) without issue or even a bit of damage.

Granted your bass isn't a car, and this was just a worst case illustration, but the job isn't done till that is secure in the intended way..

Anything that can turn the screw, even if its driving it in further, will work just fine. Pulling the screw out against the threads will tear up the hole to the point you'll need to glue in a dowel and redrill. Of course that is also an option at any time (drill the whole thing out, dowel it, and start again)

[aproud1]

If you get a drill bit smaller than the head of the screw but bigger than the body of the screw you can drill the head off inside the strap lock. then you can take off the strap button. don't drill too deep. Make sure you leave enough of the screw body behind to get some vice grips around it and un-thread.

Not the easiest thing in the world but it works. I've done this many times on many screws. (I used to work with someone who loved to overtighten and strip screws)

[Pilgrim]

Cut a slot across the lock and screw with a Dremel cut-off wheel...use a slotted screwdriver to turn the screw out. Discard the damaged lock piece.

[walterw]

try a different screwdriver (which might have been the problem in the first place.)

is there enough clearance under the straplock button to get at the screw shaft with needle-nose pliers?

if not, that "screw-out" thing might be the ticket.

[SMILEYSIXX]

Well, I actually worked with my dad on this one... we used a power drill to drill a hole straight through the screw and ended up getting the actual straplock off in one piece. The next part is the problem... the screw was so unbelievably tight that we had to completely drill out the wood around it to grip it well enough with the vice grips to twist it out. So now I'm left with this massive gaping hole in the left horn of my P-bass... my idea is to fill in the remaining part of the screw hole with a toothpick or two and some wood glue, but there's about a hole a quarter inch deep and about half an inch wide left to fill. I was considering wood putty, but I think that would crach too much. Ideas? Finishing options once I have it filled?

[giacomini]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

Cut a slot across the lock and screw with a Dremel cut-off wheel...use a slotted screwdriver to turn the screw out. Discard the damaged lock piece.

+1 to that. Oh well, works if you can find room to cut that slot. Done that, got the screw out using this method.

[JackANSI]

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

Well, I actually worked with my dad on this one... we used a power drill to drill a hole straight through the screw and ended up getting the actual straplock off in one piece. The next part is the problem... the screw was so unbelievably tight that we had to completely drill out the wood around it to grip it well enough with the vice grips to twist it out. So now I'm left with this massive gaping hole in the left horn of my P-bass... my idea is to fill in the remaining part of the screw hole with a toothpick or two and some wood glue, but there's about a hole a quarter inch deep and about half an inch wide left to fill. I was considering wood putty, but I think that would crach too much. Ideas? Finishing options once I have it filled?

Get a hardwood dowel and glue it the hole and redrill for the straplock..

or get the counter-sunk straplocks..

[SMILEYSIXX]

Originally Posted by JackANSI

Get a hardwood dowel and glue it the hole and redrill for the straplock..

or get the counter-sunk straplocks..

Call me pessimistic, but there is no wood dowel that will fix this... I'm going to have to try to fill this hole with something like putty or glue, but I have no idea how well it work work to try and finish it...

[JackANSI]

http://woodworking.about.com/od/deal...pScrewHole.htm

I've done it on an Alder-body Yamaha with a mahogany dowel... Worked perfectly, the guy I did it for hasn't had a single issue with the fix since (9 years later). The dowel is completely hidden by the strap button.

You seem hell bent on wood putty, so go ahead and try that, it'll fail in (at most) a few years. Plus you'll have nothing but trouble with that strap button till then, no finish will look right (or crack/split constantly), etc and so forth...

unsub..

[Pilgrim]

You can find dowels up to diameters larger than the body of the bass. Drill it, dowel it, refinish as needed, and install a strap screw.

Your suspicion about wood putty not working is absolutely correct. A strap screw into putty will pull out, possibly dumping the bass onto the floor and causing considerably more damage.

Putty will also create more of a mess in the damaged area, so you'd have even more clean-up to do before you do it right, drill and dowel it and do a proper repair.

Hint, hint.

[SMILEYSIXX]

Okay, I'll try finding a dowel that fits it right... that's probably my best (and most likely only) possible solution.

[kimstevens]

You can also fill the hole with superglue, or a combination of superglue and sawdust (if you use sawdust, be quick: the dust will make the glue set very fast). When a stripped hole is not very big, just swabbing the sides of the hole with superglue and spraying an accelerator will do the trick. This type of repair is very stable and long lasting.

Doweling is fine, but you will be screwing into the end grain, which will probably not hold the screw as securely as the original body. If you have access to a plug cutter, you can make a plug with proper grain orientation for the best remedy to the problem.

[SMILEYSIXX]

Step one has been taken care of. I drilled a quarter inch hole into the bass and doweled it and filled the tiny cracks with wood glue. It takes 24 hours to cure, then I'm sanding off the top of the dowel, painting over it and then drilling for the new straplock screw.

[JLS]

"I was considering wood putty"

No. No. No. No. No.