Removing Stripped Screws in 3 Easy Steps – Quick Tip

How To Remove Stripped Screws With a Rubber Band

Removing stripped screws can be incredibly annoying. There’s no way around it, literally. In the case of stripped screws, they can severely hinder your ability to get a project done. So we have once again consulted our fastener expert for a solution to this problem.

His first recommendation was a drill extractor bit, but those of you that follow our blog knew that already. We posted a blog about how to use a screw extractor a while ago.

But what about the everyday DIYer who doesn’t come across this situation constantly. You might not want to go buy a bolt extractor set when you only need to get rid of one pesky screw.

Enter the most useful tool ever created, next to duct tape of course! The rubber-band. A tool used for anything from a bracelet to a keep your favorite bag of chips from getting stale. A tool that is going to help you remove that screw as if it was never stripped to begin with.

Lets begin

So now that you have the secret tool you need to get that stripped screw removed, lets walk you through the process in three easy steps.

Place the rubber-band over the screw head.
Place the drill bit against the screw head through the rubber-band and apply pressure.
Spin Slowly

And that’s pretty much it.

When you press the rubber-band against the stripped head, it fills in the spacing created by the stripping. We have done some basic testing and determined that this trick works best on semi-stripped screws but you can still get it to work on some of the more dramatically stripped screws as well if your lucky.

Most effective on semi-stripped screws

Have a question you need answered? Leave a comment below! If the question stumps us it may turn into a post of its own!

Removing Stripped Screws With a Rubber Band

Using a Rubber Band to Remove Stripped Screws

Rubber Band Trick For Stripped Screws Transcript

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Bob: Welcome back to Albany County Fasteners – Fasteners 101. I’m Bob and I’m going to show you today how to remove a stripped screw.

I’m just showing you here that these heads are stripped out. I’m going to show you how to remove them with a rubber band. So let’s get started.

I’m gonna put it here in my vise. Okay, so I have a rubber band. We’ll put the rubber band onto the head of the Phillips and we’re going to go slow and steady outward, okay.

You have to put nice pressure on this and we’ll back it out.

So basically what the rubber band does is fill the void between the Phillips head (and the driver).

There you go.

What Are Jam Nuts? and How To Use Them

Jam Nuts and How to Use Them

Jam nuts are nuts that are about half of the size of a regular nut. In practice, these nuts are both screwed onto the bolt and then they are tightened against each other.

There are a couple of different reasons you might want to use jam nuts. The first is if you are fastening to a very soft material and cannot risk hurting the material by fastening against it. The second is when you need to attach something to the bolt but let it move around on the bolt.

How to Use Them

installing jam nuts

The process of installing jam nuts is very simple. We’ve chosen to use our trusty vice to hold our bolt in place for this example. So once your bolt is in place simply screw the first nut onto the bolt. Make sure the bolt is far enough down to allow room for the second one. After you get the first nut on far enough you can begin spinning the second one. These nuts should both slide onto the bolt very easily.

Before tightening you need to set the bottom nut, the one that is closer to the bolt head, to the desired height. Next take an adjustable (or the correct size) wrench and slide it onto the bottom nut. You will the proceed to used either a wrench or socket as we do here, to tighten the top nut against the bottom one. These nuts tightening against each other will lock the nuts in place on the bolt. We also recommend using threadlocker to keep these nuts in place during an installation.

The main differences between a jam nut and a regular hex nut is that they are tightened against each other instead of against a material, and that they are about half of the size of a regular nut.

tightening the top nut installed jam nuts

How to Measure a Rivet

Using a Rivet Gauge to Measure a Rivet

Many of our customers get in contact with us and ask us how to measure rivets. We used to find rivets annoying to measure ourselves, until we found this. This rivet measuring gauge is perfect for measuring rivets. We are so sure that it’s the perfect measuring tool we use it ourselves in our warehouse.

Made of sturdy plastic, this tool comes with preset sizes and lengths used to measure all kinds of rivets. So, where should we begin?

Understanding a Rivet

Rivets are odd-looking fasteners composed of two parts. The hat and the mandrel. The hat is the short stubby side which needs to be measured for its length and diameter. The mandrel is the long thin end that is pulled off of the rivet during the installation process.

To understand what size rivet you will need you need to determine the diameter of the hole to be filled and the material installation thickness. You then need to find a rivet size that fits this range.

Measuring a Rivet Using the Gauge

So, first things first, we are going to place the hat of the rivet into the circular holes on the rivet gauge. The holes represent different diameters that rivets come in. When you place the rivet into the hole it should be a snug fit. If you have a lot of wiggle room then you are probably in a size that is too big. On the other side, if you cannot fit the hat into the hole the hole is probably too small. The diameter of our test rivet was 4.

Next we are going to measure the length of the rivet. insert the hat into the open-ended top areas. You will want to make sure the rivet’s washer or flange area is pressed up against measuring rivet length the top of the plastic. As you can see from our example, the first section did not properly house the hat of our example rivet so we had to check the next size up. After checking that we determined that our length was 4.

This rivet is a #4-4.

What Comes Next?

Now that you know the size of your rivet you can find out what range it fits to determine if it is the proper rivet to fit your needs.

For everything you will ever need to know about rivets we have compiled all of our information about rivets onto our free Fasteners 101: Rivets Guide Resource. Please check it out to find any information you are looking for.

If you are interested in buying one of these tools, check out our Rivet Gauge page to learn more.

Tool: Rivet Gauge

Rivet Installation Guide

How Do I Install A Rivet?

It’s a question many people ask the first time they see a rivet and not one that’s incredibly easy to explain. Today we will show you how to install a rivet, but first, we need to determine what tools we will need for the job.

The Tools You Need

Riveter
Rivets
Drill
Drill Bits

Installing Your First Rivet

hand riveter

The first thing to do when installing a rivet is to choose the appropriate tool for the job. There are many different riveting tools but we find that for day to day use, a simple hand riveter will do nicely. If you plan on installing a large number of rivets, check out this Battery Operated Rivet Tool and our review of a similar tool here.

The next step is to use your drill and drill bit to create a hole in the materials you plan on fastening together.

After drilling the hole its time to prep the rivet for install. All you do is slide the mandrel (longer thin end of a rivet) into the hand riveter until it sits against the flange.

After the rivet is placed into the hand riveter you place the hat of the rivet (the end still sticking out of the tool) through the hole. Now while keeping pressure against the rivet so it stays all the way in the hole, squeeze the handle.

install a rivet installed rivet

When you squeeze the handle several things happen at once. The tool bites down on the mandrel and begins to pull it backwards. As it does, the mandrel, which starts in the hat of the rivet is pulled through the hat towards the riveter tool. As the mandrel is pulled through the hat the hat expands creating a fat end which can no longer slide through the hole. Once the maximum torque is reached the mandrel snaps and leaves only the hat and flange behind.

installed rivet (front) installed rivet (back)

Above are images from the front and back of 6 installed rivets. The image on the left is the front of the rivet which is what is exposed once the installation is complete. The picture on the right is the back (blind) side of the installed rivet.

Conclusion

As you can see, installing a rivet is a simple process that can be difficult to explain. You should also note that rivets need to be sized based off the thickness they are being installed into. If you do not choose a rivet in the correct grip range your rivet will either be loose or try to expand into the hole during installation.

Need more rivet information? Check out our Free Rivet Guide. We have compiled helpful videos, charts, grip ranges and other useful information to make rivet installation a breeze!

How Do You Protect A Door From a Hurricane?

Hurricane Protection For Doors

With a number of record breaking hurricanes striking North America in the past few months, we’ve had many customers call in or email asking us what kind of equipment, hardware and fasteners they should buy to protect their doors during a hurricane. After some research, we set out with our fastener expert to demonstrate how to and build a temporary emergency hurricane barrier for our door. We built this door cover with materials you may have handy in your garage, basement, or workshop.

tools for hurricane protection

The Tools & Materials

The first thing we had to do was get the tools we needed for the job. We decided on a list (see below) of simple tools that are common and not some fancy “hurricane protection kits” that we have seen popping up. We’ve also linked them to our website so you can find out more about them.

1/4″ x 3-1/4″ Hex Head Tapcon Masonry Screws
5/16″ Magnetized Hex Driver (for easy installation)
#8 x 1-1/4″ 316 Stainless Steel Deck Screws
#2 Square Head Power Bit (Square drive to deter stripping)
Impact Drill (almost any brand will work)
Hammer Drill
SDS Concrete Drill Bit
Three Lengths of 2 x 4 x 8 wood (Cut to length before we started)
23 x 32 or almost 3/4″ Thick Sheet of Plywood
Safety Gloves
Safety Goggles

Step One

Now that we have all of the tools we need assembled, our first step was to cut our 2 x 4s to length. We recommend having two pieces running down each side and one piece on top to prevent anything from falling in from the top.

frame for door protection

The 2 x 4s, our fastener expert explained, are there to add space between the door and the plywood because the handle and lock stick out too far. This means we cannot simply press the plywood against the door archway as it will not sit evenly. This method allows you to cover the door without needing to remove the hardware you will use to lock it. He then proceeded to flip the plywood on top and align the boards beneath to the edges. The Wood screws were then places around the edges of the plywood roughly 3 feet apart. He told us these screws actually aren’t very important as they are only holding the 2x4s to the plywood so we can properly install it.

Step 2

Hammer Drilling frame into door

The next step was to press the plywood over the door with the 2x4s facing the door. The added extra space in front of the door which in turn allowed the door knob to fit nicely. Taking the Hammer Drill and SDS Concrete Drill Bit, he then proceeded to drill 3 holes into each side of the plywood (directly through the 2×4’s). We recommends 10 or more per side. But use as many as makes you comfortable.

Step 3

Now that you have your holes you can take your impact drill and hex driver to work. Use the hex driver to drive the Tapcon screws through the wood into the concrete. We recommend at least an inch and a half to two inches of length be placed into the concrete for a proper and secure hold. It is important to always comply with local building code, we also recommend researching if your town or city has specific requirements, however keep in mind that this is a temporary fix and would not be installed as a permanent hurricane shutter or guard.

screwing masonry screws into the hurricane protection

Aftermath

Once the hurricane is over, these Tapcon screws can be removed easily with the hex driver. Then the wood fixture can be stored for the next hurricane or simply used for other projects you may have.

Safety Considerations

Albany County Fasteners wants to help make your house as safe as possible during a hurricane. Hurricanes are unpredictable and mother nature is not a force to be taken lightly. You should always follow the directions given by leaders, law enforcement and the government and evacuate or leave the area during a hurricane and go somewhere safe until it has passed.

While we have shown you a way we believe to be sufficient to protect your doors, it is impossible to know what is going to happen and we can only prepare for the worst. If the storm coming your way is strong, add additional plywood sheets or thickness to your installation to make it as durable as possible and resist penetration.