How to Prevent Screw Stripping and Scratching

Screw stripping and scratching commonly happen when the driver bit slips out of the drive and causes imperfections in the head of a fastener. This can result in either a burring effect which can remove the finish from a fastener. You definitely don’t want to mess up on a screw going onto a finished product!

We chose to use a black oxide stainless steel screw. Black oxide is a coating that goes over stainless steel to add an extra layer of corrosion and abrasion resistance. This screw is commonly used for its sleek black look so you definitely don’t want to mess it up.

To quickly mitigate the effects of slipping, simply take your favorite roll of painters tape and wrap the bit with it. This will make the drive fit more securely to help deter that slide out effect while also protecting the head of the screw in the event of a slip out.

Make sure you use proper drilling form when you’re drilling. Always keep a good amount of pressure on the screw and make sure you don’t try to drive it too quickly as this may lead to driver slippage. For an even more secure hold, you might want to check out Torx or square drive screws which are designed to decrease the chance of stripping even more!

And here it is! Our fully installed black oxide stainless steel phillips head screw. Free of any burring or stripping. Follow this tip to keep your fasteners looking brand new!

How to Prevent Screw Stripping

Preventing Screw Stripping Transcript Scroll Down To Continue Reading Bob: Welcome back to Albany County Fasteners – Fasteners 101. I’m Bob and today I’m going to show you a tip using blue tape to prevent scratching or damaging the heads of your screws. And we now have our evolution saws in stock so check it out on the website we can ship immediately. So let’s get started. I have here a black oxy (oxide) screw. You can see there the head is perfect. No scratches or anything. To prevent making marks to your screws as you’re installing them – this is a sheet metal screw, same thing goes if you’re just using a hand screw driver – to prevent the scratching or damaging of the heads, what I recommend you do is, take a piece of blue tape, this is painters blue tape, and just put it over the head like so. Then put your screw into the bit and screw it in. You will see here, the head has no damage to the to the Philips Drive (recess) so you won’t see any marks or imperfections to the metal. This is a little quick tip for you guys. It’s something that I use when I’m putting in screws that are going to be visible on the finished product, and that’s my tip of the day.