Embedded broken screws: how to turn around them

[Marianne Patton]

I'm rough turning a 12" green Honey Locust bowl. While attempting to attach a faceplate, I broke 1 drill bit and 2 screws; they are still in the blank. I have now cut out everything I can reach around the center. The photos show where I am, and the pencil indicates the bottom of the screw (at least I hope it's the bottom). Question now is, How do I get that center out so I can let the bowl dry well (it's at 22% moisture now)? Thank you!

 

[Brian Gustin]

I'd use a parting tool to thin it down on the outside a bit (have to finagle the tool rest down into the blank to support tool close to wood) , and/or work from the inside using a scraper perhaps - get it thin as possible and give it a whack with a hammer and break it off? Parting tools and scrapers not as easy to screw up if they happen to hit hardware, and given the hollowness you already have inside, probably would not take a whole lot, I would not think, to break it off with a few whacks with a mallet or something?

 

[Jim Reynolds]

Perhaps a Dremel with a metal cutting disc would be worth an attempt.

A wood burner might be useful in burning around the metal to locate it more precisely.

 

[Darryl Fective]

Turn right up to it/them. With wood turned away from one side, they pry/hammer free pretty easily.

With where you're at with your bowl, I would think you could cut away a bit more of the diameter below the hardware. Narrowed a bit more, it would chisel away, or maybe bore a larger diameter hole to cut it free.

Looks like a beautiful bowl that's worth the extra efforts.

 

[Andrew Hale]

I typically approach this situation with a very sharp 1/2” or 3/4” chisel and a light hammer. Small careful passes around the screw shaft until I can grab it with a pair of vice grips and then back the screw out. I’m really good at this process because I’m in this position entirely too often. 🙄

 

[David Wyke]

I’ve done this once or twice 😁. I put a metal drill bit in my drill and drill several holes as close to the screw as possible and then grab with vise grips.
The way this looks you could drill down on both sides of the screw and tilt the drill so the bit comes out the side of the wood. It should be easy to chip the remaining piece in front of the screw off and allow access to the screw.

 

[Mike Selser]

I use a plug cutter that is larger than the screw to remove broken screws. If you don’t have a plug cutter drill the largest hole that will fit between the screws with a Forstner bit then whack out the pillars that remain. If they don’t break off easily use a sharp chisel to narrow the base down. It looks like you could also turn the center hole larger too.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

use a bench chisel in line with the grain to start splitting away the wood until the metal is exposed. The next time forget the faceplate and use a wood worm screw in your chuck which should only require one 3/8" hole in the center of the blank.

 

[hockenbery]

Like others have said
turn as close as I can
The use an old Bench chisel that I don’t mind nicking the edge.
Chisel the wood away until I can put a vise grip on the screw and turn it.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I don't remember for what, but I made a small holesaw to drill around the broken bit or screw I had to remove.
I also did heat the screw, that made it easy to remove the screw, as it had broken off and did not readily unscrew, when heated hot it will come out easily.
You can buy these, but I just made it from a small tubing with a Dremel to fashion the sawteeth.

 

[Roger Wiegand]

What Leo said, or similarly, use a screw extractor. https://www.amazon.com/Single-Screw...967deca34bbb2ccd3ffb00f9e9d&gad_source=1&th=1

Or for just trying to get rid of a fully exposed core like your picture shows just hit it with a hammer and knock it off. A chisel or bent carving gouge applied below the screw line would encourage it further.
Then invest in some tougher screws (Spax have been good for me) that won't break.

 

[Mark Fairchild]

Like others have said
turn as close as I can
The use an old Bench chisel that I don’t mind nicking the edge.
Chisel the wood away until I can put a vise grip on the screw and turn it.

Ditto.

 

[Will Armstrong]

I would probably dig at the screw with an oscillating multitool.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

As others have said, I use an old chisel when I encounter an embedded nail or screw, to just dig out around it. It I also wonder if you needed to attach the blank with screws as long as these appear to be. Might be an illusion, but it looks like you were way deep into the bowl blank.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I broke 1 drill bit and 2 screws; they are still in the blank

Certainly, once you get these out, you'll want to look at how to avoid these problems in the future. As mentioned the screws may have been too weak, too long or driven too hard. I also once broke off a drill bit, and learned the hard way of the importance of "peck" drilling: drill a little then withdraw the bit and clear the chips, drill some more, etc. The drill bit may be the bigger problem since it is made of hardened steel as opposed to mild steel for the screws, and stuck drill bits seem less inclined to "unscrew" than threaded fasteners.

Lots of potential avenues to remove these "foreign bodies", and it will depend on what tools you have available or wish to dash out and purchase. But if you were visiting me in my shop this is what I would suggest. You have a column of waste wood in the center so basically you can cut off the column from the bowl or carve out around the screws and bit. But this is not keeper wood, so no need to try to get the screws out of the wood, you just have to remove that waste wood from your bowl. In my shop, I would try mounting a large coarse burr on the rotary carving tool (or Dremel) and cut away the waste wood in between the objects leaving three fingers of wood. These I would the work off using a smaller burr, or bench chisel, or possibly a very flexible flush cut hand saw (if the bowl is shallower than it appears in the photo). I'm assuming the large hole in the center of the waste wood goes deeper than the screws & bit.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Others have given you solutions, but I would point out that those screws are awfully long. You usually only need 1/2" of screw in the material.

 

[Michael Nathal]

I have used a swan necked hollowing tool to remove the core. You have to reverse the spindle. I came up with this idea when trying to make this triple hollow form. Surprisingly stable and very fast. Probably quicker than the hand chisels. The only swan necks with the right hand bend, to allow turning without reversing, are coring tools,

 

[Tom Lucas]

Lots of good advice on ways to remove. I would certainly use a parting tool to reduce the "stem" as much as possible. With the hollow center you just might be able to get thru it, or at least very close.

Locust is hard stuff. Anytime I'm using screws in really hard woods, I always wax them first (Actually I always wax them for faceplate mounts). Second is to make sure that the pilot hole is the size of the screw shank. As for the drill bit, an ounce of prevention is the remedy: a little at a time, clearing often. Lessons for next time.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

I always wax them first

Agree. I keep a wax toilet ring in my shop for this purpose. It’s pretty soft and sticks well to the screw. Just poke the screw into it and pull it out and it’s ready to drive.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I have used a swan necked hollowing tool to remove the core. You have to reverse the spindle. I came up with this idea when trying to make this triple hollow form. Surprisingly stable and very fast. Probably quicker than the hand chisels. The only swan necks with the right hand bend, to allow turning without reversing, are coring tools,

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Gary Beasley]

A plug cutter is the simplest technique Ive found for removing broken screws, works best on a drill press but doable in a handheld drill. Drill to the depth of the screw then torque the plug out with a screwdriver.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Just curious about the resolution of this problem. OP hasn’t been back since the first post. How did you resolve this?

 

[hughie]

Where its possible I try and cut a slot to screw them out, otherwise I carve a small crater to get long nose vice grips in. But the reality is I try and avoid the issue like the plague by being very particular on my wood sources.

 

[Art Chamberlin]

First let me say that it happens to us all. It’s frustrating. My advice on how to remove them is to drill around them and rip them out with a needle nose vise grip. It’s about the only way I’ve ever found that works. But the trick in the first place is to find the right screws. I’ve tried several, but once I switched to these stainless steel screws I haven’t had a single problem. I also find that the hex heads work better than a screw head. You just need a nut driver for your drill.