ARRGGHHH!! The machine head screw has snapped in half!

[Soloshchenko]

Hi guys on my first build the screw that goes into the back of the machine head has snapped in half as I was screwing in and is flush to the wood surface so I can't get it out!

Any help or ideas and I will owe you my life!

 

[DangerousR6]

Hi guys on my first build the screw that goes into the back of the machine head has snapped in half as I was screwing in and is flush to the wood surface so I can't get it out!

Any help or ideas and I will owe you my life!

If you can bring yourself to do it to the neck, take an exacto knife and just cut away little bits all around the screw. Then you'll need some side cutters, they look like wire cutters but the cutting surface on the bottom isn't beveled like regulare wire cutters are. Those work great for gripping screws, screws are generally soft metal and the cutters will bite into the screw and you should be able to turn it out...

 

[Orpheo]

if there is some of the screw left, you can to a less radicle idea. take of the tuner, and take a pair of plyers, and twist the remaining out.

or: use the little screwhole of the tuner as a guidance, and drill the screw out.

 

[jackthehack]

Do a search, there's several threads on snapped off tuner screws, a rather lengthy one very recently.

Tuner hold-down screws are very thin in diameter; if you do not drill pilot holes of sufficient depth, you WILL snap off the heads!

 

[DangerousR6]

if there is some of the screw left, you can to a less radicle idea. take of the tuner, and take a pair of plyers, and twist the remaining out.

or: use the little screwhole of the tuner as a guidance, and drill the screw out.

He said it was snapped off flush.....And I forgot to add the part about drilling it out and plugging it with a piece of dowel once the old screw was out. Then you have fresh wood to break off another screw.....

 

[guitlouie]

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3404.0

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=1150.0

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=519.0

 

[shanejw]

I'm a huge beleiver in predrilling holes.

 

[DocNrock]

The beauty of this board is that one can learn from the problems others have had.

 

[bpmorton777]

this topic has come up enough in my opinion that it might be a good one for the suggestion box....pre-drilled tuner screw holes along with your neck order if you are getting tuners at the same time... A newb like me would pay an upcharge for it.

Brian

 

[Orpheo]

if there is some of the screw left, you can to a less radicle idea. take of the tuner, and take a pair of plyers, and twist the remaining out.

or: use the little screwhole of the tuner as a guidance, and drill the screw out.

He said it was snapped off flush.....And I forgot to add the part about drilling it out and plugging it with a piece of dowel once the old screw was out. Then you have fresh wood to break off another screw.....

sorry, overread that bit. but hey, it was here somewhere around 2am in the morning.  :doh:

 

[-CB-]

The beauty of this board is that one can learn from the problems others have had.

I thought the beauty of the board was the "page three" girls that come in after hours?

 

[DocNrock]

The beauty of this board is that one can learn from the problems others have had.

I thought the beauty of the board was the "page three" girls that come in after hours?

That must be in the "secret" forum. 

 

[Soloshchenko]

Cheers for the replies. I've moved from wanting to kill myself to thinking this is a fixable problem.