Stuck panel screws

On 5-Jul-2006, "FlyWithTwo" wrote:

Hi Scott,
An A&P friend showed me a trick on an access panel that had some stuck
fasteners. He used a 1/4" speeder wrench with a phillips head socket.
The speeder wrench looks like an old "bit and brace" drill. It allows
you to push hard on the bit and still keep it square when you turn it.

In the Air Force we called that tool a "speed handle" but I'm sure your name
is more accurate. I'm sure I've got hundreds of hours turning those, we
used them for opening and closing all of the various access panels on the
F-4Cs and F-4Es I worked on waaay back when. Fighters use LOTS of panel
fasteners! You're right, this tool does work pretty well for freeing stuck
screws. Put a little valve-grinding compund on the bit tip and you can't
miss!
I used to know a fellow that had another type of stuck screw removal tool.
I'm not sure who made it, perhaps Snap-On, but it looked kind of like a
fat stubby screwdriver with a metal handle. You'd put an Apex bit in it,
stick the bit in the stuck screw, and whack the butt of the handle with a
hammer. The impact of the hammer pushed the bit into the handle a little,
and at the same time the bit was twisted slightly counter-clockwise. That
would break loose stuck screws pretty easily and quickly. You had to be
careful not to whack it so hard as to cause other problems though!
Scott Wilson

On 07/06/06 16:20, wrote:
On 5-Jul-2006, "FlyWithTwo" wrote:

Hi Scott,
An A&P friend showed me a trick on an access panel that had some stuck
fasteners. He used a 1/4" speeder wrench with a phillips head socket.
The speeder wrench looks like an old "bit and brace" drill. It allows
you to push hard on the bit and still keep it square when you turn it.

In the Air Force we called that tool a "speed handle" but I'm sure your name
is more accurate. I'm sure I've got hundreds of hours turning those, we
used them for opening and closing all of the various access panels on the
F-4Cs and F-4Es I worked on waaay back when. Fighters use LOTS of panel
fasteners! You're right, this tool does work pretty well for freeing stuck
screws. Put a little valve-grinding compund on the bit tip and you can't
miss!
I used to know a fellow that had another type of stuck screw removal tool.
I'm not sure who made it, perhaps Snap-On, but it looked kind of like a
fat stubby screwdriver with a metal handle. You'd put an Apex bit in it,
stick the bit in the stuck screw, and whack the butt of the handle with a
hammer. The impact of the hammer pushed the bit into the handle a little,
and at the same time the bit was twisted slightly counter-clockwise. That
would break loose stuck screws pretty easily and quickly. You had to be
careful not to whack it so hard as to cause other problems though!

This is called an Impact Driver, and is available at pretty much any
tool supply store (even your neighborhood corner auto parts store).

They are great! I would never be without one.


Scott Wilson



--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
Cal Aggie Flying Farmers
Sacramento, CA

Here's the tool I was talking about

http://www.factsfacts.com/MyHomeRepa...pactdriver.jpg
Here is the description as I found it on factsfacts.com's site:
An impact screwdriver is designed to rotate the screwdriver tip when the
handle is hit with a hammer. So, the tip is forced into the screw head by
the hammer blow at the same time the tip is being rotated to loosen the
screw. If you have a motorcyclist friend she may have one. If the screw is
in cast iron, or something else you could break by hitting it, you may not
want to use this.