What tool to slice off wood screws?

[epsilonGreedy]

I inherited a well built garden shed from a pensioner who was moving into sheltered accommodation. Unfortunately it was not built to be taken apart and so in the rush to move it some of the major wall sections had to be prised apart and this has left exposed screws with the heads still captive.

 

I do not own any cutting tool and want to buy something to slice off the captive screws flush to the wood surface. I think my options are a small grinder or an osculating cutter, these have popped up in my online research.

 

Oscilating

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Makita-DTM51Z-Multi-Tool-18-V/dp/B00QEBOE0Q

 

Grinder

https://www.axminster.co.uk/makita-dga452z-115mm-cordless-angle-grinder-18v-body-only-506185

 

The cosmetic finish is not an issue with this task because the surfaces with the exposed screws will be concealed once the shed has been reassembled.

 

 

 

 

[Declan52]

A hammer.  Tap the screw left right up and down repeatedly and it will snap. 

[epsilonGreedy]

9 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

A hammer.  Tap the screw left right up and down repeatedly and it will snap. 

 

 

I am going outside to experiment.

[Mr Punter]

A mains angle grinder is pretty cheap and quite useful.

[ProDave]

What access to the screws do you have?  If you can see the shank but the head is fubared then just grab it with mole grips and undo it.

 

If you want an oscilating tool, usually know as a multitool, and are not in a hurry, wait until next time Aldi or Lidl have them. I am happy with my £25 mains powered one from Lidl.

[Moonshine]

If you go down the angle grinder route, use hearing and eye protection!

[epsilonGreedy]

20 minutes ago, ProDave said:

What access to the screws do you have?

 

 

Just the pointy end, the heads are under other layers of the shed panels. This shed was a proper job built as a frame onsite e.g. the flooring boards went in last and hid all the screws binding the floor frame to the wall panel bases. I did not have time to reverse its original build sequence hence the torn out screws now exposed. This will just be our onsite laundry for 6 months hence it will be joined back together with some metal corner straps and some beads of structural mastic along the internal panel joints.

 

I am making excellent progress with the @Declan52 hammer and metal fatigue technique but might have to resort to an angle grinder for the final awkward bits.

Edited April 12, 2019 by epsilonGreedy

[ProDave]

Can you not just grip them with a claw hammer and pull them through?

[Ed Davies]

2 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

osculating

 

There's an interestingly obscure word. It's not the same as oscillating, it means kissing.

 

Apparently it was, at some time in the past, used jokingly in its direct meaning but the only time I've come across it is in orbital mechanics where an asteroid, satellite or whatever's orbit is perturbed by forces other than the gravitational pull of the body it's in orbit around so is not a simple ellipse. The ideal elliptical orbit that best matches its actual path at a particular moment in time is called an osculating orbit.

 

Less off point, a multitool is a good thing to have but the metal-cutting blades I've tried haven't lasted long. Might be because I've used them on galvanized ring nails or might be because I've bought cheap ones. OTOH, I went to the local agricultural supplies place today to get various things. On my list was a couple of metal blades for my Makita multitool. as I have a few more ring nails to dig through. They only had genuine Makita ones which would be nice to try but at £22 each I thought I'd skip that experiment.

[Simplysimon]

if there's enough of the screw sticking out clamp the chuck onto it and use the battery gun to turn it in the right direction to remove.

[Onoff]

I'd avoid the multitool on these screws. Even the better make bi-metal blades don't tend to last long on something like Screwfix Gold Screws they're so bloody hard /brittle!

 

1mm thick cutting disc in 115mm angle grinder and pair of moles for wiggle 'n snap would be my choice.

[AliG]

The Aldi multi tool seems to be available now.

 

40V

https://www.aldi.co.uk/multi-tool%2C-40v-battery-%26-charger/p/000000283316400

20V

https://www.aldi.co.uk/multi-tool%2C-20v-battery-%26-charger/p/000000283753400

 

I have some plywood pelmets that I need to cut. We installed them too tight to the wall for the curtains to be easily hung and I reckon the easiest way to fix this is to leave them on the wall, cut them shorter and then put a new one on top.

 

So a multi tool seems the way to go, I had been thinking of getting one but didn't have a reason to. I doubt it will get used much, so would you people recommend these Aldi ones or spending a bit more on something else?

 

This Einhell unit looks like a slightly pricier alternative

 

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Einhell-Eintemg18Li-4006825626100-Varrito-Cordless-Power-X-Change-Multi-Tool-18V-1-X-2.0Ah-Li-Ion

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by AliG

[PeterW]

@AliG what battery system do you run ..??  Makita LXT bare unit is the same price as that and a better unit. 

 

 

[AliG]

For a minute I thought that all I had was a Bosch drill driver and the battery is an old style they don't use today, but you have reminded me that I bought a Bosch cordless hedge trimmer.

 

It uses the 18V Bosch battery so I could get a Bosch tool

[Onoff]

9 hours ago, AliG said:

I doubt it will get used much

 

I thought the very same about multitools. My proper, apprenticed, chisel sharpening, hand plane wielding, veneer applying, cabinet making chippy mate lent me his for a job. I thought he'd gone mad and it was an unwieldy tool for bodgers.

 

I was amazed and now have two cheapos. Both corded, a Draper and a Lidl Parkside. Haven't stopped using them tbh and surprising how accurate you can be especially if you cut with the blade against a clamped on wooden block to keep things dead square. 

 

The concept took a bashing yesterday mind when had to move one double socket that meant cutting for a new dry lining box in 3/8" pb. I tried my new Triton back box cutting tool from CPC...epic FAIL, just useless and then some. Might try in my mates 18V Dewalt in case the oscillation is "better".

 

 

 

[PeterW]

27 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

I thought the very same about multitools. My proper, apprenticed, chisel sharpening, hand plane wielding, veneer applying, cabinet making chippy mate lent me his for a job. I thought he'd gone mad and it was an unwieldy tool for bodgers.

 

I was amazed and now have two cheapos. Both corded, a Draper and a Lidl Parkside. Haven't stopped using them tbh and surprising how accurate you can be especially if you cut with the blade against a clamped on wooden block to keep things dead square. 

 

The concept took a bashing yesterday mind when had to move one double socket that meant cutting for a new dry lining box in 3/8" pb. I tried my new Triton back box cutting tool from CPC...epic FAIL, just useless and then some. Might try in my mates 18V Dewalt in case the oscillation is "better".

 

 

 

 

They are crap. End of ...!

 

use it to mark the box by tapping with a hammer then use a multi tool to cut round the shape made. 

[Onoff]

6 minutes ago, PeterW said:

 

They are crap. End of ...!

 

use it to mark the box by tapping with a hammer then use a multi tool to cut round the shape made. 

 

6 minutes ago, PeterW said:

 

They are crap. End of ...!

 

use it to mark the box by tapping with a hammer then use a multi tool to cut round the shape made. 

 

Previous to this I've always used the multitool with a standard blade as you say. Going to give it one more go on a piece of scrap.

 

What makes it worse is I bought two singles and two doubles - a set for my chippy mate. I'll be returning the 3 unopened ones to CPC if I can.

[PeterW]

My mate has a piece of 6mm ply with a perfect single and double box cut in it, and stuck one of these on with mitrebond.

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

On 12/04/2019 at 15:31, Moonshine said:

If you go down the angle grinder route, use hearing and eye protection!

 

[SteamyTea]

Let the disk get too small and whatever is being cut can get jammed between the disk and the guard.

 

Edited May 26, 2019 by SteamyTea

[ToughButterCup]

In this case, I was lucky enough to have a grinder with an auto - stop function. And stupid enough to work when really tired. 

[AliG]

SO my Bosch battery works on this tool

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Battery-Multi-Purpose-Additional-Oscillation/dp/B072KH9K91/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cr_simh_0_1/259-7715631-0054117?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B072KH9K91&pd_rd_r=25855299-2796-4528-8362-aaa6f1fb2109&pd_rd_w=49DiN&pd_rd_wg=SNK2o&pf_rd_p=cd656a79-125c-4ac8-931f-bdf9f90841fb&pf_rd_r=2RS4MXRSDAC0RTZ99KC3&psc=1&refRID=2RS4MXRSDAC0RTZ99KC3

 

I am not clear if it works on the blue professional tools also such as this, it says it works with any Bosch 18V battery, but it doesn't look the same. In fact I am pretty certain it is not.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-Professional-Cordless-Multi-Cutter-StarlockPlus/dp/B01LZA2C4F/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3F958T0MY18PR&keywords=bosch+multitool&qid=1558865742&s=diy&sprefix=bosch+multi%2Cdiy%2C155&sr=1-3

 

Are the professional blue tools appreciably better?

 

Would you dissuade me from the Bosch Starlock system, does this mean buying more expensive blades?

 

 

 

 

[epsilonGreedy]

1 hour ago, AnonymousBosch said:

In this case, I was lucky enough to have a grinder with an auto - stop function. And stupid enough to work when really tired.

 

 

If health and safety culture was applied logically then angle grinders would be sold with a mandatory training course and Kevlar gloves, they are hideous devices.

[epsilonGreedy]

Feedback on my original post:

 

The hammer and metal fatigue method advised by @Declan52 removed two thirds of the screws, the remainder required a 4 inch disk cutter/grinder that the man & van who transported the shed panels had in his tool kit. I now have my own Makita 240v 4" angle grinder which proved useful when my Makita pulse impact driver drove a 5" wood screw into a hidden nail which then proved impossible to reverse out.

 

The site laundry shed is up and running though the washing machine wobbled to an alarming degree on the basic shed floor until I added a supplementary 18mm thick osb floor plinth screwed onto 3" x 2" bearers.

[Pocster]

3 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

I thought the very same about multitools. My proper, apprenticed, chisel sharpening, hand plane wielding, veneer applying, cabinet making chippy mate lent me his for a job. I thought he'd gone mad and it was an unwieldy tool for bodgers.

 

I was amazed and now have two cheapos. Both corded, a Draper and a Lidl Parkside. Haven't stopped using them tbh and surprising how accurate you can be especially if you cut with the blade against a clamped on wooden block to keep things dead square. 

 

The concept took a bashing yesterday mind when had to move one double socket that meant cutting for a new dry lining box in 3/8" pb. I tried my new Triton back box cutting tool from CPC...epic FAIL, just useless and then some. Might try in my mates 18V Dewalt in case the oscillation is "better".

 

 

 

Yeah it’ll be better with dewalt ! ?