Many a time, when you are trying to tighten or remove a screw or bolt, it gets stripped or jammed. There is no worser feeling than this as you struggle a lot to remove the screw.
With a good screw extractor kit, you can remove the screw easily. But with so many options and competing brands available in the market, it is a task to choose the best screw extractor that suits your requirement.
In this article, we have categorized the best screwdrivers for you. We have reviewed each of them with pros and cons so that you get to know the difference between them and choosing one for yourself becomes easier.
This classification will help you to select the right screw extractor according to your needs.
Let’s get started……
Best Screw Extractors
Are you in a hurry? Don’t have time to read!… Just check out from the below list.
Best Overall: IRWIN Screw Extractor Set, Hex Head, Multi-Spline, 25-Piece (53227)
Best on a budget: BOSCH BSPE6D 12Piece Steel Spiral Flute Screw Extractor Set
Best multi-piece set: THINKWORK Screw Extractor Set, 25-Piece
Best multi-piece set on a budget: Topec 26-Piece Screw & Bolt Extractor
Best screw-extracting plier: VAMPLIERS VT-001 Best Made Pliers
Best screw-extracting plier set: VAMPLIERS 4-PC Screw Extraction Pliers
Best for home use: NEIKO 01925A Screw-Extractor
Best for professional use: THINKWORK Screw Extractor/Drill Bit Set, 55 Pieces
Things To Consider When Selecting a Screw Extractor
There are many brands and types of screw extractors in the market. Before investing in any of them, consider the following key factors.
Nature of use
The type of screw extractor you need will depend on the usage of the tools. If you are going to use it in your furniture and home appliances, you can go for a simple screw extractor.
But if you are a professional, you will be needing a good screw extractor set with a wide range of sizes to extract any size of bolts, and should be hard enough to perform any job.
Material
Screw extractors are made up of many types of materials. Low grades are made up of steel with alloy. These are not very much durable and cannot be used on hard objects. If you don’t want to spend more, they are simply good for one-time use.
High-speed steel (HSS) or cobalt steel is usually harder and resistant to high temperatures. You can always go for these as screw extractors need to be hard when drilling into metal fasteners.
Screw extractors made of carbon fiber steel are the hardest among all and also the costliest. These are the best ones, and you go for these if you wish to invest in quality tools.
Size range
It is always great to have a screw extractor with a large number size range in the set so that you can fit your extractor into any size and type of screw or bolt.
With a set including sizes ranging from 0.0781 inches to 0.875 inches, you will be able to remove tiny screws in electronics such as laptops and also large bolts on vehicles and industrial machines.
Gripping power
You need to have a tight grip on the stripped screw in order to screw out easily. We usually have 2 types of screw extractors.
The first type which is also a common one drills into the head of the screw and uses a reverse thread to bite into and get hold of the screw.
The other type simply grabs the head tight enough by fitting over it. This type of extractor provides a better grip but can only be used when some portion of the head is protruding outside so that you can get a hold of the screw. You cannot use this for screws that are penetrated deep inside the working object.
Type
There are many types of screw extractors with different types of features but basically, they can be classified into mainly 3 types.
- Straight screw extractors: These are also called bolt extractors. It is used to remove screws, studs, and bolts and looks similar to a standard socket head except for the spiral threads inside it.
- Spiral screw extractors: This extractor removes screws and other fasteners by fitting into a pre-drilled hole in the fastener. After it fits into the hole, you rotate it counter-clockwise to remove the screw.
- Spiral extractor with drill-out end: As the name suggests, you can use one end of the extractor to drill out a hole into the screw head for the extractor to penetrate into it. You then put the extractor in a drill or a wrench and remove the screw.
Conclusion
While working with screws, you always need to have a screw extractor handy as screws do get stuck very often and you need to extract them.
A screw extractor can do wonders in these conditions by saving you a lot of time and effort. You can simply grip the broken screw in the extractor and pull it out easily.
It is always very confusing to decide which screw extractor to choose from. Therefore, we have classified them into different categories to help you choose one for yourself according to your need.
We have discussed the features along with the pros and cons of each extractor. Hope this article has helped you in selecting one for you.
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FAQ: Best Screw Extractors
If you want to buy a screw extractor but still have many questions and doubts in your mind, you are definitely not alone. Here we have given brief answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.
1. What should be the length of a screw extractor?
Ans: The length and type of screw extractor will vary greatly depending on the type of screw or bolt you need to remove. Therefore, it is recommended to get a set with at least 10 pieces of different sizes.
2. Why is a drill bit required for an extractor?
Ans: You require a drill bit to drill a hole in the broken screw head so that the extractor can penetrate and grasp the head of the screw to remove it slowly and easily.
3. What should be the size of the drill bit and screw extractor while removing a screw?
Ans: The diameter of the drill bit should be half the diameter of the screw head and the screw extractor should be slightly smaller than the drill bit.
4. Which brands have the best screw extractors?
Ans: There are so many brands that manufacture good screw extractors but the most common ones are Craftsman, Bosch, Irwin, Neiko, etc.
Great article!