What type of screw is this?

stuart45

The same idea as putting a bit of tape over the tip. Can work, depending on how tight the screw is. Tapping the head of the driver with a hammer as you turn can sometimes help.

baza52

neilmcl said:

Carrot007 said:

stuart45 said:

There are quite a few methods of removing screws such as extractors, cutting a slot with a Dremel etc.
You might be able to get a small pair of mole grips on to get it loose.

Does not look too bad. And elastic band and the right pozi head should do it.

Interesting, please explain more? 

https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/remove-a-stripped-screw-in-seconds-with-this-office-supply/

GDB2222

One of the original manual impact drivers will work. For example 

https://www.toolstation.com/impact-driver-bit-set/p90581

You whack it with a hammer to turn the screw, and the maximum turning  force on the screw coincides with the screwdriver bit being forced into the screw head by the hammer. 

Grizzlebeard

The screw heads are not knackered, and are "Philips" cross heads (invented in the 1930's by a chap called Philips) rather than the more modern "Pozidrive" cross head.

A Philips screw can be identified by the extra thin star like crosses embossed between the main cross slots.

All screwheads are not created equal. Poor cheap screws are produced in factories with worn out tools and dies. The slots are not very deep and are poorly formed.

A Pozidrive screw can be identified by the extra thin star like crosses embossed between the main cross slots - (like in your photo).

Look for PZ on the screwdriver bit rather than PH. It looks like a PZ2 to me.

A pozidriver or Philips will work but both PH and PZ tend to cam (slip) out because of the slope on the sides of the slot. As mentioned tapping (not bashing) the end of the screwdriver while adding pressure and turning it slowly will loosen the screw. This helps for both PH or PZ screwdriver bits.

It's usually very hard to damage these heads because they're made out of harder metal than the screwdriver (which tends to get knackered first).

Edit. First time round I screwed this post up re PH and PZ. Apologies to readers who missed this edit, (who also might miss this apology of course.)

Wibby.

 

Section62

Grizzlebeard said:

A Philips screw can be identified by the extra thin star like crosses embossed between the main cross slots.

It's the other way round - the 'star' is the indicator for pozi.

TELLIT01

Section62 said:

Grizzlebeard said:

A Philips screw can be identified by the extra thin star like crosses embossed between the main cross slots.

It's the other way round - the 'star' is the indicator for pozi.

Yup.  The easiest way to know whether a screw is Phillips or Pozidriv is that all Pozidriv screws have lines etched the screw head in-between the four arms of the cross. This visual aid means that you can instantly recognise a whether a screw is a Pozidriv or not.

Bendy_House

Doesn't look too knack'ed to me either. The correct sized Pozi should surely shift this?

Jackah, if you are going to be doing regular DIY, I think it would be worth investing in a good screwdriver 'bit' set. These will not only have a range of Pozis (well, up to '3' at least...), but also 'star' and 'hex' drivers. Oh, and standard 'cross' and flat, of course.

In fact, you most likely will find a 'flat' blade that'll sit in there and will shift it; choose one that just sits inside the opposing slots, and press firmly in as you turn.

fenwick458

looks like a pozi 2 and it doesn't look in that bad condition but that doesn't mean much. I sometimes get brand new screws out of the box that look fine and attempt to drive them in and unless using an impact driver and applying a lot of force the head just cams out repeatedly before it's driven in. sometimes there are manufacturing defects that cause this and they aren't easy to spot.
but anyway, try removing it with a manual screwdriver ensuring that you press into the head whilst turning, try the elastic band method, try an impact driver, if all of those fail just get a claw hammer behind the white bracket and lever it off

Section62

TheJackah said:

There’s these shelves we are trying to remove but no standard set of screwdriver bits we have fits on them or turns them. Does anyone know what type of screwdriver bit is needed for this?

It looks to me like the main problem is the screws being positioned very close to the 'side' pieces meaning it is difficult to get the screwdriver aligned with the screw.  The fat handle of a shorter screwdriver will put the screwdriver tip out of square with the screw.

The usual answer is to use a longer screwdriver - the longer the better - to allow the tip to sit more squarely in the screw.