# What is the best way to repair a stripped screw hole that has gotten too big?



## richard2o9 (Jan 3, 2009)

What is the best way to repair a stripped screw hole that has gotten too big? To insert broken tooth picks with glue into the screw hole or to inject epoxy into the screw hole.


----------



## bradnailer (Nov 11, 2008)

I do toothpicks and glue.


----------



## Howard Ferstler (Sep 27, 2007)

bradnailer said:


> I do toothpicks and glue.


Ditto.

Howard Ferstler


----------



## trash collector (Dec 31, 2008)

And Ditto


----------



## steve mackay (Oct 5, 2008)

Ah yes, the humble toothpick. Teamed with honarable carpenter's glue. Good for WHATEVER your ills.


----------



## richard2o9 (Jan 3, 2009)

steve mackay said:


> Ah yes, the humble toothpick. Teamed with honarable carpenter's glue. Good for WHATEVER your ills.


Do they sell toothpicks at home depot and lowes or would I have to go to a grocery store to get toothpicks? Does it matter what kind of carpenters glue I get? I was looking up elmers carpenter glue and there was interior,exterior, and professional.


----------



## Deadhead Derek (Dec 15, 2008)

bradnailer said:


> I do toothpicks and glue.


same here


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

What else works good is to drill out and glue in a dowel. Just about any yellow glue will work.


----------



## Al Killian (Aug 14, 2007)

cabinetman said:


> What else works good is to drill out and glue in a dowel. Just about any yellow glue will work.


 
This is what I do to. It is a much better fix and will last longer.


----------



## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

richard2o9 said:


> Do they sell toothpicks at home depot and lowes or would I have to go to a grocery store to get toothpicks? Does it matter what kind of carpenters glue I get? I was looking up elmers carpenter glue and there was interior,exterior, and professional.


You can find cheep wooden toothpicks at a dollar store. you can use good old standard yellow carpenters glue or even gorila glue. Just make sure to wipe off excess glue.


----------



## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

I just drill out and insert a plastic wall plug.
johnep


----------



## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

I can't believe nobody amongst all you fine craftsmen has ever tried a golf tee. That's my recommendation....been doing it here and there for years....of course, it depends on the size of the hole (doesn't everything?) but a golf tee has saved me several times throughout the hobby.

regards,
smitty


----------



## Sawdustguy (Dec 30, 2008)

I have used toothpicks and golf tees. I like the golf tee since it is a harder wood than toothpicks.


----------



## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I use whatever small spinter of wood that I can find. Whether it be a toothpick or some scrap wood or a dowel. Glue them in, let the glue dry and flush cut them to the surface. Ta Da.
Ken


----------



## kziggy (Jan 3, 2009)

I've found that the dowel seems to give the strongist bond, I would think primarily because it creates the greatist contact with the sides of the hole. This is especially important if you are reanchoring something heavy, like a door. Good luck.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

At various times I have used all of the above. Just depends upon what hole it is that needs filling and what is currently available.

G


----------



## Terry Beeson (May 29, 2008)

richard2o9 said:


> Do they sell toothpicks at home depot and lowes or would I have to go to a grocery store to get toothpicks? Does it matter what kind of carpenters glue I get? I was looking up elmers carpenter glue and there was interior,exterior, and professional.


First off, you want to be sure you are using wooden toothpicks and not plastic, ceramic, or metal ones. Bamboo might work in some cases, but I would tend to lean more towards standard wooden ones. Metal, or ceramic toothpicks may ruin the threads of the screw. Plastic ones might work in a pinch.

While opinions may vary, I prefer to use Diamond brand toothpicks of the round variety as opposed to the flat type. However, the flat type will afford more space to be filled by wood instead of glue. In some cases, I do prefer the flat ones to provide more surface area for the screw to adhere to. To me, that would be a user preference, so whatever you decide would be fine.

Be careful and measure each toothpick you use in that the diameter of round and the width and depth of flat toothpicks will vary as much as 0.002 or 0.003 in. in most brands. That's another reason for choosing Diamon brand in that they seem to be more consistant in these measurements.

With that in mind, you also want to make sure you understand that in the case of round toothpicks, they do vary in diameter in that the diameter is larger at the center than at the two ends. These even go down to a point that could cause injury if you are not careful when using them. Make sure you are wearing eye protection and leather gloves when handling them so that you can avoid any accidental injury to your fingers or eyes. One slip, and the point could break off, fly through the air, and stick in your eyeball. Or, you may find yourself pushing the end into the hole and the point pierce your finger.

The size variation is a little different on the flat type. They are wide and rounded on one end (sort of like a mini tongue depressor) and square and somewhat pointy on the other end. The same safety issues apply to the flat ones. To use them, I prefer to place one with the point end down and then one with the point end up. This gives the screw more surface area to screw into vs. the round ones.

Of course, with round or flat, you will want to take into consideration the depth of the hole you are repairing as you may need to cut off the toothpicks if the hole is not as deep as the lenght of the toothpick. To do this, I prefer using a Japanese flush saw and cutting after the glue has dried as opposed to cutting them to length with a table saw prior to putting them in the hole. Some have suggested using a bandsaw to cut them to length as well, but I still prefer cutting after assembly with a flush cut Japanese saw.

The wood type in the toothpicks is not a major concern in that the glue is going to make up for any deficiancies. I'm sure others may disagree with me on this point, but I hold fast to this idea of the glue playing a major role in the repair.

Toothpicks can be found at most stores that cary food items of any sort. I usually get mine at WalMart, but if you have a lot of screw hole problems, you might try Sam's Club, Costco, or similar stores to purchase them in bulk. But keep in mind that one box of these magic little pieces of wood will repair quite a few holes.

I've used Elmers school glue, wood glue, Titebond I, II, and III, epoxy, and even Gorilla glue to make these repairs. For emergency fixes, any of these and even hot glue will work. However, for a more permanent fix, I would go with either Elmers wood or Titebond II or III. 

One final note. You may be tempted to use kitchen matches as opposed to toothpicks. This is not recommended due to the fact that there is a big safety issue. If the match head is not removed prior to the repair, you run the risk of causing a fire that could ruin the piece you are trying to repair or burn down your shop or your house. If you are going to use this method, PLEASE by all means strike the matches you are going to use prior to using them and then blow them out immediately making sure to close the box before striking....


----------



## richard2o9 (Jan 3, 2009)

Terry Beeson said:


> Toothpicks can be found at most stores that cary food items of any sort. I usually get mine at WalMart, but if you have a lot of screw hole problems, you might try Sam's Club, Costco, or similar stores to purchase them in bulk. But keep in mind that one box of these magic little pieces of wood will repair quite a few holes.


What section are the toothpicks in at walmart?


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Terry Beeson said:


> Make sure you are wearing eye protection and leather gloves when handling them so that you can avoid any accidental injury to your fingers or eyes.



I was reading about some special gloves for handling toothpicks, I think it was in _Toothpicks Today_, or _Going Toothpick_, where there was a new glove designed for toothpick handling one or 500 at a time. Yep, I think the limit was 500, and that's with one hand. The gloves are supposed to help with balancing all them toothpicks.

The article went on about toothpick rotation with regard to storage and use with particular details about expansion and contraction. Some of the details revealed that a standard toothpick, if made in the U.S. under the guidelines of Section 103.34B of the Federal Toothpick Regulations, Vol. II, that an expected variance of diameter may be experienced. 

Section 114.20A had details of easy removal of round and square toothpicks from the eyeball with minimum pain and loss of eyesight. Now, this only applied to the wood toothpicks, not plastic. 

If by any chance a person has to remove an embedded toothpick from the inner nostril area, or the eardrum, Section 112.31D outlines what forms of panic should be avoided to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

When I mentioned this to my mental health provider I was surprised to hear that some people use toothpicks to stab cheese and small amounts of meat, and then, would you believe actually eat what's on the end. Hopefully it wasn't one of those toothpicks that came out of the nose. Now, you might think that's impossible. I also heard that there is a gigantic toothpick recycling plant hidden away in some mountain range, called Area 41. Supposedly there they recycle all the damaged and dirtified toothpicks, and make 'em like new, repackage them and they wind up back on the grocery store shelves.

Ya gotta hand it to them. Just like the guy that built a whole home of 5678 sq ft. entirely from wood toothpicks. He decided to do that after constructing a 32' sailboat that actually stayed afloat long enough to send his wife out to sea.

So, are you familiar with those "toothpick gloves".


----------



## joesdad (Nov 1, 2007)

18 responses. I just had to peek at this thread finally because I couldn't imagine the dialogue that was going on to answer one simple question. Glad I did, I knew after "where do I buy toothpicks?" there was going to be a pile on...Thanks for the laugh!


----------



## Terry Beeson (May 29, 2008)

richard2o9 said:


> What section are the toothpicks in at walmart?


 :blink: Why, the TOOTHPICK section, of course...

Geez... :no: Do I need to draw you a map?

By the way, C-man... I don't want anyone getting confused... The part about the diameter variance is located in Section 103.34*D* of the Federal Toothpick Regulations, Vol. II... Don't want people thinking you don't know what you're talking about...

Also, on the subject of plastic toothpicks... It has been rumored that plastic toothpicks made in China are made with plastic resins that contain levels of lead, arsenic, rat feces, and cabbage juice above those allowed by US standards. Beware...

You might want to be careful about which round wooden toothpicks you choose for the screw hole project. I've notices that some have the grain running from 0-20 deg and others up to a 45 deg angle. I'm very picky when it comes to my toothpicks and will go through countless boxes before I may find one with a 0-20 deg grain.

82.... 82.... 82.... yeah... 246 total.... 246 toothpicks.... yeah... 246...


----------



## Hexhead (Aug 31, 2008)

I've used tin foil with success in metal and wood.


----------



## Billinthewoods (Jan 1, 2009)

*Just wonderin*

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me how to light a match?:surrender::icon_redface::bangin:


----------



## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

I read a novel in less time than it took me to read all the answers lol!You guys are killin me! Itchy


----------



## goingenoan (May 24, 2008)

Geez you guys The only thing missing from this thread is a link to some MSDS sheets for the various brands of toothpicks:laughing::laughing::laughing:

__________________________
Work to live, not live to work!


----------



## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I just checked that Material Safety Data Sheet database and found the MSDS for "toothpicks" to be currently unavailable. I guess they are still being tested.
Ken


----------

