[simpits-tech] Removing stuck aircraft screws...

[dabigboy at cox.net]

I am having a lot of trouble getting some of the screws out of my Sabreliner....wondering if anyone here might have some advice. I have found that many of the little machine screws on this bird are rusted/seized and seem to be nearly impossible to remove. I need to remove at least one access panel/skin piece, and one window.

What I've tried so far is a little screw extractor set from a local hardware store. I drill a correctly-sized hole in the stuck screw, then jam the extractor into the hole and unscrew it (iwith a power drill). This actually worked for several screws, but my biggest problem is that the screws are so hard, I keep killing drill bits! I tried "titanium" bits from Lowes, they will handle about 3 screws before they are trashed. Eventually they just snap into several pieces.......

The best drill bits I've tried so far are a couple of oddball SUPER hardened bits I use for gunsmith work (use them to drill out hardened steel rivets in de-mil'd AK-47s). These seem to handle 5 or 6 screws before they are dull and useless, and snap in two if I keep trying to use them,  even with cutting fluid and frequent cool-down periods.

An impact screw driver was recommended, but I can't find any place local that has one. I suppose I could order one online, but I'm a little nervous about removing windshield screws this way....I already see a crack in one of my side windows from (I presume) unusual stresses from the cockpit now being separated from the rest of the plane.

If it were only a dozen or so screws, I would just buy more bits and trash them all. But I have close to a dozen just on that one access panel, the windshield probably has a hundred or more (so far I've only managed to remove about 5 of them...).

To make matters worse, two of the screws in the access panel now have the remnants of a couple of those hardened drill bits stuck in them.

Any ideas? I don't know what to do.

Matt