I'm currently building a deck railing and to attach the rails to the posts I have been placing some long #10 stainless steel screws in the brackets (#2 Phillips drive and a flat head). A couple of those screws did not make it all the way in before my power driver stripped the heads and I could not back them out with the driver in reverse. So I purchased these screw extractors. They were completely ineffective at this task. All they did was spin without budging the screw - I didn't even detect a momentary grip - and hollowed out the screw head. I tried different size extractors and even drilling into the screw head with a 1/8" drill bit in an attempt to provide these things with something to grip - all to no avail. Even after backing out the screws most of the way with a pair of pliers - to the point where the screw was wobbly in the hole - these things could not finish the job.
I'm not a professional carpenter but I suspect that the root of my problem is that these expensive stainless steel screws, while having the anti-rust properties that I was looking for, are a softer metal. (Yes, I predrilled pilot holes and yes, I had the driver in reverse while trying to use these extractors.) Still, if you know enough to not normally strip screws while placing them then I figure you wouldn't need the extractors unless the screws are soft metal. They should work in such circumstances to be useful to somebody with some experience with driving screws properly.
I was able to return them to Amazon without hassle.
JackytarGet more detail about Eazypower 82681 Spin It Out Damaged Screw Removers, No.0, No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4.
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