Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Here's a tip I learned from many years in the R/C Airplane hobby, working with soft Balsa wood.

Next time you have a stripped out wood screw hole, do this.
Remove the screw and squirt a little "crazy glue" into the hole. Swish it around with a small finishing nail to distribute the glue to the bottom of the hole and make sure it coats the sides. (Be sure to do this rather quickly, so the nail doesn't stick in the hole)
Wait a few minutes and do it again.
The "crazy glue" will actually penetrate into the wood cells and harden like steel. I have actually then "tapped" the hole with threads and inserted a machine screw.

Wait a while for the glue to harden and then try the wood screw again - - - it will be fine.

- -- - -Bob

Or........................................just stick a wooden match in the hole with a little wood glue on it and completely fill the hole. Cut it off flush with the surface. The pine in the matchstick is soft enough to expand as the screw is reinserted, and will take up just enough space to grip the threads tightly. Also, if you need to move a screw hole just a smidgen, do the same thing. Start your new hole as close as you want to the old and still get a good bite with the threads.

Toothpicks, golf tees and wooden skewers work good too.

I also like using epoxy putty when reinstalling a bolt or screw that is prone to vibration!

Cheers,

Coop

Golf tees work great, but be sure to take some sandpaper to them so you can get the paint off. Wood glue needs to penetrate the wood fiber to hold well.

Chris C wrote:Or........................................just stick a wooden match in the hole with a little wood glue on it and completely fill the hole. Cut it off flush with the surface. The pine in the matchstick is soft enough to expand as the screw is reinserted, and will take up just enough space to grip the threads tightly. Also, if you need to move a screw hole just a smidgen, do the same thing. Start your new hole as close as you want to the old and still get a good bite with the threads.

I have used this method several time and it works the best!!

Golf Tees come in so handy! I used them to plug my fuel lines when I had to replace my gas tank.

Chris C wrote:Golf tees work great, but be sure to take some sandpaper to them so you can get the paint off. Wood glue needs to penetrate the wood fiber to hold well.

You are right, you will have to sand to bare wood using conventional wood glues.

However if you use super glue gel or the like it seems to eat the paint off so it doesn't matter if it's sanded or not!

Down side is you don't necessarily want residual paint on some finished project to deal with!

Cheers,

Coop

When using larger screws, and one gets loose, I've drilled out the hole with a 1/4" bit (or larger if necessary) and glued in a piece of wood dowel. Then, when it's set, counter sink a hole in the dowel for the screw to be reinserted.

A quick and dirty fix is to cut a piece of stranded copper wire (insulation and all) and stick it in the hole. As you put the screw back in the wire will be pushed off to the side and give bite to the threads.

Q

I drill out the hole and tap it with the next size tap. After that I insert a helicoil.

Oh wait you are talking about wood.