Vent: A stripped screw on a Minolta X-700's bottom plate cost me 3 hours yesterday.

I had to carefully drill it out with a 1.5mm bit after my extractor set failed, so what's your go-to method for dealing with seized tiny screws in old bodies?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameron7702mo agoMost Upvoted

Been there, ruined a Leica plate the same way.

robertsmith2mo ago

Ugh, I did that to my M6 last year, such a dumb mistake.

maryadams6d ago

Wait, you actually got it out with a 1.5mm bit? That's impressive. I usually just end up cursing at the thing and throwing it in a drawer for three months. And yeah @cameron770, I've definitely ruined a plate before too - not a Leica thankfully, just a beat up Pentax K1000, but it still stung. My go-to for those seized screws is a tiny soldering iron. Heat the screw head for like 10 seconds, then try a good quality JIS screwdriver. The heat expands the metal just enough to break the corrosion bond. Does it work every time? Nope. But it saves me from having to drill anything most of the time.