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this happened on the second to the last screw I removed (scroll down, the picture doesn't show initially in full). What a bummer

I have so far only tried selected swear words, but they don't seem to help.

The screw is now inside the mahogany toerail and is not a stainless one.

Any good ideas how to fix this issue? I could of course cut out a small section, remove the screw and then make a small mahogany piece to fill the void, but I'm afraid it will be too clearly visible. The easiest would be to just fill the hole with epoxy, but when will the rust come through

Any help would be appreciated!
Pasi

G'day Pasi, I'm with you mate I just hate it when screws break off !!!!
In my opinion you have two options, the easiest one would be to apply some drops into the hole with a diluted mix of epoxy like "Everdure", this would soak into the timber around the screw and then fill with epoxy. If well sealed the screw should not rust.
The second option which I have used many times with around a 90% success rate is to use an "Easy-Out" This requires you to firstly nail punch the top of the broken screw and drill a hole that is smaller than the diameter of the screw. Then use the "Easy-Out" by screwing it into the hole anticlockwise until it grips into the drilled hole then hopefully with a spanner on the end of the "Easy-Out" you continue turning in an anticlockwise direction and the screw should come out.
I hope this helps, just google "Easy-Out" for a picture.
Cheers Terry
https://hookypocketship.blogspot.com/

Hooky wrote:G'day Pasi, I'm with you mate I just hate it when screws break off !!!!
In my opinion you have two options, the easiest one would be to apply some drops into the hole with a diluted mix of epoxy like "Everdure", this would soak into the timber around the screw and then fill with epoxy. If well sealed the screw should not rust.
The second option which I have used many times with around a 90% success rate is to use an "Easy-Out" This requires you to firstly nail punch the top of the broken screw and drill a hole that is smaller than the diameter of the screw. Then use the "Easy-Out" by screwing it into the hole anticlockwise until it grips into the drilled hole then hopefully with a spanner on the end of the "Easy-Out" you continue turning in an anticlockwise direction and the screw should come out.
I hope this helps, just google "Easy-Out" for a picture.
Cheers Terry
https://hookypocketship.blogspot.com/

If you've never tried an 'easy out', you should. Most of the time it works and it's a great skill to have under your belt. Or, it is for me anyway (you see, i have these friends who this seems to happen to a lot...).

I used these to grab several screws that snapped at the head - https://www.rockler.com/screw-extractor - a hollow tube with teeth. I also broke two of the tubes in the mahogany that was harder with epoxy added, so I am apt to say that the tube cutters are a last resort. I then drilled out the screw holes to match the size matching my tapered down plug cutters. I was able to then use tapered dowels cut from scraps of the mahogany that closely matched the grain. Cut with flush saw and plane/sand smooth. They became nearly invisible.

Left handed drill bit smaller than screw minor diameter.

However, I bet that’s a hardened screw and will not take kindly to drilling for this or easy-out.

I bet ,in the end, if you insist on removing it, the best plan would be the hollow tube cutter idea proposed above. If you match grain in the plug it will be very hard to detect.

Prevention Tip
I just read a tip from the "Boatbuilding with Bote-Cote" manual regarding how to eliminate shearing screws. I thought that builders may be interested in the technique.
The tip reads "To remove stuck screws, heat their heads with a soldering iron. This will soften the epoxy bonding them in the hole so that they can be turned more easily.
regards Terry

https://hookypocketship.blogspot.com/