Stripped
It happens to everybody – with a little elbow grease and a pair of vise grips to grip the head of the screw, try spinning it out (hopefully you didn’t lodge the head too far into the material).
Last updated March 2019
I was tasked with installing a piece of hardware into an open-frame server rack. Four ¼”-20 screws was all it needed to be mounted. “Piece of cake,” I thought to myself. I grabbed the hardware, screws, my new Phillips head screwdriver, and my jacket. Those server rooms are freezing!
Installation
I carefully take the hardware out of the box and look for the most optimal place to install it. “This seems like a good spot – short cable runs, power, and space for expansion.” I place my hand under the hardware to support it (kind of like how the servers hold a pizza) as I try to get the first screw in. Done. Screw two. Screw three. Screw four – well, this one didn’t quite line up. “You’re going in your hole,” I scolded the screw. Can you picture Happy Gilmore yelling at his golf ball to go in the hole? That was me.
Swallowing my Ego
I put my whole body into it. It starts going in. Strip. “I have to keep going!” I did, and I destroyed the head of that screw. To the point, that I couldn’t get it out. What do I do? Do I leave it like this? Do I tell one of the technicians? I swallowed my ego and decided to tell them, only if they asked. “How did you do?” one of them asked as soon as I returned. “I got the hardware mounted, but I ran into a slight issue,” I said. “I stripped the heck out of one of the screws.” He got up and walked down to the server room. I didn’t want to follow him, so I waited for his return.
Reminder
He came back in 5 minutes with the screw in his hand and said “is this yours?” I said “yeah, that looks very familiar.” The whole room started laughing as he showed everybody my prize. He even stuck it in a vacant hole on the wall and labeled it “intern screw.” Every time I walked into that room, I would be reminded of that dreadful day. I wonder if it’s still there.
Anyway, he ended up getting the screw out with a pair of vise grips. I thought for sure it wasn’t going to come out. I didn’t have any vise grips in my tool bag, so I quickly bought a 3-pack. That definitely wasn’t going to be the last screw I would strip.
What did we learn?
- You will often make mistakes. The key is to learn from them.
- Don’t be embarrassed if you do make a mistake. Learn to laugh with them, shake it off, and tackle your next mistake.