Don't you just hate it when the slots on one of your bike's Phillips, Pozidriv, Torx or other screw heads get bunged up so badly that you can't get the screw out? You're often stuck with attempting desperate, awkward fixes such as using a hammer and chisel to knock the thing loose or trying to cut a deep slot with a hacksaw or an air cut-off tool. Vampire Professional Tools (www.vampiretools.com) can provide a clever, quicker and less messy solution with its VamPLIERS (part #VT-001; $29.97), a tool specifically designed to remove damaged screws.
In most respects, VamPLIERS are traditional pliers. They’re beautifully manufactured and finished in Japan and fitted with decorative, futuristically styled insulated handles. They incorporate wire cutters and conventional gripping teeth in the middle of the jaws, and they have a return spring so you don’t have to push them open manually. The critical difference, however, is at the ends of the jaws, which have what the manufacturer refers to as “vertical” serrations (parallel to the pliers’ length) rather than the usual “horizontal” grooves. The serrated area also is slightly radiused to better match a round screw head.
This design allows the pliers to firmly grab any screw that has even a tiny part of its head slightly above the surface, including button-head types with curved sides that taper at shallow angles. You squarely grab the sides of the head with the very tips of the pliers, squeeze and turn. Unless there is virtually no screw-head material left or the shaft has firmly seized in the threads, the screw will spin out with ease.
VamPLIERS are available directly from Vampire Tools through the company's website, or from Amazon, eBay or Sudco International (www.sudco.com).
