Moody Tools 58-0670 6-Piece Slot/Phil/Screw Extractor Combo Reversible Driver Set

I spilled coffee over my internal keyboard on my Macbook pro and I bought a replacement keyboard in hopes of getting it work again. In the process of unscrewing internal parts, three screws were stripped. Fast forward, I was looking on Amazon for a screw extractor and stumbled upon Moody Tools. During the first hour of extracting, I could not get the tool to grasp the screw head and was already feeling that I wasted money on tools that didn't work. I gave my hands a rest and gave it another attempt with success. You just have to give it all your might and be sure to twist left and right to so that it can grasp the head. Unfortunately, the new replacement keyboard didn't work so I'm stuck using my bluetooth keyboard.

They work good enough. Don't expect them to work on completely stripped screws in tight grippy plastic. I had to resort to my Dremel for the screws that these failed to save.

The back ends of the screwdrivers have a large black knob for you to place your hand to put pressure onto the screw. Much larger than most other screwdrivers of this size I've seen. The shirt clips however don't stay on and easily slide up and down the shaft of the screwdriver when in use. I removed them as they were in the way most of the time.

I bought these when the screw holding the SSD into my Samsung laptop became stripped. I'd like to be able to tell you that they helped me to remove the problematic screw, but quite honestly they didn't. All they did was take the stripped area and make it a nice round hole. I ended up prying the SSD gently from under the screw, then removing the screw with pliers.

Despite my lack of success with it, I still really like this set. It's mostly made of metal, and seems to be very well machined. It is easy to use, comes in a plastic carrying case (nothing special but it works), and worked great on the screws I hadn't stripped. It also has the amazing quality, unlike so many things today, of being made here in the USA.

I bought this set because I ran into a few troublesome, stripped screws while re-habbing my kid's old laptop (replaced with newer model for Christmas), and just wanted to deal with them quickly and properly, with minimum risk of damage to any surrounding parts. There's a lot to like about this set of miniature screwdrivers/extractors ... the look; feel in your hand; made in the US by a very reputable tool company; the bits are really nice hardened steel, and they generally do what they're supposed to do. The trick is, e.g., figuring out exactly what that is.

Basically what you're getting in this set are two combo phillips/slot head screwdrivers (one small, the other larger, with the bits being Phillips on one end and slot on the other), and five different diameter "extractors." With the exception of the smallest one (1.1 mm at one end and 1.5 mm at the other end) the extractor bits have the same size/kind of tip on both ends ... apparently to give you an alternate bit to use if/when the extractor teeth on one end get dulled or damaged.

Now, I've seen some larger screw extractors that work differently than these do, e.g., as an attachment to a drill: you use one end of the bit to "burnish" a hole in the center of the stripped screw head, then the other, conical end of the bit to burrow into the burnished hole, "bite," and thereby remove the damaged screw. These don't work like that. The tip of the bit seems designed to be inserted into a screw hole for removal of screws whose heads have been sheared off. For example, the bit itself is a straight cylinder, right down to the ends of the teeth, which look designed to cap the screw material, cut into/mate with it a little ... hopefully providing enough "grab" in the process to turn the screw remnant and remove it. The problem with putting that kind of bit on a hand tool this small is that it's difficult to apply enough pressure to the screw to seat the bit in the screw material ... especially if the screw is frozen (usually the exact reason its head got sheared off). If you don't get enough pressure on it to seat the bit and start moving the screw, all you end up doing is grinding up the screw material. The ad copy should show a magnified photo of the extractor tips so buyers can see this, and determine from the design of the bits whether or not this tool is what they need for their particular problem. The ad copy does refer to these extractors as "best used when other methods have failed," and they're definitely right about that ...

Therefore, what this particular set of extractors helped me figure out was that I wanted to try some other tricks before resorting to them. The tiny screws I was trying to remove were M2, about 8mm long, frozen/set with "locktite", with #00 Phillips drives that I had stripped pretty badly in my prior attempts to remove them. I had several different #00 Phillips drivers to try; picked one that seemed to have the best "bite" in what remained of the drive grooves, AND had a 7mm nut shape on its butt end. I then put that screwdriver into a 7mm nut driver (which allowed me to apply a lot more leverage/pressure to the screw head); heated the screws with a soldering iron, and was finally able to get 'em turning, and out. So, in the end, I didn't use these extractors for this job, but I know they're going to come in handy at some point in the future, and I'm still glad I got them.

A few other little gripes I have about this set are: the plastic packet they come in isn't very convenient ... some of the bits are so small/sharp that they want to poke through the material when you're trying to put them back into their slots at the bottom. I would prefer, e.g., a plastic box with a clear lid and rack that holds each tool securely inside, preferably labeled by size. I also noticed that some of the bits wobble a little in their chucks ... they don't fall out, but they don't fit as nicely as what I've seen in other, small driver tools of this type (e.g., simple, lock-ring chuck).

In sum, I'm generally happy with the quality of these tools, particularly the bits. I'd just like to see, e.g., magnified photos of the extractor tips in the listing, maybe some detailed user instructions/guidance, nicer container, and better fitment of the bits in their chucks.

I bought these to remove two stripped screws on an SSD in a computer, thinking the size would be more appropriate than the larger drill bit sets you usually find when searching for stripped screw extractors. In short, I was unable to make the stripped screws budge at all. I read other reviews with tips about pressing hard so the teeth grip inside the hole, starting with the small bit and working my way up, etc., and none worked.

The set is not particularly well thought out either. Perhaps the set was designed with a specific type of user in mind (like a technician who works on phone systems, for example), but for general use, it's hard to imagine why the reversible bits are paired they way they are. Some have a + on one end and an extractor tip on the other. Some have extractor tips on both ends. Finding the right tip is a hassle, having to pull out each bit, flip it, compare to another, flip it, grab another... with no labels or engraved markings, it's hard to tell what's what. You'll probably remove and toss the pen clip attachments immediately too, since they only get in the way. The spinning end of each driver also seems like a strange feature to have in a set like this; if you're able to turn the driver so freely, as to need the spinning part in your palm, you're probably not dealing with a terribly stripped screw.

This kit would work much better with a single, fatter grip, and a small case to hold all the bits. Six individual drivers is such a waste.