Pro tip: a foam earplug saved a stripped 00 screw on a Nikon F3

I had a Nikon F3 on the bench last week with a 00 screw on the bottom plate that was already half chewed by someone else's driver. My normal move is a rubber band over the screw head, but it kept slipping and I could feel it getting worse. A retired guy named Walt who does watch repair out of a shop on 5th said to try a foam earplug, press the driver down hard and turn slow. I rolled the plug flat, pressed it over the screw, and it bit on the second try with no extra damage. The plug squishes into the slot way better than a rubber band and you can still feel when the screw starts to move. Two things I want to know: do you cut the plug in half or use it whole, and does this work on JIS heads too or just Phillips?

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hugo_schmidt18d ago

A half chewed screw from someone else's driver sounds like it was already toast, not sure the earplug saved much.

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