How To Sheet Metal Screws

What is a sheet metal screw.

How to sheet metal screws.

This kind of fastener features a threaded shank along with a flat rounded head. The metal thickness that you are drilling into needs to be thinner than the length of the drilling point of the screw. Then position the screw straight and screw it in place with a flat head or phillips screwdriver depending on the screw head. Sheet metal screw size is commonly given using a series of three numbers which represent the diameter thread count and length of each screw.

Unlike wooden rivets which are threaded only partially the above mentioned screw s shank is entirely threaded. For example a screw listed as 8 32 x 1 has a diameter of size 8 contains 32 threads per inch and is one inch 2 5 cm long. If these screws are being used the screw can merely be fitted to the drill bit and driven. A sheet metal screw is a kind of hardware supply which is used for tightening metal objects.

A self drilling screw has a chisel tip similar to a drill bit. If the screw threads contact the surface of the metal before the hole is bored the screw will snap leaving a portion of the screw embedded in the metal. This allows you to skip pre drilling a hole into thinner gauges of sheet metal. Sheet metal screws can be either self tapping or standard.

Make sure to use a smaller drill bit than the self tapping screw itself when drilling the pilot hole.