How To Sheet Metal Screws

This kind of fastener features a threaded shank along with a flat rounded head.

How to sheet metal screws.

Sheet metal screw size is commonly given using a series of three numbers which represent the diameter thread count and length of each screw. 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. A self drilling screw has a chisel tip similar to a drill bit. Otherwise if the hole is too large the screw threads won t have anything to attach to.

Unlike wooden rivets which are threaded only partially the above mentioned screw s shank is entirely threaded. Then position the screw straight and screw it in place with a flat head or phillips screwdriver depending on the screw head. Moving on to sheet metal screws and there use. 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.

This allows you to skip pre drilling a hole into thinner gauges of sheet metal. If these screws are being used the screw can merely be fitted to the drill bit and driven. What is a sheet metal screw. Self tapping screws come with a notched tip that acts as a drill bit to drive the screw and keep thin metal from denting.

The metal thickness that you are drilling into needs to be thinner than the length of the drilling point of the screw.