How To Use Sheet Metal Screws

Self drilling or self tapping metal screws increase productivity by reducing the number of steps required to screw together pieces of metal.

How to use sheet metal screws.

A self drilling screw has a chisel tip similar to a drill bit. If these screws are being used the screw can merely be fitted to the drill bit and driven. Stabilize the screw so it doesn t tilt as it goes in and twist the screw into the metal. Self tapping screws come with a notched tip that acts as a drill bit to drive the screw and keep thin metal from denting.

This allows you to skip pre drilling a hole into thinner gauges of sheet metal. What is a sheet metal screw. To use self tapping screws place the screw directly on the aluminum sheet. This kind of fastener features a threaded shank along with a flat rounded head.

Let it turn until it goes all the way through as the threads and the sharp point make their own hole. The metal thickness that you are drilling into needs to be thinner than the length of the drilling point of the screw. Unlike wooden rivets which are threaded only partially the above mentioned screw s shank is entirely threaded.