Metallics TS30B 10 x 1-1/2 in. Pan Head Phillips Sharp Point Tapping Screws - Steel Zinc - Each

The Metallics TS30B is a Type A tapping screw with a gimlet (sharp) point, so it starts in thin sheet metal, sheet steel boxes, and similar light-gauge material without a separate tapping operation. The point will pierce and form its own thread in thin stock; in heavier sheet or in wood-to-metal work, drill a pilot sized to the material. Type A spacing is coarse, 12 threads per inch on this #10 size, which is what makes it bite in thin material rather than strip it.

The TS30B carries both ARRA compliant and Buy American compliant status, which is what a government, school, or federally funded job will ask for on the submittal. Country of origin is listed as multiple, so if your specification requires documentation of a single origin for a particular lot, that is worth confirming at order time.

A #2 Phillips bit. The recess is a Phillips drive, 0.186 to 0.199 inch across and 0.124 inch deep, which is standard #2 territory. Running a #1 will cam out and a #3 will not seat, so load the gun with #2 bits if you are driving a box of these.

The pan head measures 0.357 to 0.373 inch across with a head height of 0.122 to 0.133 inch, so it sits roughly an eighth of an inch above the material with a broad bearing face. That spread is useful for holding thin sheet, strap, or a plate against a box without pulling through. If you need the head flush, a pan head is the wrong profile; you want a flat or oval head in a countersunk hole.

The TS30B is carbon steel with a zinc finish, which is a mild indoor corrosion coating. It is fine for dry interior electrical work, panel and box mounting, strut and bracket fastening in conditioned space. For exterior, wet, or corrosive locations, zinc plated steel will eventually rust at the drive recess and under the head; specify a stainless fastener for those openings instead.

Head and recess dimensions follow ASME B18.6.3-2013, the thread conforms to ASME B18.6.4 for tapping screws, and the steel is AISI 1016 to 1024. Those three together are what an inspector or a spec writer is looking for on a sheet metal screw callout. Note that for #9 diameter screws in the same family the dimensions fall outside ASME B18.6.4.

They ship in a box of 5,000 pieces, and 5,000 is the order minimum, so this is a bulk buy rather than a handful off the shelf. The carton weighs 47 lbs. For MRO stockrooms and crews running sheet metal boxes all week that works out well; if you only need a few dozen, you are buying a lot more screw than the job calls for.