Metallics JQK59 10 x 1 in. 5/16 Hex Head Slotted Sharp Point Self-Piercing & Tapping Screws - Steel Zinc - Each

No pilot hole. The JQK59 is a sharp point self-piercing and tapping screw, so it pierces thin sheet metal and forms its own thread as it drives. Twin lead threads cut the driving torque down, which matters when you are running a lot of them overhead into sheet metal duct or box flanges.

Check the hole before you commit. The hex measures 0.244 to 0.25 inch across the head width with a head height of 0.096 to 0.11 inch, and the washer flange runs out to 0.414 inch, so the flange bears on the surface rather than dropping into a clearance hole sized for a #10 shank. Metallics also notes that self-piercing screw head dimensions differ from standard tapping screws and that there is no single industry standard for them, so these figures are a guide.

No on both counts. The JQK59 is not Buy American compliant and not ARRA compliant, with country of origin listed as multiple. If your contract carries a domestic sourcing clause, this screw will not satisfy it and you need a domestically manufactured fastener instead.

Two options, because the head takes both. It is a hex head with a 5/16 across-the-flats wrench size, so a 5/16 hex driver or magnetic nutsetter drives it, and the head is also slotted for a #8 slotted driver when you cannot get a socket in close.

It is a #10 diameter by 1 inch long screw with 12 threads per inch. The 1 inch length gives plenty of reach through strut, hanger straps, or stacked sheet metal, and the undercut under the head means more of that length is usable thread engagement than on a standard tapping screw.

Yes, the hex head carries an integral washer with a 0.384 to 0.414 inch outside diameter and 0.019 to 0.031 inch thickness. That bearing surface spreads the load on thin sheet metal and over slotted strut or hanger holes, so you are not pulling the head through.

They are built for exactly that: zinc plated steel to AISI 1018 to 1022, case hardened to Rockwell C28-38 so the sharp point can pierce sheet metal without rolling over. Metallics lists the field application as the electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning trades. The zinc plating is a plating, so treat it as interior or protected use rather than direct weather exposure.

They ship in a jar of 100, and 100 is the order minimum, so one jar is the smallest buy. The filled jar weighs 0.71 lbs. Metallics does make other sizes and quantities available by request if 100 of this size is not what the job needs.

The slot is cut 0.045 to 0.054 inch wide and 0.052 to 0.074 inch deep, which is sized for a #8 slotted driver. Use the 5/16 hex instead for power driving, and save the slot for hand work or final snugging where a cam-out would damage the sheet metal.