Metallics JTS62 14 x 1-3/4 in. Pan Head Combo Sharp Point Tapping Screws - Steel Zinc - Each

The Metallics JTS62 is a Type A tapping screw, which is the coarse-thread, gimlet (sharp) point style made for thin sheet metal, electrical boxes, and similar light-gauge work where the screw forms its own thread in a pilot hole. The sharp gimlet point starts without a punched hole in thinner stock. It is not a machine screw, so it does not mate with a tapped or threaded hole, and it is not a self-drilling screw with a drill flute point. Threads run 10 per inch on a 14 diameter, 1-3/4 inch long body.

Metallics lists the JTS62 as both ARRA compliant and Buy American compliant, which is what a public agency, school district, or federally funded project submittal typically asks for on fasteners. Country of origin is recorded as multiple.

Either works. The JTS62 has a combination slotted/Phillips recess, so a flat blade screwdriver or a Phillips driver both engage it. For the Phillips side use a #3 driver; the recess measures 0.274 inch in diameter with a gaging depth of 0.118 to 0.144 inch. The slot runs 0.064 to 0.075 inch wide and 0.06 to 0.085 inch deep, so a standard medium cabinet tip blade seats properly. On a cordless driver the Phillips side is the one to use.

The JTS62 ships as a jar of 100 count, and 100 is the order minimum, so it is sold by the jar rather than loose by the piece. A full jar weighs 2.04 lbs.

The JTS62 is zinc plated steel, which handles indoor and dry or occasionally damp conditions. Zinc plating is a sacrificial coating, not stainless, so for exterior exposure, coastal air, or anything in standing moisture or chemical wash-down you want a stainless or hot dip galvanized fastener instead. For interior electrical work, panel and box mounting, and general MRO it is the normal choice.

Threads conform to ASME B18.6.4 and head dimensions to ASME B18.6.3-2013, with material to AISI 1016 through 1024. Note that Metallics calls out dimensions for the #9 diameter as independent of ASME B18.6.4; the 14 diameter here is covered by the standard. That gives a spec writer the thread form, head geometry, and material callout in one line.

At 1-3/4 inches of length under a 14 diameter, the JTS62 is a long sheet metal screw, intended where you are going through a spacer, a thick substrate, or into wood framing. If you are joining two layers of sheet metal only, the point will protrude well past the back of the joint and a shorter screw in the same series is the better pick. Metallics offers other sizes in the JTS series on request.