Metallics TSP70B 14 x 4 in. Pan Head Phillips Sharp Point Tapping Screws - Steel Zinc - Each

Type A tapping screws cut their own thread as they drive, so the TSP70B is meant to go into material you have pre-drilled or into soft sheet and wood-type substrates without a nut. It uses a gimlet (sharp) point to start, with 10 threads per inch in a UNC form. No anchor or nut is used with it. Metallics lists it for the electrical, plumbing, and heating and air conditioning trades, which is where #14 x 4 in. screws get used for hanging boxes, straps, and equipment into framing.

Metallics flags the TSP70B as both Buy American compliant and ARRA compliant, which is what a government, school, or healthcare procurement file usually needs on fasteners. Country of origin is listed as multiple.

No. The TSP70B is a Type A tapping screw with a gimlet point, meant to form its own thread in sheet metal, wood, and similar substrates. Concrete, block, or brick needs a masonry screw or an expansion anchor. Using a sharp point tapping screw in masonry will strip or snap it well before it holds.

A #3 Phillips driver. The recess is 0.268 to 0.281 in. in diameter and 0.148 in. deep, so a #2 bit will cam out and chew the recess on a 4 in. screw. Keep #3 bits on the cart before you start the run.

The TSP70B ships as a box with a 300-count order minimum, so it is a bulk-quantity item rather than a handful at the counter. For a crew doing a full building or a shop stocking a van, that is one box. Metallics notes other sizes and quantities are available by request.

These are steel with a zinc plating, which handles dry interior and sheltered conditions. Zinc plating is a sacrificial coating, not a marine or sustained-wet finish, so for exterior exposure, roof work, or treated lumber contact you want hot-dip galvanized or stainless instead.

Head and recess dimensions follow ASME B18.6.3-2013; the thread conforms to ASME B18.6.4, the tapping screw standard. Material is AISI 1016 to 1024 steel. Note the manufacturer's caveat that #9 diameter dimensions fall outside ASME B18.6.4, which does not affect this #14 size.

A box runs 12.68 lbs, in a carton measuring 7.25 x 6.25 x 6 in. Worth knowing if you are staging multiple boxes on a cart or stocking a shelf by weight.