Metallics JSTSP125 6 x 1-1/2 in. Pan Head Phillips Tapping Screws - 18-8 Stainless - Each

The JSTSP125 is a Type A tapping screw with a gimlet point, so it starts itself in thin sheet metal, wood, and plastic without a pilot. Thread count is 18 per inch, a coarse spaced thread meant for soft or thin material. For thicker steel you still want a pilot hole, because the screw cuts its own thread rather than drilling, and torsional strength is 24 lb-in minimum before the shank twists off.

You can, but watch the metal pairing. Fastening 18-8 stainless parts to aluminum or steel can set up a galvanic couple in some environments, which corrodes the lesser metal at the joint. Indoors or in dry locations that is usually a non-issue; in wet, coastal, or washdown areas use an isolating washer or match the fastener metal to the base metal instead.

No. The JSTSP125 is not Buy American compliant and is not ARRA compliant, with country of origin listed as multiple. On a federally funded job with domestic sourcing requirements you need a domestically produced fastener instead.

A #2 Phillips bit. The JSTSP125 is a Phillips drive screw, and the recess geometry runs 0.153 to 0.166 in. diameter at 0.091 in. depth, which is what a #2 point seats into. Driving stainless with an undersized #1 bit is the fastest way to cam out and strip the recess.

Head height on the JSTSP125 runs 0.087 to 0.097 in. with a head width of 0.256 to 0.270 in. That is a low, round-topped pan profile with a flat bearing face, so it sits proud of the surface rather than flush. If you need the fastener below the surface, you want a flat head in a countersunk hole, not this pan head.

Head and drive dimensions follow ASME B18.6.3-2013, and the thread conforms to ASME B18.6.4, the standard for tapping screws. That means the #2 Phillips recess and the pan head geometry are dimensionally interchangeable with any other conforming #6 tapping screw, so they drop into existing hole patterns spec'd to those standards.

They ship in a jar, 100 screws minimum per order. Total packed weight is 0.54 lbs. For an electrician or MRO stockroom that is a single shelf jar rather than a bulk box, which is the usual way these get carried on a service van.

They are built for electrical, plumbing, and heating and air conditioning work, mounting boxes, straps, clips, plates, and light sheet metal brackets. The 18-8 stainless material is the reason to pick them over plated steel: damp mechanical rooms, outdoor equipment, and food or healthcare facilities where a zinc screw rusts out.