Metallics JSTS38 6 x 1-1/2 in. Pan Head Slotted Tapping Screws - 18-8 Stainless - Each

The Metallics JSTS38 is a Type A tapping screw with a gimlet point, which is the sharp tapered point meant to start in thin sheet metal and soft materials. It still wants a pilot hole in heavier gauge stock, but in light sheet it will start and form its own thread. Thread count is 18 per inch to ASME B18.6.4.

You can, but watch the metals. Metallics flags that fastening 18-8 stainless parts to aluminum or steel can set up a galvanic couple and corrode in some environments, particularly damp or coastal exposure. For dry interior electrical work it is a non-issue; outdoors or in wet locations, isolate the joint or match the fastener material to the substrate.

Minimum torsional strength is 24 lb-in. That is the driving limit, and with a slotted drive you are more likely to cam the blade out of the slot before you reach it. Slot width runs 0.039 to 0.048 in. and slot depth 0.037 to 0.05 in., so use a flat blade ground to fill the slot and drive by hand or on a low clutch setting rather than an impact driver.

Head width on the JSTS38 measures 0.256 to 0.27 in. with a head height of 0.072 to 0.082 in., to ASME B18.6.3-2013. A pan head sits on top of the surface rather than countersinking, so it bears on the material and will not pull through light sheet, but you need that quarter inch of clear flat surface around the hole.

The JSTS38 ships in a jar, and the order minimum is 100 count. So you are buying a jar of 100 #6 x 1-1/2 in. screws, not individual pieces.

Metallics lists the JSTS38 as both ARRA compliant and Buy American compliant. Country of origin is China. If your contract clause requires domestic melt and manufacture rather than the Buy American cost-of-components test, verify the clause language against those two facts before you spec it.

Metallics puts the JSTS series into electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning work. Typical use is hanging and fastening in those trades where corrosion resistance matters more than high strength, duct and sheet metal, device plates, strut and panel work. The 1-1/2 in. length gives enough thread to pass through an assembly and still engage the base material.

A jar comes in at 0.58 lbs. The packaged jar measures 3 in. length by 3 in. width by 2.15 in. height, so it drops into a van stock bin easily.