Metallics JSTS11 6 x 3/4 in. Pan Head Slotted Tapping Screws - 18-8 Stainless - Each

You can, but be aware of the galvanic issue. Metallics notes that fastening stainless steel parts to aluminum or steel can set up a galvanic couple and cause corrosion in some environments. Indoors and in dry locations that is usually a non-issue; in damp, coastal, or chemically exposed areas, isolate the joint or pick a fastener that matches the base metal. The JSTS11 itself is 18-8 stainless.

No. The JSTS11 is listed as not Buy American compliant and not ARRA compliant, with country of origin recorded as multiple. If your public-works or federally funded spec requires domestic fasteners, these will not pass the submittal.

The JSTS11 is a Type A tapping screw with a gimlet point, meaning it has a sharp, pointed tip that starts in a pilot hole and forms its own thread as it drives. That makes it the screw for thin sheet metal, boxes, covers, and light bracketry rather than for structural steel or thick plate. Metallics lists its field application as the electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning trades.

18 threads per inch, made to the ASME B18.6.4 thread standard for tapping screws. That is the coarse, sharp thread profile intended to form threads in sheet metal and similar thin material as it drives, so it holds in light-gauge steel boxes, enclosures, and duct without a tapped hole.

The JSTS11 is rated to a minimum torsional strength of 24 lb-in. That is the ceiling for a driver, and with a slotted drive it is easy to exceed with an impact gun. Drive these with a hand screwdriver or a low-torque, clutch-set driver; slotted heads cam out sideways rather than back out, so speed is not your friend here.

The 18-8 stainless material is the reason to pick these over plated steel for wet, humid, or washdown locations, since the screw itself will not rust out. The one caution is the dissimilar-metal issue: stainless driven into aluminum or steel can create a galvanic couple in some environments, so in exterior or marine work either match the base material or isolate the joint.

Pan head measuring 0.256 to 0.270 in. across the head with a head height of 0.072 to 0.082 in. The slot runs 0.039 to 0.048 in. wide and 0.037 to 0.050 in. deep, so a #1 cabinet-tip flat blade seats properly. Head geometry follows ASME B18.6.3-2013. The low, broad pan profile spreads bearing on thin sheet without countersinking.

They ship in a jar, with a minimum order of 100 per jar. Jar weight is listed at 0.32 lbs. It is a stocking quantity for a truck or shop bin rather than a loose count of a dozen.