Metallics TSP10M 6 x 5/8 in. Pan Head Phillips Sharp Point Tapping Screws - Steel Zinc - Each

The Metallics TSP10M is a Type A tapping screw, meaning it has a gimlet (sharp) point and a coarse 18 threads per inch pitch that cuts its own thread as it drives. That combination is for thin sheet metal, sheet metal boxes and similar light-gauge work where you drill or punch a pilot and run the screw straight in without tapping. If you are fastening into thicker steel, a Type A point will not start cleanly and you want a self-drilling or machine-thread screw instead.

Torsional strength is 24 lb-in minimum and the screws are case hardened to Rockwell C28 to 38, so they take normal powered driving into light-gauge metal. Twenty-four inch-pounds is not a lot of margin on a #6, so set the clutch low on a cordless gun. Driving them hard into thick steel or an undersized pilot is where you will shear heads.

No. These are not Buy American compliant and not ARRA compliant, and the country of origin is listed as multiple. On a federally funded or Buy America specified project, these will not pass, so source a domestically produced fastener for that scope.

A #2 Phillips bit. The recess is a Phillips drive with a 0.091 inch recess depth and a 0.153 to 0.166 inch recess diameter, so a #2 seats fully. Running a #1 will cam out and chew the recess; a #3 will not bottom.

The pan head measures 0.087 to 0.097 inch in height and 0.256 to 0.270 inch across. That head profile matters when the screw lands under a cover plate or inside a box where clearance is tight, and the width is what gives bearing on an oversized or slotted hole. Dimensions follow ASME B18.6.3-2013.

These are carbon steel with a zinc plated finish, made from AISI 1016 to 1024 steel. Zinc plating is a mild indoor and protected-location coating. It is fine inside panels, boxes, and dry interior work, but in wet, coastal, or chemically aggressive exterior locations it will corrode, and a stainless or hot dip galvanized fastener is the right call there.

They come in a jar, and the order minimum is 1,000 pieces. This is a bulk MRO and jobsite pack rather than a small blister card, so plan on a full jar per order line when you are stocking a truck or a shop bin.

Threads are to ASME B18.6.4 at 18 threads per inch, with head and drive dimensions to ASME B18.6.3-2013. Any #6 Type A tapping screw built to those same standards will run in the same hole and the same existing thread, which is what you want when you are matching screws already in a panel or enclosure.