Metallics JQK15GR 8 x 1 in. 1/4 Hex Head Slotted Sharp Point Self-Piercing & Tapping Screws - Gray - Steel Zinc - Each

No pilot hole needed in thin sheet metal. The JQK15GR is a sharp point self-piercing and tapping screw, so it pierces and forms its own thread as it drives. The twin lead threads cut driving torque, which helps when you are running a lot of them by hand or with a cordless driver. For thicker steel a pre-drilled hole is still the safer approach, since the sharp point is intended for light gauge material.

Either works. The head is a 1/4 inch hex measuring 0.244 to 0.25 inch across, so a 1/4 inch magnetic nutsetter seats on it, and it also has a slotted drive (slot width 0.045 to 0.054 inch, depth 0.052 to 0.074 inch) for a flat blade when you cannot get a driver square to the work. Head height runs 0.096 to 0.11 inch.

It is a #8 diameter screw, 1 inch long, with 15 threads per inch. The undercut under the head gives you more thread engagement over that 1 inch than a standard tapping screw of the same length, which matters when you are only catching thin material.

Yes, the head carries a washer with an outside diameter of 0.322 to 0.348 inch and a thickness of 0.019 to 0.031 inch. That extra bearing area spreads load on soft or thin material and helps keep the head from pulling through sheet metal or a thin panel.

The JQK15GR is steel with a zinc finish, which is a general indoor and protected-location coating. It will serve in a dry or occasionally damp interior space, but zinc plating is not a marine or sustained wet exposure finish, so for direct weather or washdown areas choose a stainless or hot dip galvanized fastener instead.

The Metallics JQK15GR is flagged as ARRA compliant and Buy American compliant in the manufacturer data. Country of origin is China. If your specification calls for domestic melt and manufacture rather than the compliance flag, verify against your project's exact clause before you submit.

Self-piercing screw head dimensions are deliberately different from standard tapping screws, and there is no single industry standard governing them. The figures given for the JQK15GR (0.244 to 0.25 inch head width, 0.096 to 0.11 inch head height) are ranges offered as a guide, so small deviations can occur lot to lot. If you are matching an existing head profile exactly, work from the measured sample rather than assuming interchangeability with a standard tapping screw head.

Case hardness is Rockwell C28-38 and the material conforms to AISI 1018-1022 low carbon steel. That combination is what lets the point pierce sheet metal and form threads without the tip rolling over, while the core stays tough enough not to snap off at the head during driving.

They ship in a jar, with a minimum order of 100 count. The jar weighs 0.54 lbs. That is the practical buy for a service van or a shop bin rather than a bulk box.

Other sizes and quantities in the JQK self-piercing and tapping series are available by request. The JQK15GR itself is the #8 x 1 inch gray head version with the 1/4 hex slotted drive.