Metallics JTEKD14SS 8 x 1 in. 1/4 Indented Hex Head Self-Drilling & Tapping Screws with Washer - #2 Drill Point - 410 Stainless Steel - Each

The #2 drill point on the JTEKD14SS is rated for panel thickness of 0.035 to 0.100 inch, so it drills and taps its own hole in sheet metal, strut, and light-gauge channel in that range. Thicker steel than 0.100 inch is outside what this point is rated to drill, and you'd need a pre-drilled hole or a heavier drill point.

No. The JTEKD14SS is not Buy American compliant and is not ARRA compliant, with multiple countries of origin. For a federally funded project with domestic sourcing requirements, you'll need a fastener that carries a domestic origin certification.

Yes. The indented hex washer head measures 0.244 to 0.250 inch across the flats, which is the 1/4 inch hex socket size, with 0.272 inch across the corners. Head height runs 0.096 to 0.110 inch. A standard 1/4 inch magnetic hex driver bit in a screwgun or impact is the right tool.

They're made from 410 stainless steel, a hardenable martensitic stainless, which is what lets a stainless screw be hardened enough to drill its own hole (Rockwell C38-46). 410 gives better corrosion resistance than plain carbon steel but it is not 300-series stainless, so it is a mild-exposure material rather than a marine-grade one.

It's a #8 diameter by 1 inch long screw with 18 threads per inch, made to SAE J78-2013 for the thread form and ASME B18.6.3-2010 for head dimensions. The integral washer head has an outside diameter of 0.322 to 0.348 inch and a washer thickness of 0.019 to 0.031 inch, which spreads the bearing load on thin sheet.

Minimum torsional strength is 42 lb-in, and Metallics notes minimum torques are the same for stainless and carbon steel self-drill screws, with roughly 2.5 seconds drill time through a 1 mm plate. Keep the gun square to the work and let it stop once the washer seats; over-driving past seating is what snaps a #8 drill screw, not the material.

It's a Type BSD, meaning it combines a Type B thread with a self-drilling point, so it drills its own hole and taps the thread in one pass. A plain Type B sheet metal screw needs a pilot hole drilled first. If you're fastening into pre-punched strut or an existing hole, a plain Type B is fine; into solid sheet, the BSD drill point is what you want.

They ship in a jar of 100, which is the order minimum. The jar weighs 0.57 lbs.

Metallics lists the JTEKD series for the electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning trades. In practice that's mounting boxes and straps to metal studs, fastening duct and sheet metal plenums, and attaching brackets to light-gauge channel, where the washer head keeps the fastener from pulling through thin material and the drill point saves a pilot hole.