Metallics JWDS6C 8 x 15/8 in. Wafer Head Phillips Drywall Screws - Steel Zinc - Each

No pilot hole needed. The JWDS6C is a Type BSD self-drilling and tapping screw with a drill point, so it bores and taps its own hole in steel framing in one pass. That is the whole point of the design: it cuts out drill bits and taps and the labour that goes with them. Drill time runs about 2.5 seconds through a 1 mm thick plate.

The drill point is rated for panel thickness from 0.350 down to 0.100 inch, so it handles light to heavier steel in that band. Past that range the point will burn before it penetrates and you want a heavier drill point screw.

No on both counts. The JWDS6C is not Buy American compliant and not ARRA compliant, and country of origin is listed as multiple. If your contract carries a domestic sourcing clause, this is not the fastener for it.

A #2 Phillips bit. The recess is a Phillips drive, 0.255 deep with a 0.176 to 0.189 inch recess diameter, which is standard #2 geometry. Run it in a screw gun with a depth-sensing nose if you are setting drywall so you do not tear the paper.

The wafer head is wide and flat with a thin profile, 0.359 to 0.380 inch across the head and 0.025 to 0.035 inch thick. That broad bearing surface holds soft or layered material without pulling through, and it sits close to flush rather than countersinking like a bugle head. Note that wafer head dimensions are not governed by a single standard, so small deviations between lots occur.

They ship in a jar of 100, which is the order minimum. Other sizes and quantities are available by request.

These are zinc plated carbon steel, made to AISI 1016-1024 material standard. Zinc plating is an indoor and protected-environment finish. For exterior exposure or a wet location, go to a stainless self-drilling screw instead.

42 lb-in minimum torsional strength, with a case hardness of Rockwell C32-40. Set your screw gun clutch below that and you will not shear heads off. Worth knowing: the minimum torque figures are the same for stainless and steel self-drill screws, so stepping to stainless does not buy you driving strength.

18 threads per inch, UNF, built to SAE J78-2013 for self-drilling tapping screws. The fine pitch is what lets it tap and hold in sheet steel rather than wood.

They are catalogued for the electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning trades as much as for board work. Typical use is fastening light sheet metal, straps, plates and accessories to steel framing where the broad wafer head gives bearing and the drill point saves a pilot hole.