Metallics SDS8B 8 x 23/8 in. Bugle Head Phillips Drywall Screws - Steel Zinc - Fine Threads - Each

Yes. The SDS8B is a self-drilling and tapping drywall screw with a drill point, so it cuts its own hole in light gauge steel framing with no pilot hole. That drill point plus the fine UNF thread at 15 threads per inch is what makes it a steel-stud screw rather than a wood-stud screw.

Fine thread is the one for steel studs, and that is what the SDS8B is: fine spacing, UNF, 15 threads per inch, with a drill point that bores its own hole. Coarse thread screws are for wood framing, where the wider thread bites into the lumber. Putting a coarse screw into a metal stud tends to spin without grabbing, and a fine screw into wood strips out.

The SDS8B is flagged compliant for both Buy American and ARRA, with country of origin listed as multiple. For a federally funded project where the spec sheet has to be attached, that pair of compliance flags is what the submittal package needs.

A #2 Phillips. The bugle head takes a Phillips drive with a recess 0.124 inch deep and 0.176 to 0.201 inch across, which is standard #2 territory. Three power bits ship with the box, so a crew has spares from the start.

That is what the bugle head is for. Head height runs 0.020 to 0.039 inch with a head width of 0.315 to 0.363 inch, so the tapered underside pulls the screw into the paper face and dimples it rather than tearing through, leaving a depression you can fill and finish. Note that bugle head dimensions have no single industry standard, so slight deviation between lots is normal.

The SDS8B ships as a 3,000 count box, which is also the order minimum, and the box runs 29.33 lbs. Metallics does make other sizes and quantities in the SDS and SDSB series available by request, so if 3,000 is more than the job needs, ask for the alternate pack.

The SDS8B is AISI 1018 steel heat treated to Rockwell C44, which is the hardness range that lets a drill point cut light gauge steel without the tip rolling over or the drive recess stripping under a collated gun. Driving at high speed into heavier gauge than the point is meant for is still where screws break.

The SDS8B carries a zinc finish over steel, which handles normal interior humidity but is not a corrosion coating for exterior or wet exposure. For soffits, exposed exterior sheathing, or high moisture areas, specify a screw with a coating rated for that service instead of standard zinc plating.