How To Use Self Tapping Screws

By Bonnie Contreras


Another name for self tapping screws is self drilling screws. The clue is in the name. They drill the hole in the metal for you so you do not have to drill what is called a pilot hole first. This is useful when you want to mount things like computer monitors onto metal shelving because you do not have to fiddle around matching up holes, you just drill the screw through everything and you only have to do it once.

They are brilliant gadgets and well loved by those who use them. They save marriages, spare injuries and involve a lot less hair-pulling and swearing. That almost takes the fun out of it. They are also used to mount surveillance cameras on a metal frame and in dentistry. Tooth implants are considered to be self tapping screws.

Self drilling screws may have either crosshead (Phillips) heads or plain ones. Crossheads give the screw more more leverage when being driven through metal. You can see how important it is to make sure you have the correct tool for the job at hand. Such a tiny modification in form can translate to a significant change in function.

Most conventional screws are right-handed and need to be tightened in the clockwise direction. To loosen, turn the screwdriver counterclockwise. A convenient mneumonic is, "lefty-loosey, righty-tighty." The same principle applies to adjusting a radiator or opening or closing a jar of jam or pickles.

There are numerous other kinds of screw. There are differences in the pitch (the distance between threads), and they differ in composition (steel, zinc, copper, nickel, brass or chromium). They can have different heads, flat or round; plain or Phillips head (cross head).

The design for the Phillips head screwdriver was purchased from its inventor, John Thompson, from a man from Portland Oregon named Henry Phillips. Phillips made a few tweaks and then had the final design patented. Among its early users was the firm that manufactured the Cadillac, General Motors. Phillips eventually sold the patent to the Ford Motor Company for a grand total of $5 million, an enormous sum now and even more enormous in 1945.

When a screw is likely to face strong counterclockwise torque, which would loosen a right-handed screw, a left-handed screw is the correct choice. For instance, the left side of a bicycle has a left-handed thread. Anything with helical threads can legitimately be called a screw. The propeller of a ship is an example, as is an Archimedes' screw water pump.

Self tapping screws are brilliant devices that save time and hassle when fastening pieces of metal to one another without the need to drill separate holes which you then have to fiddle around and line up. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to design. Screws have a lot of different varieties. They are made from a number of different metallic materials, such as copper, chromium, steel, zinc or nickel.




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