1.A self-tapping screw can accurately be described simply a tapping screw, but is also regularly referred to as a sheet metal screw, since they are used so heavily in the sheet metal trade.
2.Whichever name is used, a self-tapping screw (or sheet metal screw), is designated as such because it contains form mating threads (thereby “tapping” the threads) in a pre-drilled hole into which they are driven.
3.A self-drilling screw is a type of self-tapping screw that also features a drill point. The sharp drill point will both drill a hole and form the mating threads in a single operation.
4.So where does the confusion between terms come in? In many cases, the person specifying a this type of screw will interchange the terms self-tapping screw (or “Self-Tapper”) with self-drilling screw, but a screw is only a self-drilling screw when it will drill its own hole.
To recap, the terms self-tapping and self-drilling are not interchangeable. All self-drilling screws are self-tapping screws, but not all self-tapping screws are self-drilling screws. Both of these screws come in numerous configurations, and are widely used in the commercial, industrial and construction markets.
Post time: Nov-05-2020