Self Tapping Screws And Other Magical Devices

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.

These are wonderful, time-saving devices. You can mount sheet metal or corrugated metal to a steel frame easily and quickly without tearing your hair out or swearing at anybody. They are also useful for mounting surveillance cameras. Other uses for a self-drilling screw include surgery and dental implants.

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.

The great majority of screws are right-handed, or clockwise in threading. To loosen it, turn the screwdriver counterclockwise; to loosen it, go the other way. Everybody remembers lefty-loosey, righty-tighty. The same rule applies when opening and closing jars or for controlling the radiator.

There are a wide variety of screw types. The distance between threads along the shaft, for example, is called the pitch. The metal from which they are made is also a factor; this can be steel, zinc, copper, nickel, brass or chromium. They can have flat or round heads and one or two grooves in the head. The ones with two grooves that are at right angles to each other are called Phillips head or cross head screws.

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.

A left-hand screw is used for something that is going to encounter severe counterclockwise forces, such as the left pedal of a bicycle. In this case, ordinary screws would come undone. Any linear actuator with helically arranged threads may legitimately be termed a screw. Archimedes' screw water pump and ship's propellers are examples.

It is really fun to watch self tapping screws in action. You can get quite a lot of work done in very little time, a satisfying prospect. Juggling two or more pieces of material together and trying to get the screw to hold can be tricky and exasperating. In many ways, simple devices are better than more complicated ones. There are a number of varieties of screw. They have different diameters and different distances between individual threads. They are manufactured from several different types of metal, including copper, nickel, chromium, brass, zinc and steel. Another important difference is in the construction of the screw's head, whether it is flat, round, plain or Phillips headed.




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