In article ,
Phil Again wrote:

McMaster-Carr, MSC, and Grainger industrial supply houses have sheet
metal screws that go by the name of "pin-in-hex", "pin-in-torx",
"tamperproof", or just plain "security sheet metal screws"

Basically, these sheet metal screws are hex-key (or torx) button (pan?)
head screws but in the center of the hex key is a hardened pin. Takes a
special hex key or torx drive to install or remove.
(I presume here that any interested reader can do their own search of the
above Industrial supply houses for detailed sketches of what the heck I
am talking about.)

There are other "security" sheet metal screws, like "spanner", "One-way"
and so forth. But I want to concentrate on Hex or Torx.

I am looking for a tamper-resistant sheet metal screw; i.e. I can take on
and off, but not unauthorized.

So the question, how common is the hex key with the pin hole, or the torx
with the pin hole? If every Uncle Bob has one of those, then I need to
try again. But if it is mostly uncommon, I will feel OK.

Tamper-resistant is not thief-proof nor vandalism-proof, I am looking for
casual nosy curiosity resistance. Make them take time to search for a
removal tool.

Any opinions on how commom the tamper-resistance hex key and torx key
tools are?

TIA
Phil



I'd say it would be fairly uncommon for someone to have those tools
readily at hand. Easy to get when you need one, but not so common in a
toolbox or shop. We use the security allen heads in a customer's product
and have had to make a run to the tool store a couple of times to
replace a misplaced tool. And, we have a *lot* of tools in the shop.