On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 00:33:05 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 26 Jun 2015 20:25:34 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Jun 2015 21:20:45 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 26 Jun 2015 16:01:08 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:24:03 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:34:23 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:

On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 22:18:04 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Thu, 25 Jun 2015 21:16:30 +0800, Techman
wrote:

On 25-Jun-15 7:55 PM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
Techman fired this volley in
:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/92240200/Tapping%20Screw%20(2).JPG

Techman, I think you're not 'getting it'.

Even our CONSUMER big-box hardwares carry just what you want. Home Depot
(of all places) carries M4-0.7 self-tapping screws.

What you describe as "coarse-thread self-tappers" are truly "sheet metal
screws".

Lloyd



I'm in Australia, our hardware stores are 20 years behind yours! They
don't carry anything like them - only standard sheet metal screws and
self drilling/tapping roofing sheet bolts.

Only 20?


I've found out today I can get them via RS Components.

Oh, darn. That means you won't have the joy of jigging up small
screws into a fixture in your vise and cutting the self tapping groove
with a file on each screw.

Dremal type tool and a decent cutoff wheel will work for that, in a
pinch.

Been there, done that more than once.

Gunner
But they pretty well have to be grade 8 or harder unless you are
using them in anealed aluminum or leaded steel--------

Or thin mild steel. Ive used them to secure cover panels on various
electrical cabinets, none of which were thicker than 1/4"...and
anything over 1/8"...you best be having a really healthy driver to get
em in. Ive driven them with a 1/2" Milwaukee "hole shooter" well
enough..with a good snug properly made phillips bit.

Gunner
The ones made with the dremel??? Must be pretty decent quality
fasteners you started with - not the cheap Chinese crap so often
passed off as fasteners in big box hardware stores.

I try to avoid buying much Chicom fasteners...though its getting
damned hard to find any quality fasteners these days.
It should be noted though..that the Chicoms are about where the Japs
used to be in fastener making. Not half bad, unless you are buying
second quality.."B" grade stuff.

Gunner
I've had too many where the head separated from the threaded portion
of the screw/bolt, and also quite a few unthreaded bolts in a box.

Ouch! Didnt buy those from Fastenal did you? (Grin)

I was fortunate enough to have purchased a BUNCH of 60s-80s vintage
American made fasteners at several estate sales in the past 10 or so
years. Pluse I have a machine tool dealer that wont mess with "small
lots" of fasteners..(anything under 5000 pieces) and I tend to wind up
with a goodly number of them.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1040422...02703427344786

Blow the photo up ..all the cabinet draws to the upper left are sorted
fasteners..all the trays underneith are unsorted nuts and bolts...

https://picasaweb.google.com/1040422...03465339215298

The gray and tan punch card cabinets are plumbing fittings and that
sort of thing..a vertible ****load of them....and the cabinets to the
right of them ..the gym cabinets..top 3 shelves are crimp on
electrical fittings..sorted. Many thousands of them in their own boxes

The bottom three cabinets are bulk boxes/trays filled with sheet metal
and dry wall screws. Ive added another cabinet not show here (those
photos are 5-6 yrs old) with things like drawers fulled with hinges,
pop rivets/tools, turnbuckles, cable clamps, nails etc etc. I spent
about 3 full days..14 hours a day..sorting out the many! 5 gallon
buckets of fasteners/Stuff that I had stored in every corner and hidy
hole.

LOL..Larry can verify that Ive got a bunch..bunch of such stuff.

Oh..since Ive been dabbling with sailboats...Ive added
hummm...probably 100 lbs of 316 SS fasteners..from 6-32 - 5/16" bolts
of all types and styles of head. I already had probably 75 lbs of
such...so Ive not had to buy much stainless steel. Running short on
10-32 SS nuts though...and big flat washers. Need to ask around for
a bunch of them.

Based on local ACE Hardware store prices..Im a very rich man in
fasteners alone...lol. They want $0.75 a piece for 10-32x 1" SS
machine screws..and Ive got a few thousand.... (Grin)

Gunner