Is a self-drilling screw the same as a self-tapping screw?

• What is a self-drilling screw?

The tail of the self-drilling screw is in the shape of a drill tail. It does not require auxiliary processing and can be directly drilled, tapped, and locked on the setting material and the base material, greatly saving construction time. Compared with ordinary screws, it has high toughness and maintenance, and will not loosen after a long time of assembly. It is easy to operate by using safe drilling and tapping in one go. Especially in the combination of all places such as construction, architecture, and housing, self-drilling screws are the best economical fasteners in terms of operability, cost, and reliability.

• What is a self-tapping screw?

Self-tapping screws, or quick-thread screws, are steel fasteners that are passivated by galvanizing on the surface. Self-tapping screws are mostly used for connections between thin metal plates (steel plates, saw plates, etc.). When connecting, first make a threaded bottom hole for the connected part, and then screw the self-tapping screw into the threaded bottom hole of the connected part.

How to distinguish between self-drilling screws and self-tapping screws?

1）Self-drilling screws and self-tapping screws are distinguished by materials:

Drilling screws are a type of wood screws, and self-tapping screws are a type of self-locking screws.

2）Self-drilling screws and self-tapping screws are distinguished by their uses:

Drilling screws are mainly used to fix colored steel tiles on steel structures and thin plates. The main feature is that the tail is in the shape of a drill tail or a pointed tail. When used, no auxiliary processing is required, and drilling, tapping, locking, etc. can be completed directly on the material in one operation, greatly saving installation time.

Self-tapping screws have a high hardness and can also be used on some materials with higher hardness, such as iron plates, etc. It has low screw-in torque and high locking performance.

3）Self-drilling screws and self-tapping screws are distinguished by their performance:

Self-drilling screws are tools that use the physical and mathematical principles of the circular rotation of the inclined surface of an object and the friction force to gradually tighten objects and parts. Self-drilling screws feature a drill bit-like point at the tip, which allows them to penetrate and create a hole in the material without the need for pre-drilling.

Self-tapping screws are mostly used to connect thin metal plates (steel plates, saw plates, etc.). When connecting, first make a threaded bottom hole for the connected part, and then screw the self-tapping screw into the threaded bottom hole of the connected part.

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