Why doesn´t the stainless screw drill through steel?

While carbon steel self-drilling screws can drill through carbon steel sheet metal, stainless steel self-drilling screws can only drill into softer materials, such as aluminium, or materials of a similar or decreased hardness.

Carbon steel self-drilling screws are manufactured using a heat treatment that makes them hard enough to easily drill through base materials like steel, brass and aluminium.

Meanwhile, stainless self-drilling screws are made of austenitic steel with high resistance to corrosion, commonly used in the pharmaceutical and food industries. However, the low carbon content in its chemical composition, below 0.08%, means that it cant be hardened through heat treatments. Thats why its use is limited to softer materials.

If you need to use stainless screws for carbon steel plate joints, it´s a good idea to use bimetal self-drilling screws (ABE bimetal and AUTO bimetal families), consisting of a tempered carbon steel tip and a stainless steel body, welded together. Make sure that the tip and the start of the thread are left protruding from the rear of the fixing.

Latest revision: FAQ27 rev0

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