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547 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  joe-nwt
T5 screws what are the difference between these two
Household hardware Nickel Engineering Screw Metal
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These are Fastenal. No idea on cost
Those are regular self drilling screws, the Tek 5 type point will drill through an I-beam flange. They are a lot more expensive.
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The difference? About $.15 each. And amazingly, the ones on the left actually work quite well. I was surprised the first time I used them. In some steel they actually work better than the cut ones.
The cut ones were Fastenal. The stamped ones are bulk off Ebay. I dont do that purchasing so I don't have a brand for you.
I've tried both and I haven't had any problems with the eBay ones, but I remember a thread a while back where people got some clunkers off eBay. The genuine ITW Teks are a lot more expensive but they're still less than beam clamps. Teks® 5 Steel-to-Steel Self-Drilling Screws On ITW Commercial Construction - North America (itwbuildex.com) I buy the #12 x 1-1/4" and 12 x 1-1/2" but it would be great if they made the 1/4" in a shorter length.

Here's a pro tip, if you drill and remove the #12 Tek-5's, you can redrill and tap it with a 1/4" x 20 combo drill-tap super easy, and you'll get several holes per Tek-5. I like this because I can use short screws and you don't have those dagger points sticking out the other side.
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