While finishing the assembly of a basketball hoop from a kit, I ran into a case where the provided screws are too large in diameter to fit into the mating holes, let alone screw in all the way.
I then decided to look through the huge fasteners aisle at the local home improvement superstore to try to find a similar screw in a smaller diameter. I was unsuccessful, and couldn’t even locate anything that had a similar threading pattern.
They look like this:
The head is a slotted hex shape, approximately #12, and the screw is 1.25 inches in length, but I’m not sure what “type” of screw I should be looking for as a replacement. Can anyone identify it from its appearance?
Best Answer
That screw you show is designed to cut its own thread as it enters the hole - the tip has the thread cut almost to the end of the tip to start the cutting process.
As long as the root diameter is fractionally smaller than the hole it is going into then it should be fine - as long as it is perpendicular to the hole it will go in fine, if it goes in at an angle then it will "block" or lock-up before it get fully home.
The ones I have used are definitely designed to be used in metal and the tip is hardened for that purpose.