Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Have read many posts / replies where folks were using self drilling stainless steel screws to attach underskinning to their boats. All the self drilling ss screws I have found are 410 stainless steel. 304 stainless is recommended for marine applications.

The difference is the corrosion resistance of the screws. While this may not be a big problem for me as I keep my boat out of the water when I am not on it, it could be a problem for those keeping their boats in a slip or in salt water.

Has anyone found a source for 304 stainless self drilling screws?

Ron

300 series TEK screws are mostly non existent due to the fact that 300 series is soft and not suited for the heat resistance and hardness needed. Best option is an 18-8 grade. has stainless properties but also contains a carbon mix for the hardness. Stay away from 410. They have just enough % in them to be able to call them stainless . We use millions of teks yearly and can attest to this fact.

Will these work?

Quote from McMaster-Carr

"High-strength corrosion-resistant stainless steel is a blend of Type 316 and Type 410 stainless steel."


Link

http://www.mcmaster.com/#self-drilling- ... s/=11y7odc

Elco makes a 300 series stainless self drilling Tek screw. The smallest size however is a #10 which in my opinion is perfect. They also only come with a hex head configuration. Check them out here... http://www.elcoconstruction.com/Product ... /Bi-Flex-R

H-O-T (House of Teks) also sells a 300 series stainless tek as small as #8, again however only with a hex head configuration....

Dan

You might consider something like this
http://www.manasquanfasteners.com/klath_screws

Keep in mind that 410 has very slightly less corrosion resistance than 316

Also see this
http://www.manasquanfasteners.com/specialty_sharx

And these
http://www.manasquanfasteners.com/decki ... _hexwasher

Read up here
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/stain ... d_368.html

You also might consider rivits which is used in all the underskinning in our boat.

I used the hex version as they are easy to drive with an impact plus they don't strip as easy as the Philips type I also used the #10 x 3/4"
I bought two boxes of 100 each and used about 1/2 of the second box
bought them at ace hardware not sure of the grade of ss used

Mike