Self taping concrete screws

[ians]

We can send billionaires to the moon but we dont have a small self taping concrete screw.

Just imagine one day someone will get really smart and design a small screw(M5 and M6) with a large cheese head that will be able to drill and cut a thread in concrete.

Just imagine the time saving ... hopefully one day someone will realise that a simple design masonry/concrete bit as part of a self taping concrete screw would be the next best thing since sliced bread.

The easy hold design was smart but unpractical ... because you cant remove it ... maybe a similar design with a flat head would work?

so take the Hilti HUS-3-P and copy it ... and make it out of strong plastic ... that can be hit into brick or concrete to hold things like PVC trunking or light weight cable tray.

It could be a problem in the UK because they have to use steel supports for their electrical wire ways.

[ians]

Something like this which can be purchased in SA

https://www.grainger.com/product/DEWALT-Robertson-Head-Concrete-Anchor-30TE91

[adrianh]

Interesting idea. I think that self tapping screws only work in materials under one of two conditions:
1. If the material is soft enough to fully create space for the screw - as in the case of wood.
2. If the material is not soft enough to fully create space but is still soft enough to create space for the thread (if the screw is hard enough to displace the material) - as in mild steel.

I don't think that concrete meets either criteria. Concrete is brittle and tends to crack under stress rather than deform.

The next step would be to think of a tool / screw combination:
How about a machine that has a drill / vacuum / rivet gun all in one. One could put the rivets in a magazine (a cleverly designed magazine could also contain a suitable drill bit matching the rivets in size)
One could use different types of rivets be it Fisher plugs with screws, Rivnuts ets.
One could even make such a device inject a bit of glue into the hole before the plug.

Issues would be cost of the machine, size, weight and reliability.

After all of that would such a machine be cost effective compared to a hammerdrill and a normal hammer.

[ians]

https://docs.rs-online.com/22bb/0900766b8151b1a3.pdf

[ians]

and reasonably priced from RS components

https://za.rs-online.com/web/p/masonry-plugs-anchors-fixings/1228324?cm_mmc=ZA-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-PLA_ZA_EN_Fallback-_-Catch_all-_-1228324&matchtype=&pla-293946777986&gclid=CjwKCAiAiKuOBhBQEiwAId_sK7sgydZBUkNnT0BC53U40ggefWabpLusw_ynSt4sqx5M-8DebfWmMhoCYdsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[adrianh]

Yea but it is still not fully self tapping - A pilot hole is still required.

[GCE]

It is the reason a nail gun came out - basically sorts the problem as long as you don't want it to come back out

But if you use a nail gun with the 6mm threaded insert that sticks out it works perfectly

[ians]

It is the reason a nail gun came out - basically sorts the problem as long as you don't want it to come back out

But if you use a nail gun with the 6mm threaded insert that sticks out it works perfectly

A nail gun works great for metal trunking or the strapping I use to secure conduits and cables ... etc ... when it comes to plastic ... my GX120 blows the plastic trunking to pieces (even set on low)