What are the parts of a screw?
What are the parts of a screw?
The main parts of a screw include the drive, the head, the shank, the thread and the tip. Read our guide to what are the different parts of a screw and their purposes.
Screw Head
The head of the screw is the top portion and is usually wider than the rest of the screw’s body.
Screw heads come in many different shapes, but the 3 most common are: countersunk, raised and round/domed.
Screw Drive
Cut into the screw’s head is a special design, into which the screwdriver bit fits when driving the screw into a surface. This is known as the drive.
There are many different designs of drive, but the 3 most common are slotted, Philips and pozidriv.
Screw Shank
The shank is the portion of the screw from underneath its head to where the threads begin.
Screw Thread
The screw’s thread is the helical ridge that runs around its body.
Helical’ refers to the shape of the thread, which is a helix, or spiral.
Screw Tip
At the very end of the screw is its tip, which is the part that penetrates the material first when the screw is being driven in.
There are many different styles of tip. The one on the left is specifically for decking, and so it has a very sharp point.
