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I need a screw for some outside door handles, and I cannot rethread the holes as some parts are brittle plastic and other parts are soft metal.

I need an exact replacement for this screw, but I do not know what type it is (e.g. wood, self tapping, other type etc)

The length from the head to the tip (other end) is 19mm

The diameter is 4mm

It has 15 threads in 12-13mm

Here are some pictures:

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

Apologies for the poor quality, my phone isn't very good at close-ups.

This is the closest match that I can find, but the threads seem to be larger.

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    In the states, we call it a machine screw, but I'll leave it to someone with more European experience to answer.
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 13:56
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    @JPhi1618 We call it a machine screw, but most common folk in the US call it a bolt (as in nuts and bolts)
    – bib
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:04
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    Eh, a "bolt" has a hex head. If you walk into Home Depot and pick up a baggie of what the OP pictured, it will say "Machine Screw" - Machine Screw Image search
    – JPhi1618
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:07
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    Avoid the self-tapping screw you referenced, it has threads designed to cut their own path, and since you mentioned "fragile" and "plastic" I wouldn't risk damaging the threading with extra cuts, unless it's a very temporary fix which when revisited will be a replacement.
    – Edwin Buck
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:22
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    FYI, the length of a screw is measured from the surface of the top sheet of material to be held (wherever that lines up on the screw head) to the end of the rod. In your case, that would be from the bottom of the head, which comes out to ~17mm.
    – AaronD
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 17:16

2 Answers 2

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M5 Pan head machine screw.

enter image description here

Edit: M5 screws have a 5mm shaft.

enter image description here

Edit2.1 (my apologies): This is an M5-0.80 screw. 0.8 refers to the thread pitch, which (for metric screws) is measured by dividing 9.6mm by 12 threads, which equals 0.80. The picture above shows a minor optical illusion of 12 threads over 10mm (pitch = 0.8333); but M5-0.85 screws simply don't exist.

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  • 0.85 seems to be an unusual pitch for M5 - I believe 0.8 is more common. Depending on how much of the thread actually engages with whatever its screwed into you might get away with a M5x0.8 ...
    – brhans
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 19:35
  • yeah, I can't tell about the pitch.
    – Ben Welborn
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 19:40
  • If you (the OP) take it to the store with you, you can match the thread and get the exact replacement that fits where this one came from.
    – JDługosz
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 19:49
  • Given the captive washers, I'd go farther and say it's probably this guy: mutualscrew.com/… - "M5-0.8 X 18 Washer O.D. 10 mm Metric Phillips Pan Head Sems with Split Lock Washer & Flat Washers Steel Zinc Yellow Plated JIS-B1188"
    – Dewi Morgan
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 20:15
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    It may also be an Imperial 10-32 x 5/8". He'll know when he gets to the hardware store; press the exemplar screw against one from the bin, and the threads will intermesh perfectly. Or not.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Apr 1, 2016 at 2:36
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It appears to be a pan head machine screw, with two washers on it.

The washer closer to the head of the screw is likely a lock washer, the washer away from the head of the screw is a flat washer.

You have the length of the screw, and since it's exactly 2 cm, it is likely a metric screw; but, the best way to find out is to locate a new nut that will freely spin down the entire screw length without locking.

Once you have the correct nut, you can then use that nut to verify you have correct replacement screws.

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    I only add the last bit about physical verification instead of "just look it up" verification because I had an odd encounter with screws for a light fixture. It was similar to a metric screw, but apparently a plant in China was making semi-metric screws (the pitch of the threads were wrong), and since they controlled the entire light fixture, they made the nuts to match. Eventually I had to get another screw from another light fixture. Sometimes physical verification is best.
    – Edwin Buck
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 14:16
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    Agreed on the value of physical verification whenever possible; but unless you want to spend an hour exhaustively searching the fasteners aisle trying to figure out what you need in advance will make things much easier. (Assuming they have it anyway.)
    – Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 20:33
  • It's not exactly 2cm. Head doesn't count on a panhead screw. Compare: mcmaster.com/#machine-screws/=11sajyz
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Apr 1, 2016 at 2:18
  • @DanNeely simply taking the screw down to the hardware store is the way to do it. It only takes a minute or two (the rough sizes become obvious real quick) and is much more efficient than this.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Apr 1, 2016 at 2:28

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