Here’s a quick tip that you might not know about. The recognized way to countersink a hole for a screw head is to drill the clearance hole for the shank of the screw first and then follow up with a countersink. It works but the countersink is often less than perfect, especially on soft woods where the countersink may chatter in the hole.
There are two ways to overcome this problem. The first is to countersink the hole first. This only works if you use one of the countersinks like the one on the extreme left in the picture. It may seem counter intuitive but it does work I can assure you, as evidenced by the picture above using the same bit but both techniques.
The other way to get perfect countersinks is to not use the multi point style countersink at all. These bits were initially designed for use on metals, for which they work well – on wood not so much. The two rather odd looking bits in the center of the second picture have a single cutting edge and actually burnish the hole as they cut. These bits are meant for wood and only for wood but they produce perfect countersinks. It should be noted that if using these bits they should be run at a slow speed for best results.
I didn't know that. I just finished installing an oak stairwell in my house and used a multi-point bit that uses a 1/8th drill bit secured in the center. Results were fine, but I might've looked for one of these single point bits. Next time I will.
Posted by: Mark | March 05, 2016 at 09:08 PM
Thank you very much for that. I will be purchasing the latter as I have already drilled 3 holes each in 30 pieces of wood lol.
Posted by: John Walcher | December 11, 2021 at 02:21 PM