A practical countersink

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  • capncarl
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 3564
    • Leesburg Georgia USA
    • SawStop CTS

    A practical countersink

    I picked up these at HF earlier and was impressed. I have a straight 1/4” shaft drive countersink simular design to these that I purchased several years ago at Highland Woodworking for much more $. The insty drive makes it better for me. Click image for larger version

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  • Carlos
    Veteran Member
    • Jan 2004
    • 1893
    • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

    #2
    This is one of those shop life changers. I have a middle version of this, in a straight shack to go into any drill. I absolutely love the thing, and it solves so much. It's chucked right now in my low-usage mid-size drill, ready to do whatever. Yesterday I used it to simply clean up the hole in the middle of some MDF plugs I made, because when you drill MDF it always ends up slightly proud. A quick zip with this and you take off that tiny lip. I obviously use them to countersink and with practice they are easily repeatable.

    Now I want to get these for instant usage.

    Comment

    • LCHIEN
      Internet Fact Checker
      • Dec 2002
      • 20914
      • Katy, TX, USA.
      • BT3000 vintage 1999

      #3
      I picked up a set a HF last week, too. These are called "zero flute" countersinks, I suppose the zero refers to no vertical slots in the cutting edge.
      I love zero flute countersinks because they don't chatter and leave smooth countersinks.
      I have some other sets but this looked convenient, but I have yet to try them out,
      My complaint on these and other counter sinks is that they all have short shanks. My common practice is to drill holes on the drill press and then remove the drill and chuck up the c-sink bit. But short c-sink bits means I have to raise the table or prop up the work and this in turn loses the concentricity. It then takes extra care to make sure the countersink is concentric to the hole.

      My solution is to have a shaft extender which is a 3" piece of 1/4" rod with a 1/4" coupler and may favorite countersink is now about 5" long, same as the drill bits I commonly would countersink.
      Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-15-2020, 04:09 AM.
      Loring in Katy, TX USA
      If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
      BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

      Comment

      • Carlos
        Veteran Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 1893
        • Phoenix, AZ, USA.

        #4
        I've been very happy using mine in a 12v drill. The stay concentric if you start them with the bit in contact with the work. If I needed perfection I might re-think this, but these have always been used for medium grade or shop grade work. I think countersunk screws look cheap and never use them on fine work (I realize that's just my own insanity and probably not true).

        Comment

        • leehljp
          Just me
          • Dec 2002
          • 8429
          • Tunica, MS
          • BT3000/3100

          #5
          I have 1 somewhere, but could sure use a set. The one that I have (somewhere) does much better than the 6 bladed counter sinks.
          Hank Lee

          Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Internet Fact Checker
            • Dec 2002
            • 20914
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #6
            Originally posted by Carlos
            I've been very happy using mine in a 12v drill. The stay concentric if you start them with the bit in contact with the work....
            They self center if you have a free hand drill.
            But if the work is clamped to the table and the bit chucked up to a fixed head, if the table moved you get an offsetted countersunk hole which looks really bad.
            I really prefer to use my drill press because I can set a depth stop and all the countersunk holes match diameter well to look nice. Counting on your hand to stop an hand held drill press gets you less consistent depth which ends up being different diameters.
            Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-20-2020, 02:35 AM.
            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

            • LCHIEN
              Internet Fact Checker
              • Dec 2002
              • 20914
              • Katy, TX, USA.
              • BT3000 vintage 1999

              #7
              I did use the HF set a bit and they seem to work OK.
              Better on the drill press than my electric screwdriver - the latter is too slow.
              Loring in Katy, TX USA
              If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
              BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

              Comment

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