Thread: Drill Bit/Countersink/Counterbore Units

Mirboo

Yes mate I use them all the time Tassi oak no problems
I got them to get a better finish close to the edge of small boxes with thin walls, now use one every time I put in a screw , Well op to 12 GaugeHave been using some septic ones from bunnies No. 6, 8 & 12, about 420 EACH
this year however at the N'cle wood show got a set from carbi-tecco 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 12 FOR $25



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Russell

Try your countersinker before drilling the pilot hole. Sometimes this works better.

Have got a generic set from carbetec at work. They work quite well and make it easy to drive a wood screw as the thread is cutting into the wood not trying to push wood out of the way for the shank. The set from Lee Vally look a lot better quality.

I too have the Carbatec set. They are OK but not great. Sometimes the grub screws holding on the collar don't bite properly. Interestingly they are only single flute drill bits. Looks like the Veritas ones are too. I agree that the Veritas ones look better made.

Carbatec also have an up market set ( wi Fuller) with plug cutters but at $250 too pricy for what I need




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Russell

Thanks everyone for your replies to my countersinking question.

Today I had a few goes at doing the countersinking before drilling the pilot hole as per "rodm's" suggestion. I was drilling into Tassie Oak using my drill press and a single flute Sutton countersinker. I didn't have trouble with chatter but the countersinker did wander a bit, or rather, it pushed the wood which I was holding in my hand off line a bit. I think I'll try again with some different drill speeds or maybe I will have to clamp my work to the drill press table prior to each countersinking operation.

It would seem from the replies of "Ashore", "Wood Butcher" and "Ecc" that "Drill Bit/Countersink/Counterbore Units" work OK. Now I just have to decide if I want to spend the money to get a set.

Thanks again,
Mirboo.

I have the set from lee valley and they are a joy to use.
A perfect tapered hole and countersink/bore everytime. Yes the tapers fit the screws exactly.

Only problem (and this goes for all the drill mounted countersinks I have seen) is that the countersink will block the 'flow' of wood up the drill flutes. This means the wood won't clear the hole as well and you may have to pull bits out from under the countersink.

Mirboo, are you "spotting" the hole location with a punch or similar, this may help the c'sink locate better. The other thing may be the cutting lip/s on the c'sink may be blunt, requiring more feed pressure than ideal.


HTH..........cheers..............Sean

I haven't bought these myself. I have a set of untapered countersinks from Insty-Bit and these work well enough in all the timbers I've tried including Tassie Oak. They also have the added advantage of being hex quick change.

In theory tapered drill holes will work better but in practice with some wax on the screw thread, you will not notice the difference provided you have used the right hole size for the screw size. See this link for a chart of the correct drill and screw sizes. One other tip, buy square drive screws and the correct driver. They really do work better.

One thing worth shelling out for are the tapered plug cutters from Veritas. They work extremely well and are much more reliable at plugging the countersink holes tightly.

If you want to get serious about screwing and screws and associated counterborers go to the Sachy Robertson web site:

http://sachys-robertson.com.au/index.html

Once you have used them you won't be bothered with anything else.

Hi all,

Instead of the set of "Drill Bit/Countersink/Counterbore Units" discussed earlier in this thread I decided to order the countersink unit shown below.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...240,42281&ap=1

The unit arrived in today's post. It is made by the Beall Tool Company in the USA.

Have not yet tried it out on anything harder than Tassie Oak but I can already tell you it works better than any other countersink units I own. In Tassie Oak I was able to produce nice clean tapered holes that were centred on the pre-drilled screw pilot hole. The unit produced no chatter and did not wander. Although it is still early days, I am very happy with the unit so far.

Regards,
Mirboo.

Mirboo They look like a top set
The only prob I have found with countersink units like that I sometimes go a little too deep and dont get a flush finish
If you hold the screw up against the unit and draw a felt pen line I have found I get a better idea of when to stop
Glad however you got a good result


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Ashore

I bought the Carbatec cheapies not long ago, & concur that the grub screws don't hold the countersink/counterbore on properly, on anything harder than pine anyway.

Part of the issue I think is that the countersink cutting edges don't seem to have much relief behind them, and consequently don't cut very well, which probably causes the slippage.

Intend to try sharpening them with better relief and see how they go then.


Cheers.............Sean, blessed relief