Ben recently posted about different kinds of wood-drilling countersink drill bits that have built-in non-marring depth stops. Sometimes it’s helpful to have a depth stop, other times you don’t really need it.
When driving flathead screws into wood, you don’t always need to first countersink the hole either, but that is typically only true when driving the screws into softer material. Some screws have cutting ribs under the screw head, but even those might not work well in harder wood materials.
For the cleanest installation, you’re going to want to use a countersink, and to save time, not to mention get perfectly centered countersinks, you’re going to want to use an all-in-one countersink. These types of drill bits drill a screw hole and then create a countersink for flush-mounting flathead screws all in one drilling step.
If you drill deep enough with a countersink, you can even mount flathead screws beneath the surface, for covering up with a plug.
Snappy is quite possibly the best name in the business. There are a number of brands that make these all-in-one bits, but Snappy is the one you’ll hear about most. It’s certainly the brand I hear the most good things about.
Snappy’s 5-piece countersink bit set comes with 5/64″, 3/32″, 7/64″, 1/8″ & 9/64″ sizes, which correspond to what you need for #4, #6, #8, #10, and #10 screw sizes. The countersink angle is 82°, which corresponds to what you’ll find on most (if not all) flathead wood screws.
The drill bits can be adjusted to length, via set screw, and replaced if necessary. The alloy countersink cutting blades are hardened for long life, and Snappy says they can be resharpened.
Each features a 1/4″ hex shaft, so you can use it in a drill or cordless screwdriver. You could probably use them in a hand drill too.
They’re made in the USA.
Price: $25 for the 5-piece set
Buy Now(5pc set via Amazon)
You can also buy these bits as part of a 25-piece quick change drilling and driving set.
Buy Now(25pc quick change bit set via Amazon)