Amana Tool - 55229 Carbide Tipped 82° Countersink with Adjustable Depth Stop & No-

Exelente, I use this bit tomake 1500 holes in hardwood, brazilian cherry and cumaru and still works like new, still sharp

Ive only used this for a few holes, but thought I would share my initial opinion. Ive used several countersinks on wood screws and Im primarily concerned with how smooth the outer edge of the hole is and how repeatable the countersink depth is. I have tried the Snappy, the cheap Ryobi, and a few others. The best I have found until now are sold by Lee Valley and made by an Israeli company. With this product I obtained clean holes with no edge breakout on pine plywood. I looked at the package and it says made in Israel. I suppose Amana has a deal with the same company. I did not test counterboring as you would for a plug covering the screw. No scratching of the surface as the collar does not rotate. If you adjust the depth stop, you have a perfect hole that just fits the screw head every time. The only downside to this product is that the collar completely blocks your view of the progress of the countersink. You are drilling blind at this stage unless you can move your head down to see under the workpiece. Just takes some getting used to. The depth is controlled by the collar, so you dont really need to see whats happening. You do need to really slow down the drill as the countersink portion is engaged. In general, countersinks like to cut slow if you want a smooth edge. I try for about 200 RPM for a countersink of this size. If you dont want to spend the money on this, a pretty good hole can be obtained with the Ryobi set AFTER you hone both sides of all the cutting edges. An Ez-lap or similar DMT tool or small sharpening card is good for that. (and they are diamond grit, so they will also sharpen this countersink if you drill enough holes to dull it) This countersink product series includes several drill diameters. This one will clearance drill for the threads on a #8 modern wood or deck screw. Consider the screws you are going to use and whether they have a relieved shank that will extend through the top workpiece. I will probably buy a 1/8 one for that case. Also, I learned that wood screws, at least the GRK brand, are 90 degree heads. Sheet metal screws and machine screws to imperial (U.S.) standards are 82 degrees. Machine screws for very thin parts (aircraft or electronics sheet metal) are sometimes 100 degrees. Amana offers 82 and 90 degree versions. If you are using a drill press, very good results in wood can be obtained with a machinists zero-flute Weldon countersink set. They are HSS and must be sharpened occasionally with a small stone in a moto-tool or die grinder. Those will not counterbore for a plug, only countersink. Machinery suppliers also sell one-flute countersinks that will do pretty good, and solid carbide countersinks. Hand drilling with the common six-flute hardware-store countersinks either leads to burning through the wood since they are not sharp, or more commonly wobbling in the hole and chattering. If youve read this far, you are now a countersink expert... Edit: If your collar is turning after contact, try light machine oil under the retaining ring. Made a difference for me.

If you need to drill countersinks, get this, it is fantastic. Consistent results, and the depth stop is on a bearing so it doesnt mar the surface.

If I could give this zero stars I would...bit broke off on the 4th hole I drilled. See photo and note the chipped carbide on countersink. Waste of $$$. EDIT: Thought about it, and decided the cheese-grade included drill bit was the real issue. Ordered another one, measured the bore with a minus pin gauge set, and determined it to be approximately .128. Figured the through hole bore on these countersinks will accept a #30 drill bit. A #30 is .1285, which is .0035 over a 1/8 drill bit. This tool is designed for #8 screws, which have a minor diameter of .123. So I got the stub-length (which is the same length as the supplied cheese-grade bit) #30 drill bits I also reviewed, inserted (snug fit, good for concentricity, which is what you want when counter-sinking!) into the Amana body and appear to be good to go. Spend a little extra $$$ on better drills and you may have a better result. I think the carbide chipped when the original drill bit broke off in my project. That still bothers me, but these are better designed than the vast majority of sleeve-type countersinks that inevitably wobble all over the place when you adjust depth. Three stars for design only, one star originally for cheap included drill bit. On the plus side, with clearance of less than .001 or so, the bits nice and tight in that bore and there is no perceptible wobble - even when adjusting the depth of your hole. Locks up tight as a bank vault.

The mechanism is high quality. The thrust bearing is a little cheap. As it ships, it (may) scuff your wood. This is easily fixed by placing painters tape before drilling. The tape adds enough friction to engage the thrust bearing. Problem solved. The friction bearing may loosen up in time. Aside from that minor problem, it works flawlessly. I would buy it again.

Nice.

First one lasted 3years - not bad at all in my opinion.

A bit pricey, but it does work, It functions as a depth stop. A valuable addition to your tool box for hard woods. you will have to adjust the way you use it on softwoods, simply because it is a softwood.

Very well built

This makes beautiful, repeatable countersinks.