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TIL a $25 countersink bit beats pilot holes for cabinet hinges, and I wasted a whole Saturday before finding out
I hung 11 cabinet doors in my kitchen on Saturday using just pilot holes and a drill, and 4 of them split right at the screw line. Went to the hardware store Sunday morning and the guy there asked what bit I was using, and when I said none he just looked at me. Picked up a countersink bit for $25 and redid the whole thing in about 2 hours with zero splits. I was sure pilot holes alone were enough because that's how my dad always did it, but the screws kept riding up and blowing out the face frame. The bit makes a clean little cone so the screw sits flush every time, no fighting it. Anyone else get humbled by a bit that costs less than lunch?
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singh.blair7h ago
My buddy Dave split six doors in his garage before a $30 bit fixed everything.
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anna_green487h ago
Six doors is a lot of money down the drain. Dave learned the hard way that the cheap bit is never really cheap. @singh.blair is right about the $30 fix but it goes deeper than that. A dull bit doesn't just ruin the cut, it heats up the wood and burns the edges so you end up sanding way more than you should. I watched a guy at the shop in Dayton wreck a whole batch of cabinet fronts because he kept pushing a spent bit instead of stopping. The bit tells you when it's done, you just have to listen to the sound and watch the chips. Spend the money once and your doors come out clean every time.
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