Tool Hack: Using a Counter Sink

Here’s a tool hack that I promise will save you time and make your projects better. Or at least less frustrating. OK, maybe I don’t promise because I don’t know you. What I do promise is that it saves me time. All the time.

It falls into this category, that I’m the first one in history to make up: ‘Looking for tools so you can work isn’t working. It’s looking for tools. Working, on the other hand, is working’. Circle-R, people. Circle-R.

Step 1: First Thing.

You need a countersink. From decks to bathroom framing to making a workbench to hanging a door, a countersink minimizes wood splits near the ends of boards. I use mine constantly: Drilling pilot holes for hinge screws or jig-less pocket holes for butt joints in anything from trim to jigs.

Step 2: Second Thing

You must be able to find your countersink. It’s like a car: Having one is good. But if you can’t find it, it’s the same as not having one.

Since my countersink is only about 2-inches long, it’s born to be lost, either buried forever in the pencil sleeve of my tool pouch or rolling around in the archeological dig most toolboxes are.

Step 3: Third Thing

This tool hack. It can be represented as an equation:

Magnetic bit holder + countersink with a ¼-inch hex shank in the presence of duct tape >>> Tool hack

Step 4: The Steps

A bit holder between 1 ½ and 3-inches works. You probably have one floating around somewhere.

Rip the duct tape in half and pay out a few inches. Tightly wrap the union between the holder and the shank of the countersink. Don’t tape over the countersink’s set-screw. You’ll need to get at that to change the bit at some point. Tool Hack-ed. Your countersink is now easier to find, no matter where you keep it. For the record, mine rides shotgun with me in my tool pouch. I can find it without even looking. How’s that for saving time?