Countersink bit set buying guide
Updated: 23 October 2026
You open amazon.co.uk, type a countersink, and the first screen mixes a three-piece chamfer at about £5 with a twelve-piece pilot set at £17.99. Both are labelled countersink bits. They do not do the same job. This countersink bit set buying guide is the decision order: the shape of the tool, then the size language on the box, then the shank and the steel, then whether the extra pieces are useful. Prices, angles and review counts for the twelve listings sit on the [countersink comparison](/hub/drilling-and-accessories/countersink). The Products Compared editorial team read those amazon.co.uk listings on 20 October 2026. There is no lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You open amazon.co.uk, type a countersink, and the first screen mixes a three-piece chamfer at about £5 with a twelve-piece pilot set at £17.99. Both are labelled countersink bits. They do not do the same job.
You open amazon.co.uk, type a countersink, and the first screen mixes a three-piece chamfer at about £5 with a twelve-piece pilot set at £17.99. Both are labelled countersink bits. They do not do the same job. This countersink bit set buying guide is the decision order: the shape of the tool, then the size language on the box, then the shank and the steel, then whether the extra pieces are useful. Prices, angles and review counts for the twelve listings sit on the countersink comparison. The Products Compared editorial team read those amazon.co.uk listings on 20 October 2026. There is no lab test. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | What it does | Sizes on the box | Shank | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Makita Makita D-73455 4-piece set | Pilot and seat, short screws | No. 6–12, pilots 3–6 mm | 1/4 inch hex | 9.0 | about £7.92 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Gasea Gasea 3-piece 90° countersink | Chamfer only, hole already drilled | 12, 16 and 19 mm | 1/4 inch hex | 8.8 | about £4.99 | View offer |
 EZARC EZARC 12-piece countersink set | Pilot and 82° seat | No. 4–12, pilots 2–3.6 mm | 1/4 inch hex | 8.6 | about £17.99 | View offer |
On this page
Two tools share one name
A plain chamfer is a cone you drop into a hole you have already drilled. In this comparison that family is the Gasea, Torveen and YXIING sets at 12, 16 and 19 mm, plus the single ATOPLEE cutter and the ColumPRO inch set. None of them includes a pilot. You still need a twist drill that matches the screw, and you still have to keep the cone centred on that hole. Gasea, listed at £4.99 with 4.4 from 1,122 reviews, is the clearest example: five flutes, a 1/4 inch hex, and a listing that says the bits are not for high-hardness metal. A combination bit drills the pilot and cuts the seat in the same pass. Makita’s D-73455, the EZARC 12-piece and 25-piece kits, LIBRATON, NORTOOLS, Fentar and TMBMLPP are that family. The pilot is small on purpose. A Makita reviewer found the size marked 6 mm drilled about 4 mm, which suits a wood screw cutting its own thread, not a 6 mm clearance hole. If the pilot is already in the timber, a £4 to £7 chamfer is the tool. If you are about to put twenty screws into a cabinet, a combination set in the £8 to £18 band is the tool. Piece count does not settle that. Angle is a separate decision, and it is the whole of the 82 or 90 degree countersink page.
Sizes in millimetres are not screw gauges
The 12, 16 and 19 mm figures are the diameter of the cone, not the screw gauge and not the pilot. Westfield Fasteners’ DIN 97 table gives a 4 mm wood screw a nominal head of about 7.5 mm. A 12 mm chamfer is already wider than that head. It will still seat a No. 8 if you stop when the head is flush, and it will crater the face if you keep the drill running. Gauge sets speak a different language. EZARC’s 12-piece listing pairs No. 4 with a 2 mm pilot, then 2.4 mm, 2.8 mm, 3.2 mm and 3.6 mm through to No. 12. Buyers who read those gauge numbers as large millimetre drills found the set smaller than they expected. Makita starts at No. 6, with stated pilots of 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm and 6 mm. TMBMLPP skips the gauge labels and prints pilots of 2.8 mm to 4.0 mm. Those are combination pilots. They are not interchangeable with a 16 mm chamfer. Hold the screw you will actually use. If the box only says No. 8, look for the pilot diameter in millimetres on the same page. If that line is missing, you are guessing.
Shank, steel and the hardness warning
Almost every set in this comparison uses a 1/4 inch hex, which a cordless drill chucks without an adaptor. That is the Gasea, Torveen, Makita, EZARC, LIBRATON, NORTOOLS, Fentar and TMBMLPP pattern. YXIING puts 1/4 inch in the title and does not confirm the shank in the spec table, so check the photos before you assume a quick-change fit. One EZARC reviewer expected the hex to click into a Trend Snappy chuck. It did not. A hex that clamps in a drill is not the same as a quick-release collar. ATOPLEE is a single HSS 4241 cutter, 10–15 mm, with a 10 mm round shank, listed at £7.99. The page says hand drills are not allowed and names drilling machines, table drills, machining centres and milling machines. The hardness note limits it to softer stock, thin iron plate, insulating plate and PVC. Reviews split: a clean cut in wood and in 10 mm aluminium for some buyers, and an edge gone after one lubricated pass in metal for others. HSS 4241 on that listing is not a stainless-steel countersink. ColumPRO, at £23.99, claims M35 with 5% cobalt. There is no star line, so the cobalt line is a listing claim, not a result. Fentar’s bullets say titanium-coated HSS and the spec table says high-carbon steel. Do not pick one of those sentences and ignore the other.
What the extra pieces are for
Entry prices in this batch run about £4 to £10, the mid band about £12 to £18, and the kits about £24 to £32. The jump is mostly accessories. Spare pilots matter when the small drill snaps, which Makita and EZARC reviews both describe. A hex key matters when depth is a grub screw, which is how the EZARC and TMBMLPP sets are adjusted. A case matters when five loose hex shanks live in a toolbox. Gasea arrives in bags. Makita has an L-wrench and no case. Those are honest cheap sets, not incomplete accidents, as long as you expected that. Plug cutters, depth collars and screwdriver bits are a different purchase. LIBRATON at £29.99, NORTOOLS at £26.99, Fentar at £11.99 and the EZARC 25-piece kit at £31.97 all add some of that. LIBRATON’s listing says the plug cutters are best in a bench drill. Fentar reviews include a 6 mm cutter that made 4 mm plugs. NORTOOLS has nine reviews, so the case looks complete and the evidence is thin. LIBRATON reviews note a Phillips-style bit that slipped. Buy the cone or the combination bit that matches the hole. Add plugs only if you will cut them on a pillar drill and you will test the diameter on scrap.
Common questions
Is a countersink the same as a countersink drill bit?
On these listings the words cover two tools. A plain countersink only cuts the cone in a hole you have drilled. A countersink drill bit, in the combination sets, carries a small pilot and cuts the seat in the same pass. Gasea is the first type. Makita and the EZARC 12-piece set are the second. The title alone does not tell you which you are holding.
Do I need 12, 16 and 19 mm, or No. 6 to No. 12?
You need 12, 16 and 19 mm when you already have the pilot and you want a chamfer wider than a typical No. 8 head, which is about 7.5 mm on a 4 mm wood screw. You need No. 6 to No. 12 when you want the pilot drilled with the cone. A 12 mm cone does not give you a No. 12 pilot, and a No. 8 bit does not give you an 8 mm hole.
Will a 1/4 inch hex fit my cordless drill?
Yes for a normal three-jaw chuck or a 1/4 inch bit holder. That is how most of these sets are described. It does not mean the shank will click into every quick-change system. One UK review of the EZARC 12-piece set says the bits would not clip into a Trend Snappy chuck. ATOPLEE uses a 10 mm round shank and the listing forbids hand drills.
Is HSS 4241 enough for steel?
On the ATOPLEE listing, HSS 4241 is limited to softer stock, thin iron plate, insulating plate and PVC. Reviews include a decent finish in 10 mm aluminium and an edge that died after one lubricated cut in metal. It is not a reason to attack stainless. ColumPRO’s M35 claim has no reviews in this comparison, so it is not evidence either.
Why do sets include screwdriver bits and plug cutters?
They raise the piece count and the price. A plug cutter hides the head if the plug matches the hole and you cut it on a bench drill, which is what the LIBRATON listing recommends. A driver bit only helps if the drive matches your screws. LIBRATON reviews complain there is no Pozidriv bit. If you will not plug holes, you are paying for tools you will leave in the case.
What if the listing says hand drills are not allowed?
Believe it. ATOPLEE states that limit and points you at a drilling machine, a table drill, a machining centre or a milling machine. A 10 mm round shank is a poor match for a quick-change cordless chuck anyway. The hex-shank sets in this comparison are the ones written for a hand drill. Do not move a machine-only cutter into a pistol drill because the price looks similar.
How much should I spend before the extras stop helping?
About £4 to £10 covers a plain chamfer or a small branded combination set such as the Makita at £7.92. About £12 to £18 covers a cased combination set with spare pilots, which is the EZARC 12-piece at £17.99. Above about £24 you are mostly buying plug cutters, collars and driver bits. Those extras help only if you will use them and the diameters match.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file.
- HSE PUWER overview (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- HSE L114, Safe use of woodworking machinery (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- HSE WIS23, Wood dust (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- HSE EH44, Dust and eye protection (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- Fastenerdata: screw heads (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- ISO 10642:2026 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
- BSI: BS EN ISO 10642:2019 (retrieved 22 October 2026)