How to Drill a Pilot hole

Drilling countersink, pilot hole and clearance holes

Drilling a pilot hole and a clearance hole is essential during carpentry work in order to prevent splitting the workpiece, especially when working with hardwoods or near the edge of the timber. A clearance hole also ensures the two materials are pulled up tight when they're screwed together. Otherwise, as you wind the screw in a gap can develop in between that doesn't get closed up - no matter how far in you bury the screwhead! And a countersink bit cuts a notch for the screwhead to sit into - again, to prevent splitting. A countersink hole also means the screw can be filled over ready for decorating.

The two holes (pilot and clearance) are different and do a completely different job to each other when you're screwing two pieces of timber together, or timber to a wall for example.

To save time drilling all those holes when i'm working I use flip drivers. Flip drivers go in the end of your battery drill and hold a screwdriver bit like a pozi-2. There is a quick release mechanism that releases the bit holder and you can flip it round and use the pilot, clearance and countersink bit on the other side - all in one. They save loads of time not having to keep undoing the chuck and swapping the bits over which adds up when you have a lot of timber to fix.

You can also buy sets of quick release drill bits and bit holders that save the time of having to undo the chuck when you want to change drill bits.

To hide large screw holes in finished workpieces I use wooden pellets inserted the same direction as the grain and cut out of offcuts of the timber I'm filling.

Click here to see a list of the screws, nails and other fixings I use for finish carpentry.

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