The Pilot Hole

As a young man I had no idea about many woodwork, metal work tips because my father was not into being a father. I missed out on a lot of learning about being a man and about general man things like having a home, fixing it up, general carpentry etc. A lot of the content on this web site is to help people who didn't get a firm Life-Learning experience from their parents.

The Pilot Hole, simple, easy to drill, and obvious, was something I didn’t learn about for some time.

I probably got the idea from a magazine, no Internet back then, so no web sites or YouTube and the like.

So for some years I nailed and split wood (with the nail), nailed and screwed in a crooked path, and I just thought that I was making mistakes whenever it happened.

The logic of the Pilot Hole is that a smaller hole is drilled to guide a nail, screw, bigger drill bit, into a work piece like wood to help guide the nail/screw or to stop wood from splitting, the Pilot Hole also makes the going easier.

I tend to find a drill bit that is about the thickness or a bit smaller than the base of the screw and then use that for the pilot hole and the screw still has plenty of thread to bite into the wood and stay firm.

With nails I try to get a smaller drill bit, probably half the size of the nail width and then use that to drill the pilot hole. An advantage here is that the Pilot Hole guides the Nail, and in doing so it helps your Nail go in Straight and Sure, exactly where you want it to go.

If you need the nail to go in on a certain angle then the Pilot Hole can be drilled with accuracy first and the nail will naturally follow the path of less resistance, the place where there is no wood, the long Pilot Hole.

If you have a fat drill bit you can use a smaller drill bit to drill a Pilot Hole that will help guide the fat drill bit along the way. Because the Pilot Hole has removed some of the material, like wood, then when the bigger drill is used there is less resistance for the bigger drill and the bigger hole can be drilled faster and with more ease.

Pilot holes are needed for screwing into the likes of concrete.

If you are near to the edge of some wood and you nail it, it will possibly split ruining your wood, project and all the effort you put into it. A Pilot Hole drilled where you want the screw or nail to go makes the going easier for the nail or screw and limits the risk of splitting the wood.

Some of my Pilot Hole Bits are below.

I have simply used a small drill bit for the job if I don’t have one of the other bits handy.

The four bits on the right below are Pilot Hole Bits and also Countersink Drill Bits.

All the best from

James M Sandbrook.

8th of April, 2021.

Abrev. Advice. Camera. Character. Children. Computing. Crosswords. Driving. Education. Electronics. Fitness/Self Defence.

Garden. Health. House Ideas. How To. Jokes. Kitchen/Cooking. Measure. Mechanics/Machines. Motivation.

Movies. Music. NZ. OOS/RSI. People. Personal Care. Poetry. Projects. Proverbs. Religion. Reviews. Sewing.

Skills/Hobbies. Slang. Stories. Tips. Tools. Whats It Mean? Words. Woodwork.

Countersink Drill Bits