We manufactures countersinks with one, four and six flutes, carbide and high speed steel, countersinks with pilots and drill points, heavy duty tools and specials. Sizes range from 1/8" to three inches, and almost any centerline angle can be specified. These standard tools will handle at least 99% of all countersinking applications ... And we can build specials to satisfy any other need. The object is a correct tool for every application.

Carbide or Steel?
When machining hard or abrasive materials, carbide countersinks will often give 10 or more times the service life of high speed steel tools. Carbide also costs anywhere from 1.5 to 4.5 times more than steel. As a rule of thumb, consider carbide for production operations with cast iron, alloy steel or glassreinforced plastics. High Speed steel is generally more economical in low carbon steel and non-ferrous machining applications. In automated production operations, the cost of changing a tool can exceed the cost of the tool. Consider long-running carbide in such situations.

1,4 or 6 Flutes?
In general, a six-fluted countersink will remove more material per revolution than will a four-flute or single-flute tool. While the single-flute countersink is slow-cutting, it will work well in a non-rigid machining setup. Four flutes provide more chip clearance than six. This is a consideration in machining stringy materials such as some plastics and non-ferrous alloys. Other factors being equal, the six flute countersink will give more service life than the four-flute tool because the cutting load is distributed over more edges.