Counterbore is a process used in manufacturing to hide fasteners by creating a larger cylindrical cavity at the mouth of a pre-drilled hole. This can be done with a specialized drill bit and can be used to completely conceal the fastener or accommodate a socket wrench.
In manufacturing, it is often desirable to hide the fasteners used in the joining process. One way to do this is to use a counterbore. Counterbore can mean the process of creating the cavity, the specific tool used to create the cavity, or it can be used in reference to the cavity itself. The recess is typically designed to conceal the entire shaft of the fastener, as well as the head of the fastener. Countersinking is similar to countersinking, the main difference being that a countersink cavity is cylindrical in nature rather than the conical results obtained with countersinking.
As a process, counterbore creates a cylindrical cavity of larger diameter at the mouth of a pre-drilled hole. The pre-drilled hole is established to align the fastener and prevent the workpiece from snapping when two flat planes are joined together. This larger recess is created to be at least the width and depth of the intended fastener head, and is referred to as the counterbore.
When counterbore refers to a tool, it is typically a specialized drill bit that is used to create the pre-drilled hole and the larger diameter cavity simultaneously. The fastener is usually a flat-bottom screw, such as a flat or button head screw. A counterbore tool typically has two cutting radii: one for the pre-drilled hole and one that creates the recessed cavity in the workpiece.
The use of spot faces provides the opportunity to completely conceal a fastener during the joining process. The fastener sits below or flush with the surface of the workpiece so as not to obstruct the design. In woodworking, a greater depth of counterbore beyond the thickness of the fastener head can allow room to drive a wooden dowel into the remaining space, thereby completely hiding the fastener and providing a continuous wood surface. The counterbores may also be drilled to larger diameters than necessary to accommodate the head of the fastener in situations where space for a socket wrench is desirable to facilitate assembly.
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