Today I'm sharing a legendary shop secret that I use at least a few times a week. I forget who and where I attained this golden tip, but I know it's used around the world. My hunch is that an inventive Mexican thought of this;)
Whenever there is a need to drill a certain depth you can either use the (guessing) force or go out an buy a drill press. Here's and ingeniously cheap solution that only requires a slice of tape.
In my case here, I needed this 2 1/2 inch screw to pop our of this block only 1/2 inch.
Rip off about a 3-4 inch piece of tape. Any masking tape over 1" thick works wonders. Then, apply it to the drill bit at the depth you need the drilling to be "stopped". In my case it is @ 1/2 an inch from the tip.
Wrap it around once...
Make the flap by folding the table on itself....
Here you have it. Now you have a temporary depth gauge that also serves as a sawdust fan so you can better see the work. Here it is in action...
The bit is only going in at 1/2 an inch and all the dust is blown to smithereens. Making it even easier to see when to stop.
Know I can drill into this bed frame without worrying about the screws poking out the side.
Hope you enjoyed this secret. I'll be sharing many more. Some by me and others by 'others'. I credit sources when I can, but in cases like this I will credit El Carpintero Mysterioso the Johnny Appleseed of great shop ideas worldwide.
Mucho Secretos to come...
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