Drive Screw Hooks
A second hook chucked in the drill that spins screw hooks home.
Slide a Cut Drywall Anchor Onto the Bit as a Depth Stop
Technique: Drywall Anchor as a Drill Depth Stop
The Problem
Drilling to a set depth — a shelf pin, a pocket for a fixing, anything that shouldn't come out the far side — usually gets marked with a wrap of painter's tape around the bit. The tape tells you where to stop, and then you drill past it anyway. Tape has no resistance: it doesn't touch down, it doesn't slow the drill, it just smears along the shank while the bit keeps going.
The Technique
Swap the marker for a physical stop.
- Take a plastic expansion-type drywall anchor — the ribbed conical kind.
- Cut the tip off so it becomes an open sleeve rather than a closed cone.
- Slide it up the drill bit, tapered end trailing, until the length of bit left protruding equals the depth you want.
- Drill. The anchor's shoulder meets the surface of the work and stops the bit dead.
The plastic is stiff enough to arrest a hand drill against the workpiece but soft enough not to mark the surface the way a steel collar would.
Pro tip: Check the fit before you rely on it. The anchor has to grip the shank firmly enough that it can't creep up the bit under pressure — a loose one just slides and hands you the same problem as tape. If it spins freely, go down an anchor size.
Pro tip: Measure the exposed bit from the tip, not the total length of the anchor. What sets your depth is how much bit sticks out past the plastic, and that's the only number worth checking against your mark.
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