It's always a puzzle

[Greg Guarino]

More news for the novice end of the bell curve.

I built a couple of platforms today that will support some older Ikea "cubbyhole" bookcases. They came with what Ikea calls "plinths", but they were very thin, and I never liked them. Plus, a few weeks ago we had some minor water damage, which made the already unfavored "plinths" a little worse.

With my recent discovery of Kreg joinery, I figured this to be a short afternoon project. I was effectively making two "ladder" assemblies that would lay flat under the cubbies. I cut the long pieces to length, and then the ten crosspieces. Each unit would be 13" deep. (remember that measurement) Forty Kreg holes later (who was it here that laughed when I said I'd never run through the box of screws I bought?) I was ready for assembly.

it turned out that out the drill plus the square-drive bit were longer than the 11.5" space between the long slats. I probably have a shorter bit somewhere, but the geometry seems to demand either a long bit or a drill with a very small diameter chuck.

My solution was an angle attachment I bought for some previous home- repair debacle. It looks clumsy as hell, and it was until I worked out a good way to hold the drill and the attachment. But before long it became a comfortable and efficient method. So much so that this particular "couple-hour" project actually took a couple of hours.

[-MIKE-]

You missed out... that gave you a great excuse to spring for one of these... :-)

[Greg Guarino]

Should of course have been "news *from* the novice end..."

[cedarsonny]

Flexible screw driver extension works, also:

[Swingman]

batteries on both my Makita impact driver and drill once a month whether they need it or not.

Shhhhh, but not so loud .... Leon might hear and post a video on driving Kreg screws in close quarters with a Festool. ;)

[Han]

Greg Guarino wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I have a very clunky right angle attachment that I have never worked out the tricks for. What exactly is yours? My googling doesn't come up with anything like you are showing ...

[Doug Miller]

Greg Guarino wrote in news:83c07c72-2558-422b-bd10- [e-mail]:

[...]

I solved a similar problem a few years ago by buying this right-angle drill:

drill has good torque and it's not very heavy -- but the battery life sucks.

[Dave]

I use this for driving screws in tight areas.

[Casper]

And I picked up this to solve my screw issues...

`Casper

[Greg Guarino]

That is in fact the one I used, minus the removable "wing" attachment. In my limited experience, I've found that it is sometimes useful and sometimes an impediment. In this application, it was the latter.

[Greg Guarino]

[e-mail]:

Someone else posted the link:

'll notice that the one in my photos is missing a piece, an "angel's wing" shaped attachment that helps you grip the head and keep it from twisting. It's made such that it can be attached at different "rotations", or removed entirely. For this job, I found it was better to leave it off.

[Greg Guarino]

I have one of those also, and it has been very handy. But the fixed angle of the one I used makes it easier to keep some pressure on the bit. For this application, that made it the more convenient choice, at least for me.

[Zz Yzx]

How do you get by with so few screwdrivers?

[Han]

Greg Guarino wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks, Greg!!!

[Greg Guarino]

The better question might be, "Why do you need any screwdrivers at all?". Since the advent of cordless drills, my screwdrivers have lain fallow a good part of the time. But not to worry, I have a bunch more in my various portable tool kits as well.

[Leon]

Ha Ha ha!

[Larry Jaques]

I didn't need to the whole of last winter. The lithiums kept their charge extremely well. My Ryobi LIons didn't, though. And the old HF nicads were dead every month. I got $25 for the set, about $4 less than I paid. I love Craigslist.

Yes, shhhhh!

-- You never hear anyone say, 'Yeah, but it's a dry cold.' -- Charles A. Budreau

[Larry Jaques]

 >>> Sonny

That's one of the beauties of square drive screws. One doesn't _have_ to keep much pressure on the bit.

-- Energy and persistence alter all things. --Benjamin Franklin

[WW]

More news for the novice end of the bell curve.

I built a couple of platforms today that will support some older Ikea "cubbyhole" bookcases. They came with what Ikea calls "plinths", but they were very thin, and I never liked them. Plus, a few weeks ago we had some minor water damage, which made the already unfavored "plinths" a little worse.

With my recent discovery of Kreg joinery, I figured this to be a short afternoon project. I was effectively making two "ladder" assemblies that would lay flat under the cubbies. I cut the long pieces to length, and then the ten crosspieces. Each unit would be 13" deep. (remember that measurement) Forty Kreg holes later (who was it here that laughed when I said I'd never run through the box of screws I bought?) I was ready for assembly.

it turned out that out the drill plus the square-drive bit were longer than the 11.5" space between the long slats. I probably have a shorter bit somewhere, but the geometry seems to demand either a long bit or a drill with a very small diameter chuck.

My solution was an angle attachment I bought for some previous home- repair debacle. It looks clumsy as hell, and it was until I worked out a good way to hold the drill and the attachment. But before long it became a comfortable and efficient method. So much so that this particular "couple-hour" project actually took a couple of hours.

have needed my angle attachment many times. Sure got me out of a problem job. WW

[joeljcarver]

But then again, you could (horrors!) screw then in by hand.