Tried using painters tape to mark my drill bit depth.

Was drilling shelf brackets into tile last Saturday and kept going too deep. Stuck a strip of blue tape on the bit as a depth marker, worked perfect for all 12 holes. Anybody else got a one-tape trick that saved a project?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.nathan19d ago

I once tried marking a drill bit with a piece of duct tape, but it slipped halfway through and I ended up drilling through a pipe instead. That little blue tape trick sounds way smarter than my usual "just eyeball it" approach, which has ruined at least three projects. Guess I'm still learning the basics of tape placement.

charles_henderson19d ago

Blue tape on a drill bit is one of those tricks that feels almost too simple to work, but it's a total lifesaver once you try it. For anyone worried about slipping, try wrapping the tape around the bit twice and pressing the edge down firm with your thumbnail before you start drilling. That double wrap keeps it from sliding even when the bit gets hot from friction. Another idea for tile specifically is to use a thin strip of masking tape flat on the tile surface itself as a guide for where each hole should sit, so you don't have to keep checking measurements. Combining both tape tricks together makes the whole job go twice as fast with no guesswork. Once you start sticking tape on everything you'll wonder why you ever tried to freehand it.