I mentioned a specific tool in yesterday's post about our grand closet reveal that I've also mentioned a few times before on various other projects. In fact, this particular tool has been so useful that it's been a key element in the success of our office desk, kitchen shoe storage, and bedroom closet projects. Though it's been extremely useful on those projects, they surely aren't the last places where I'll be using it. The tool? My shelf support jig with self centering and depth limited drill bits. 

This simple but effective jig is one that I hemmed and hawed about buying for the longest time but finally decided to go for it in a fit of impulsion one evening. Using my "one new tool for every project" justification I knew we needed adjustable shelves for our office desk, so I picked up this simple little wonder several years ago. I knew I wanted to do adjustable shelves in the right hand office desk cabinet, but I didn't have any good tools to drill the holes or make supports. Though there are several different types of shelf supports you can buy, my favorite and the cleanest looking style (in my opinion) are the peg style metal shelf supports. The only problem, in order for this type of a shelf support to work you need completely consistent and predictable hole locations.

There's no better way to get consistent and predictable in the woodworking world than through the use of a jig. Though I may have been able to build my own using plywood and a lot of time, I picked the jig up from the online woodworking superstore, Rockler, and boy am I glad I did. The jig is clear plastic with clearly marked measurements and two rows of perfectly consistent hole locations, and the price was extremely reasonable at under $30 for the kit. 

The jig is constructed as two primary pieces, the clear plastic area for drilling the supports, and a detachable side piece. The side piece to the jig that acts as a boundary for the against the edge of the wood you're drilling, so you don't even have to clamp it in place if you have a good and predictable edge to rest it against. The other thing that's cool about this side support is that is acts as a small container that holds the drill bits. This way you're never hunting around for the bits when you need them.

Beyond the drilling holes throughout the field of the jig, there's a smaller hole at the top and bottom of each row of holes that allows you to place a drill bit or shelf support through the hole and into the wood you're drilling. This hole enables you to properly space the jig if you need to drill more holes than the jig can accommodate in a single pass, or to set the initial holes based on the top of the piece, as I did in the photo above.