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.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguari...ream/lightbox/

But, 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.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguari...ream/lightbox/