Every once in a while I come up with an idea for a jig, or a one-time use tool, and want to make it from a block of wood. Instead of doing a bunch of setup work, to set it up on my drill press, I just put the block of wood against a convenient waste surface (or lay it across the top of a bucket, to catch the chips. and drop a CD over where I want the hole.
Someone posted this on a site I just came across, so I did a copy/paste. HE says to use old scratched ones – I can never find those when I want them, but considering the price, it is just as easy to simply grab a new blank one off the stack next to my computer, and let it happen.
Fine ‘tune’ drill bit angle using a CD
To drill perpendicular holes with a handheld drill, here’s an inexpensive solution. Grab a compact disc (scratched ones that won’t play work just fine for this) and center it on the hole mark. As you drill the hole, watch the reflection in the CD—keep the bit in a straight line with its reflection for a perpendicular hole every time.
—Robert Heil, Wheeling, W.Va.
