Grid Poster for marking holes on panels way easier

There are a lot of things that are difficult about making your own grid beam and grid kit components. The hardest one being the beam, but with an easy way to get the beams in the mail I’m calling that one sorted at least for people in NZ.

A problem I was having when building a cat friendly bookshelf was drilling a few holes not on the edges of panels. If it’s on the edge it’s easy enough to clamp some grid beam to the edge and drill the holes, It gets harder when you move away from the edge.

I know I could make a file and take it to a CNC router shop, but that takes too long especially when I just need a few holes. What I decided to do was print a A3 poster with the 40mm grid on it so that I could use it and a center punch to mark where my holes needed to be.

After that it was as easy as placing the tip of the drill bit on the center punches and drilling. This solved my problem and meant I didn’t need to wait a week or two for parts to come from the CNC shop. I didn’t have to spend time making a cut file either which I also think is a win.

Because it worked I decided to make a bigger one……

This one is a 1200mm x 800mm grid. A third of a sheet of plywood. I haven’t needed this one yet, but am sure I will when I make the desk I’ve been designing.

I also added lines for 3-4-5 and 5-12-13 triangles, but that’s for a later post.