Shelf Pin Hole Layout Jig

I wanted to adjust the height of the shelves in a cabinet in our laundry room up 32mm but the existing shelf pin holes are spaced 64mm apart. So I made myself a layout template and depth stop to make drilling repeat holes accurate and easy. I had to drill these holes in the cabinets in place. The corner cabinet requires five pins to support each shelf. To ensure they all support the shelf and bear part of the load they need to be at the same elevation.

For my cabinets the shelf pin holes are 6mm in diameter and 5mm deep. The existing holes are 64mm apart and I wanted to raise the shelf half that distance or 32mm. So I crated this simple layout template that has 6mm pins spaced 64mm apart to fit the existing holes and centered between them I placed a 1mm hole so I could use an awl to mark the center of the new pin hole.

To ensure I did not drill through the side of the cabinet I also created a drill stop to limit the depth of my hole to 5mm. The stop is made for use with a Festool Centrotec chuck and 6mm brad point bit. This may or may not work for your situation so check before you use.

I printed both pieces solid in PLA. The layout jig takes about 16 minutes to print, the depth stop about 23 minutes.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Prusa

Printer:

I3 MK3S

Rafts:

No

Supports:

No

Resolution:

.25

Infill:

100%

Filament: Hatchbox PLA 1.75 Silver