The Anti-Mess Drill Dust Catcher V2

This handy 3D printed tool is the successor to the Anti-Mess Drill Dust Catcher that I only created about a week ago. I wanted a version that would also work when drilling into a ceiling. It utilizes replaceable drill bit bushings in different sizes that help guide the bit perpendicular to the surface, as well as keep most of the dust inside the dust catcher. Of course, you can also use this for drilling into walls, but if that's all you need, my older version works well for that.

 

The eight smaller drill bit bushings have an integrated cone shape to allow for a little extra clearance, since smaller bits tend to also be shorter. You can print the whole set of bushings, or just the ones you think you'll need. The sizes included are 4mm to 20mm in 1mm increments. I didn't use any XY hole compensation, so the actual printed sizes of the holes were a little smaller than the modeled diameter. Having exact sizes isn't important, since you need to have some clearance between the bit and bushing anyway. You wouldn't want to melt the bushings with friction from the bit being too tight.

 

For drilling into walls, you can use the large cutout plate to allow you to see inside the tool to line up your drill bit with a mark. For drilling into a ceiling, since you can't see through the tool, you'll need to mark some lines on masking tape first. It's easier to use the marking method shown in my video, but you can also mark two perpendicular lines on two pieces of tape to mark the hole location. Select a bushing that is slightly larger than the drill bit, install it on the handle, line up the tool to the marks, then drill. This tool won't catch all of the dust, but in my testing it caught at least 80% of it.

 

 

Pro Tip: If you're going to be drilling a lot of holes in a ceiling, and don't want to put up a bunch of tape and mark it, there's a quicker way. Provided the drill bit you're using is long enough, you can poke it through the dust catcher, line the bit up with a small mark on the ceiling, apply pressure to the bit to keep it in place, then push the dust catcher up to the ceiling, and finally drill the hole. This won't work if the drill bit is too short, but it might save you some time.

 

Boost MeAw man, aw geez, I worked pretty hard on this one.