How does the Kreg drilling guide work?

This post is going to tell you all about the Kreg Drilling Guide and how it works. We’ll give our review and see if you need one!

Back in March 2022, Kreg Tool came out with a new line of products and we were one of the first people to get our hands on them and give them a try.

One of those cool new products was the Kreg Drilling Guide. The Kreg Drilling Guide is a portable drill guide that works as a mini drill press, helping you to drill perfectly straight holes into wood.

We’ve been using this product for a while now and wanted to show how it works and give you a full review to see if you need to add one to your shop.

Kreg Drilling Guide review

Whenever you’re doing woodworking and you need to drill a hole into a board with a standard drill, you have to keep it perfectly straight. There’s a little wiggle room, but if you’re drilling a deep hole, you need it to be perfectly straight.

I messed this up a few times when I was drilling deep holes for floating shelf brackets on our hardwood mantel on our fireplace. I don’t have a drill press, so I lined up the drill as best I could, but it didn’t stay straight for 6″ into the wood.

That’s where the Kreg Drilling Guide comes into play. It helps you drill perfectly straight holes every time. It’s really small and compact, making it a great tool to have in your shop.

What is the Kreg Drill Guide?

The Kreg Drilling Guide helps you drill straight, accurate holes without a drill press. If you only have a handheld drill like most people, this is very handy.

The Kreg Drill guide is about 6″ long and has holes for 1/8″, 3/16″, 1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″ and 1/2″ drill bits to fit into. This makes it compatible with all those drill sizes.

One the bottom of the Drilling Guide, there are grooves notched out for 1/2″ and 3/4″ thick wood, so you can easily fit it over the edge of these thicknesses of wood.

It also has their GripMaxx pad on the bottom, keeping the guide from sliding around and meaning you don’t need to use a clamp to keep it in place.

How Kreg Drilling Guide works

The Kreg Drilling Guide works by fitting over the edge of 1/2″ or 3/4″ wood or by aligning the base over where you need to drill a hole anywhere on a board.

With the Kreg Drilling Guide in place, you gain about an inch of guide to help ensure your drill bit is driving into the wood straight.

The guide holes are made of hardened steel, just like the inside of the pocket hole jigs, meaning your drill bit won’t tear out the holes.

When you have aligned the guide for the drill bit width you need, you simple hold it in place and insert your drill bit into the hole. Get the drill firing and press down, getting a perfectly straight hole.

The guide is enough to hold your drill straight and level with the wood, giving you accurate holes each time.

Is the Kreg Drilling Guide worth it?

The Kreg Drilling Guide is a very handy tool to have in your shop and at a price point under $10, you really can’t beat it. If you are someone who does woodworking in your garage as a hobby and has no intention of getting a drill press, the Kreg Drilling Guide is absolutely worth it.

Grab a Kreg Drilling Guide and keep it handy for whenever you’re doing your next woodworking project!

Before you go…

Make sure you check out some of our other Kreg Tool product reviews!

• Kreg 520 Pocket Hole Jig review
• Kreg Straight Edge Guide review