Pros: solid, accurate, and durable
Cons: none
The bottom line: Every well-equipped wood or metal shop should have a drill gauge like the Hanson 12092.
As we guys age, two things happen to us in a natural progression: first, we accumulate more and more tools. Second, our eyesight starts to go. The unfortunate intersection of these two trends happens at the drawer full of drill bits. No lie: it takes a magnifying glass to read the size stamped on those itsy-bitsy twist drills!

When I found myself squinting and carrying bits outside "where there's better light," I knew it was time to give in. No, I didn't get glasses: I got a Hanson Drill Gauge, their model number 12092. Thanks, Irwin, I needed that!


My drill gauge is nothing more than a rectangle of sheet steel about 3"x6" that's been poked full of holes. Those holes are precision-machined, though, and each has the diameter stamped right next to it. The fractional size is stamped to the left of the hole, and the corresponding metric size is stamped below it. The smallest hole is 1/16", the largest is a half inch, and each of the other twenty-seven holes is a sixty-fourth of an inch larger than the previous hole. Oh, and there are a couple of extra holes at the top and bottom edge - you can hang the gauge on one of those so that you don't accidentally enlarge a "working" hole.

Can't read the label on that drill bit you left on the workbench? You can find the size by poking it into the gauge: the smallest hole it'll slide through is the bit size, and the numbers on the gauge are lots bigger than the ones printed on the shank. It's precision, heavy-duty steel made in the good ol' U S of A, too.

Irwin Tool makes this gauge, which is sold under various labels including Irwin, American Tool, and Hanson - they all use the same stock number (12092).


This is top quality and reliability in a compact package, and for just a few bucks - a lot cheaper than a new eyeglasses prescription. Every well-equipped shop should have one.