Ever since Craig Sommerfield brought the first practical pocket hole drilling jig to market back in 1990, woodworkers have been turning to these fast and convenient joints for projects. And, if you listen to the marketing folks at Kreg Tools and other jig manufacturers, it would appear that you could build an entire set of kitchen cabinets in mere hours.
While the joints are easy to make and quick to assemble, many woodworkers question just how effective they truly are. This week, what do you think about pocket screw joints?
[poll id=”127″]
Good for shop furniture, only!
You can’t beat’em for face framing.
But they’ll never replace mortise & tenon for traditional cabinetry.
Thanks Tom.
Most of my projects are as metal-free as possible. Which means in situations where others might reach for the Kreg kit, I’m more likely to go for the biscuit saw.
Eric R: “You can’t beat’em for face framing.” You are right on!
You also can’t compete without them. I would rather be metal free and only use m&t joints, but I need to eat.
The problem is this, if you really do not clamp the s___out of the joints they tend to ride up which is because the angle of entry is too high. Porta-cable used to make a machine which is now made by another company for $1000 that uses two routers to make the cuts and the angle is lower and the joints will not ride up. For the manual machines they all have the same flaw in that the angle of entry is too high. We all know this from our experience. I even got a Klamp table and the same thing still happens but at least you have more control. You can get the Klamp table strips and add them to a table saw extension table and get a clamp station for cheap – add a router insert and you are all set. I just take the klamp table top and bring it over to my extension table and use it there.