Pocket hole poll

[Andrew Hughes]

I’ve used pocket screws to align and hold nearly impossible angles to clamp with glued parts slide. This is very advanced techniques.
Good Luck

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I had a knockoff given to me by a relative. I use it when I find an application that defies my limited abilities.

[Ron Selzer]

have used it, don't care for it

[Rich Engelhardt]

I use them all the time.
So did the Egyptians.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I do not have a Kreg outfit. Years ago I built some attempts at artistic woodworking and used screws hidden in 3/8 holes covered with wood plugs. I received many nice complements on the projects from non carpenters and several "Thats cool but the screws are tacky" from carpenters and furniture makers. One of the "artistic" pieces is coming back to the shop to be refinished. I am trying to come up with a plan to replace the screws with treenails, dominoes, and butterflies. My Face frames are mortis and tenon made with two router tables. Pocket screws have their place. Being humiliated by them was not uplifting for me.

[Kevin Jenness]

Not to offend the fans, but pocket hole joinery has always seemed wrong to me- toe screwing into ends & edges of boards.

A couple of years ago, I thought I should try it & got a set up, but I have still not used it. I'm not a purist & use nails, screws, plugged screws, dowels, biscuits, dominos, m&t, dovetails, splines, etc..

What's your take?

- Love it

- Necessary for production

- Meh

- Say what?

Since you're not a purist, what's keeping you from trying it out? It does work and has for centuries - for locations that are hidden or not required to be pristine.

I was skeptical when I first saw it being used for joinery, but after more than two decades I know it works for a lot of situations. Cabinet face frames for instance: glued and pocket screwed painted butt joints not backed up by a carcass element would soon telegraph any movement, but they perform as well as wood-to wood joints. Pocket screws can save time when attaching face frames to boxes, assembling toe kicks and many other mundane tasks.

I will say that the low angle routed pockets work better than drilled ones in terms of joints shifting during assembly, and in either case the problem can be minimized by clamping the joints endwise while driving the screws. Also, when you refer to "toe screwing into ends & edges of boards", pocket screws into end grain are rarely used for the obvious reason.

[James Jayko]

They've got their place. Most of those mentioned above.

Another place they have: helping people new to building stuff get involved and make something for themselves. Hard to see that as a bad thing; average guy who wants to build himself a coffee table doesn't have a hollow chisel mortiser, jigs, sleds, Festool Domino, copious number of clamps. I think anything that makes it easier for someone to get into making things has a place in the zeitgeist. Case in point: I helped my girlfriend's 10 year old make a tiny trebuchet, and he was able to do 95% of the assembly himself with pocket screws.

[Brian Runau]

May not be for fine furniture but worked great for a fence. kreg sells a 'bigger' version for 2x4 lumber. Was great for attaching the cross pieces to the posts. Beat toe nailing or screwing from the top and bottom of the cross pieces. Made for a very sturdy structure

Attachment 499110Attachment 499109

That's a great idea. Brian

[Michael Burnside]

I purchased the small Castle USA pocket hole router and it eliminated everything I hate about pocket holes. Particularly the shift even when clamping. It is night and day better, really. I also use their screws exclusively.

I don't use pocket screws on any of the fine furniture woods/builds but they are awesome for cabinets, drawer boxes and face frames where you'll never see the joinery holes. I personally don't get peoples distaste for them. It's like they won't draw the line with power tools but they'll dig in when it comes to CNC and pocket holes.

P.S. I have no affiliation with Castle USA

[Paul J Kelly]

Two things to unpack here.

1 - I do not use pocket screws in furniture. I kind of am a purist on that. There are many more elegant solutions for a piece of furniture IMHO.

2 - I use them for face frames and cabinet boxes. I do not like the Kreg system. The often talked about 'shift' is real and a deal breaker for me. I found out about low angle pocket screws about 7-8 years ago and that changed my mind for cabinets and face frames. The "Castle" version works so nice!

I found a Porter Cable production pocket cutter on ebay brand new for $400 and jumped on it. It is a licensed copy of the Castle TSM-12 (or an older version of it) and the difference between a Kreg and the Castle is night and day IMHO.

If I ever have the chance to find a great deal on a used Castle TSM-22 (floor standing and foot pedal operated pneumatically) I will jump on it!

P.S. The castle screws are really nice too. Small head and a torx if you want that (which I do).

P.S.S. I do not have any affiliation with Castle...

PK
PKwoodworking

[Alan Kalker]

Most of the cabinetry I do is of the furniture type so I don't use them. But, if I made kitchen and bathroom cabinets commercially I'm sure I would.

[andrew whicker]

I use them all the time for cabinetry and shop made stuff. I just used it last night to build an extra 4" to 5" of width onto my assembly table. That along with dominos. I just cut some 3/4 ply blocks to use as gussets under the extension. I used pocket holes to screw the gusset on.

As far as 2x4's go, I just keep a brad drill bit or a countersink drill bit handy to pre drill at an angle before using screws. I just did this the other day on a "handyman" / "keep the bills paid" job where I had to build a drop down / fir down for a dryer vent (that I also installed. Learn new things every day ). No special tooling needed.

[Lisa Starr]

I like to use them when assembling cabinetry as it allows me to free up clamps. Most of my carcases are doweled or loose tenoned for alignment purposes. Glue up the cabinet, clamp long enough to drive the screws and move on to the next carcase. I prefer to make sure no pocket holes are visible after install.

[chuck van dyck]

Recently did this big funky banquette. Pocket screws really made the install process doable. This thing is floating on steel and the “wings” were attached last since it went into a tight window bay. Much easier than cauls or straps all things considered.
024E8BA9-F0CB-40E1-A37F-0B4C91A6C326.jpg
Currently building a vanity out of resawn old joists. Will 100% be pocket screwing the drawer shelf frame.
68C24DF5-29EE-49F4-BAFF-51F789EACAA4.jpg

Needless to say I don’t mind em! A little harder to grain match the plugs than a straight screw though.

[andrew whicker]

Can we get photos of this shop? Looks interesting

Recently did this big funky banquette. Pocket screws really made the install process doable. This thing is floating on steel and the “wings” were attached last since it went into a tight window bay. Much easier than cauls or straps all things considered.

Currently building a vanity out of resawn old joists. Will 100% be pocket screwing the drawer shelf frame.
68C24DF5-29EE-49F4-BAFF-51F789EACAA4.jpg