Harbor Freight Pocket Hole Jig

[Dennis Lopeman]

I got this jig about a month ago. That thing is ACTUALLY quite nice! I have not used a Kreg one, but I don't think I even need to bother. It was about $30... and made of aluminum, I think. Very solid. I love the adjustable hole spread thing. Made great pockets in cherry. The screws seem like they suck, but I used them up anyway.

Last week I bought the Kreg drill bit for it. It FITS!! and drill bit looked almost identical to the HF one - maybe they are obtained from the same place? Will probably use the Kreg screws too - or similar...

I would get one of these jigs NOW if I were yous! Before China starts making them crappier as they seem to do on items that start selling well...

[Kurt Cady]

How'd you get it for $30? I see it for $70

[Dennis Lopeman]

OOoooh - wow - you're right!!!

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-pocket-hole-jig-kit-96264.html

Maybe it was a sale day!! Oh - I remember now! One of the ladies that works there has known us for years. SHe slipped me a 20% off item coupon. Then there musta been another 10% off weekend or something... somehow I chewed it down to $30! Well... however you do it, it is a great buy (IMO) and sure beats the $100+ tags on Kreg stuff that's made of plastic. Of course, I don't get a purty little plastic carry box, though! :mad: I kept the cardboard box - maybe I'll throw a quick little wood box together from scraps for it!

[Josiah Bartlett]

HF has upgraded some of their items and raised the prices recently. I think the pocket hole jig and the OSS are a couple of their gems.

[Dennis Lopeman]

Yes - a gem!

I like the orange rubber dead mallet! LOL - how can you screw that up!?

I don't trust their motors. Even the hammers are make of some kind of crappy metal that bends/mars/indents real easily. Don't EVEN waste your money on their cheap nail counter sinks!! I hit ONE SINGLE nail, and the counter bores point flattened like it was made of lead! It proly was, actually!

They do have that dovetail jig this is pretty much a rockler... and the spray station that is the rockler one, too, I think... I'm still eyeballing it!

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Nice looking unit.. All aluminum?

[Jim Bulger]

And yet another lurker speaks up !! Try this H F coupon site for a printable 20% coupon and free flashlight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/americanhunter and you don't have to kill anything to use it !!!!:)

[Jim Heffner]

I bought one of those same jigs a month or so ago as well. I like it so far...
no problems, really like the idea that the holes can be spaced any needed
distance apart. I went and bought the Kreg pocket hole screw assortment
from Lowe's for around $29.00...I think they will be a better choice than the screws that came with the jig. I really like using square recess head screws,
kinda tired of Phillips screws....the heads are too soft for most things, that is the reason I started using deck/drywall screws anyway.

If anyone is contemplating a pocket hole jig purchase....they should give this one a serious look and see, before buying a more expensive one, this tool
should fill the bill nicely for anyone's use. The only drawback to using the HF
stepdrill bit is the instructions ...not too clear about setting the depth stop
collar. I adjusted mine by using a nickel as a gauge, works well and the pocket holes are bored right on depth each and every time.

[Dennis Lopeman]

All Aluminum (or some metal - those Chinese could be smelting their refuse into the metals for all I know!!!)

[Dennis Lopeman]

YES - the adjustable hole spacing is REAL nice... so the Kreg doesn't have that? hmmmm.

Setting the stops on the bit is really just trial and error. Use a scrap piece. Once set, I suppose I don't need to change it.

I also like the second set of holes for wider stock!! Does the Kreg have that?

[Dennis Lopeman]

I was just thinking - is you wanna figure out how to use it... go watch the KREG videos!! LOL - that actually what I did previously when I was thinking about getting the KREG. Then I found this one - took it out of the box and inspected... saw that it was rather solid and bought it. Especially since HF is very cool about returns - I could use it for a year and then return it - they don't care!

True about the screws... theirs are crap - and IMO they did even need to include them! I think they did it cuz Kreg has their sample packs in a their box. The drill bits used on the KREG are a perfect match and work on the HF version, BTW. Think I mentioned that. The bits are almost identical - cuz I purchased a KREG bit just to see... plus I'm sure I'll use it!

This is certainly a quality HF product. Do we have a HF Quality Product Alert thread? LOL

[Johnnyy Johnson]

I got the HF Jig about a year ago. Not used my Kreg Jig since.

[Jerome Hanby]

I like the orange rubber dead mallet! LOL - how can you screw that up!?


Second!

I use mine all the time, nothing to mess up (also bought their set of ball peen hammers thinking they couldn't mess those up, we'll see...)