Pocket holes in 1/2" Mat'l

[Brian Penning]

I've had my Kreg jig for a few years and it has always worked well.
However when doing 1/2" material for the 1st time I seem to have a couple of problems.
The drill bit is set to the distance required per both the distance shown on the jig itself and the measurement given in the manual.
I also used the specified 1" screws.

1. the screws are not protruding through the drilled board enough to properly grab the mating board. That is the collar is set too close to the drill bit end. If I use the 1 1/4" then I get better results.

2, The screws protrude very close to the edge of the drilled board. So close that the wood splits in some cases.

Any ideas?
TIA

[Will Overton]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410YHo8B3yL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


The new Kreg micro pocket drill guide allows woodworkers to drill a pocket-hole which is 25-Percent smaller than our standard pocket-holes and is perfect for use with 1/2-Inch material. The smaller pocket-hole and shorter 3/4-Inch pan head screws work to secure thinner materials and still keep the head of the screw below your fi nished surface, while at the same time easing the drill stroke and creating smaller more low-profile pocket-holes for every day use.

[Brian Penning]

Thanks, but the regular jig does state that it will handle 1/2" material.

[johnny means]

Are you adjusting the jigs distance from the edge of the board? The jig should be closer to the edge so that the screw still emerges at approximately the middle of the board.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Thanks, but the regular jig does state that it will handle 1/2" material.Are you using the riser under the stock being drilled?

[keith micinski]

I used mine a lot for 1/2 and I have found that you sometimes get screws that protrude out and there is nothing you can do about it. I have since limited my use of 1/2 pocket holes as much as possible. The tolerances are just a little to tight.

[glenn bradley]

I use 1" screws, the collar set back 3-5/16" and the jig protruding 3/8" past the front edge of the board. I got the settings off the Kreg website and they bring the tip of the screw within about 3/32" of the outer surface of the mating board. This works on the Rocket, the mini and I suppose others. It works on the R3 but, you have to work around the gray plastic "edge catcher" thingy ;-)

[Mike Heidrick]

Thanks, but the regular jig does state that it will handle 1/2" material.

The new jig just might do it better.

[Paul Steiner]

The new jig is 100% worth it. It allows you to use smaller screws.

[johnny means]

Screw size is not the OPs problem. His problem is that his screws are travel to far across the thickness of the board anf exiting too close to the opposite face of the pocket. This will happen no matter what the screw head size if he drills his pocket too far from the edge of the board. The further his pocket is from the edge of board the further the screw has to travel across the thickness of the board to get to the edge.The reason he feels as though 1" screws don't bite is that his pocket is to far from the edge to use the prescribed 1" screw. When using a shorter screw it stands to reason that the head of said screw needs to end up closer to joint than a longer screw.

Brian, when clamping your jig to half inch material, let the jig over hang your material by about 1/4". You will see that your screw pop out at right about the middle of the board. I've done hundreds of drawers with the Kreg system before anyone ever thought of a Micro system and never had a problem. Why buy another doodad when he one you have is perfectly capable with just a little moe know-how.

[Peter Pedisich]

Brian,

Some good points have been brought up here. I will say from my experience with making a bunch of drawer boxes out of 12mm (0.475") Russian Multiply, I had to do some fine tuning and adjustments to the specs from Kreg to get the screw to not poke thru the other side and sit down in the pocket since I had false fronts that needed to sit flush.
I would have liked the new micro jig, but with a little setup time it worked out ok. The $45 micro jig would have paid for itself in time alone, but it is not neccessary.

Pete

[Brian Penning]

Brian, when clamping your jig to half inch material, let the jig over hang your material by about 1/4". You will see that your screw pop out at right about the middle of the board.

Thanks for the replies. Not sure what you mean by letting the jig overhang the material -how do you do that?

[johnny means]

Basically, if your pocket for 3/4" material is 1" inch from the edge, the pocket for 1/2" material should be 3/4" from the edge. Depending on which jig you have, there are different ways to register your jig closer to the edge.
I believe most of your basic jigs are positioned flush with the edge of the board for 3/4" material. When doing 1/2" material the jig would jut out past the edge of the work piece about 1/4". I have one of the Kreg doohickies that has the built in clamping mechanism and it adjusts for thickness by sliding the drill guide block up or down the block. BTW my numbers here are arbitrary.