I'm a Pocket Hole Proponent!!

[Dale Thompson]

Over the innumerable decades of my attempts at making a decent project out of wood, I have tried just about every method that there is to fasten two pieces of wood together. It goes way back to corrogated fasteners, staples, and pounded-in "brads". Hot melt glue was a BIG step forward for really WEAK joints. I've used dowels, dados, dowel/dado combinations and have connected them all with flush, countersunk or counterbored screw connections. I've used straight plugs, tapered plugs and everything else to cover up the screw holes. My "magic wand" over the past few years has been biscuits and my DeWalt biscuit joiner has been a real pal. They are GREAT!!

About a week ago, I took on a project which was totally beyond my capabilities. That was not a big deal because ALL projects are totally beyond my capabilities. Anyway, it seemed to have a lot of potential applications for pocket holes.

I've seen pocket holes for years but they have always been on factory manufactured stuff and I always thought that they were meant for folks on the RICH side of the tracks. Whatever, I picked up the Kreg K2000 Propack yesterday to see what I could use it for on the new project. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pushing the Kreg unit. It's the only pocket hole jig that I have ever used so I have no basis for comparison. In addition, the word "Propack" is a gross misnomer when it comes to my skills. :D :D

I am extremely impressed with the quality and ease of fastening joints with pocket holes. Versatility is also a real big plus.

The biggest thing, however, for a klutz like me, is to able to walk across the shop without getting hit in the head, ankles and everywhere in between with bar and pipe clamp extensions. :o :eek:

Has anyone out there had a similar reaction?

Dale T.

[Dave Arbuckle]

(Warning, patented Dave long digression follows...)

When the Propack 2000 first came out, I did Dallas Woodcraft's "Monthly Demo". It was about cabinetmaking in general, and the Propack was one of the products corporate wanted featured.

For my demo, I took a brand new pack, showed how it set up, describing each piece, how to set for different thicknesses, all that neat stuff. Took about a half hour, maybe 45 minutes to go through everything thoroughly.

Then, I did the actual demo of the product. I think there were about 60 people in the crowd. I take a piece of wood and do a dry run, describing how I was going to do it.

Then, I drilled the holes and ran the screws in, in about 30 seconds. Just stopped and stood there, the crowd is still watching, waiting for me to do something else. I said "that's it, joint is done!" The looks were great. ;)

It's a very neat method in it's place. :)

Dave

[John Miliunas]

Hey Dale, must be a "Wisconsin thing", because I could've just as easily written your post! I too am wood project challenged! Sure, I can whip out small items on the lathe, but getting that flat stuff square AND sturdy, eluded me for a long time! I finally bought the original incantation of the Kreg (I think they called it the Kreg Pro). Now, I had never even dreamed of spending over a c-note for a "jig"! I said to myself, "Self. Are you out of your #$%^&* mind?! You can't even plug it in!"

Well, I had seen a demo, probably similar to what Dave recently did, and I was sold. They even had a "show special" on it, so I figures why not. To make a long story short, I dug deep, spent the bucks and, to this day, feel it was one of the best and smartest WW purchases I've ever made. And to use the words "I" and "smartest" in the same sentence is saying a LOT!:cool:

BTW, you managed to pull off a stealth gloat here! No cheese curds the rest of the week for you!:D :D :cool:

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Dale. The small company which built our kitchen and bath cabinets used pocket screws and Titebond in all the carcass joints.

Just as an aside, there is no MDF in the cabinets. The cabinet shop had 2 Powermatic 66 table saws. (drool) For "on the money" 90 deg. cuts they had set up(tuned) a Milwaukee miter saw for that use only. And of course a dedicated pocket screw machine.

Just a for what its worth.:)

[Phil Phelps]

The biggest thing, however, for a klutz like me, is to able to walk across the shop without getting hit in the head, ankles and everywhere in between with bar and pipe clamp extensions. :o :eek:

Has anyone out there had a similar reaction?

Dale T. [/B][/QUOTE]

Dale, here is a pic of how I join two rails. Those paddle grips hold great. I take a pair of pliers and turn the bit....no. There is a drill attached to the extension bit. Just bein' a smart ___!! I do like the square head screws, though. You'll find all kinds of uses for pocket hole joinery. And, for really hard wood, put a little wax, not soap, on the threads. Toilet bowl ring works as a wax supply.

[Lee Schierer]

I went to a wood show and LOML was along, we both stood there and watched to guy doing the Demo and it was impressive. He even let some of the observers do it. LOML starts jabbing me in teh side saying "hey you need one of those." I wasn't convinced as the price was more than I had ever paid for a jig. Boiught one with much misgiving and took it home. I used it once, but really didn't see the need for it much.

Then I ran into a situation that I couldn't figure out how to hold it in place. Thought of the jig and in seconds had the piece secured. This is great I thought.

THe next project I did was a dresser and I used the pocket hole jig to fasten all the frames in place. Made the dresser go together really fast and it was so strong. Better yet, I just kept working becuase I didn't have to wait for the glue to dry to get the clamps out of the way for the next step.

They are a great investment. I'm on my third box of 1,000 screws.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

...as long as you don't care what the back side of the joint looks like. Even if you do, you can use the plugs.

I use my jig all the time. The only drawback is that I sorta feel like I'm cheating- like if I was a REAL woodworker, I really oughta do up a nice m&t joint. :)

BTW, my fav place to get pocket hole screws is McFeeleys. They now have big screws for doing pocket hole joinery on 2x stock.

[Kevin Post]

I've got one too... I love it. I saw the demo at a woodworking show and I was hooked. I have to agree with Lynn, I don't use it for 'fine' furniture projects because much of the beauty and satisfaction in completing those projects lies in the joinery.

However, for utility items like cabinet carcasses, face frames, shop fixtures and storage items, you can't beat it for speeding things up.

-Kevin

[Dale Thompson]

I get a kick out of new tools (to me) that WORK! I get a kick out of tools--PERIOD!! Maybe that shows. ;)

Dave: I've never seen you so short-winded. The next time you do a demo, you should give me a call. I can help. You know--the before (that's me) and the after (that's you) thing would be really impressive. Man, would I ever make YOU look GOOD!! :)

John: No cheese curds? You must be from about 30 miles west of Madison where people are edjucated and can get a job. If'n I don't have no cheese curds, I can't work in the shop and make scrap. Without scrap, I can't build a fire to cook my game. Therefore, I starve. :eek:

Actually, I'm not a hunter. Aside from being a total wimp, I figure that my 30:06 (if I had one) would treat me like my PM 66. I would blow my head off on the first shot. Can I have my cheese curds back?

Kevin: I've always looked at "fine furniture" as using "pockets". Maybe I'm just thinking about that skinny English stuff that I have seen on occasion. But, in reality, what do I know??

Lynn: Yeh right! Tell me about a REAL woodworker. Why should ANY of us apologize for trying to make a thing of beauty--an heirloom--out of a RENEWABLE resource? Joinery is only ONE part of that pursuit. Now, before we all start to cry, I have to go and pick the splinters out of my elbows.

Lee: Tell me about clamp collisions. Are you the same kind of "klutz" that I am?

Phil: Thanks for the picture. It's obvious that you have had good luck with pocket holes and know how to use them.

Ken: Your crew obviously knew what they were doing. That is a comfortable feeling.

Dale T.

[Kevin Post]

You know, Dale, there are probably more than a handful of people reading your message who have no idea what cheese curds are. Just like most yankees don't know what mud bugs are.

Here on the west coast, we deep fry our cheese curds in beer batter. They're so good that even those skinny women, the ones who order their salad dressing 'on-the-side', can't resist 'em.

-Kevin

[Dale Thompson]

Kevin,
It must be that Mississippi River water that grows brain cells so fast. :)

Here on the "East Coast", we don't know what cheese curds are, either. We just know that they make a good desert after a gut bustin' roadkill buffet.

We don't have any "skinny" women here either. They are all pretty husky from splitting fire wood, hauling water and beer kegs and doing all of the other things that make a guy's life worthwhile. ;)

In fact, Kevin, I've had them a million times but I'M not sure what cheese curds REALLY are. I assume they are a by-product of cheese production. Yum!! YUM!!

Dale T. :o