Kreg Pocket Hole Jig is incredible!

[Tom Pritchard]

Tonight I used my new Kreg Pocket Hole Jig for the first time on a project. I am finishing a cherry/maple hall table, and I used the pocket holes to attach the maple skirts to the legs, and the cherry top to the base. What an incredible experience! The Kreg jig is so easy to use, and the joints are as tight and even as I could have ever hoped for! I can't believe how well it worked, and how easy it made assembling the table. What a joy to use! As a novice, it made a job that I wasn't quite sure how to tackle a breeze! I would highly recommend it to anyone. Here are some pics of the frame as I assembled it with the pocket holes.

[Matt Meiser]

I used the same construction on a set of end tables and a coffee table for our family room. One thing I did that considerably strengthened the joints was to install triangular corner blocks with a screw into the leg and one into each apron. The jig works great for "everyday" type projects, but for heirloom type stuff, I stick with traditional joinery.

[Corey Hallagan]

HEy Tom, glad to see your post and your feelings about the Kreg. I just picked up the Propak and also several more face clamps for cabs. Glad to see a first time user had great look right out of the shoot. Be sure to post final pics of that table Tom, it is looking good!! Tom, did you use your PC to drill the holes or just to put the screws in?

Corey

[Russ Filtz]

I keep getting bad tearout on the "upside" of the elongated drill hole. Any tricks to prevent this?

[Barry Londrigan]

Tom

Is that your kitchen table or a work bench you are assembling on? What a shine! :)

Barry

[Michael Ballent]

I keep getting bad tearout on the "upside" of the elongated drill hole. Any tricks to prevent this?

It is recommended to use a corded drill to make the pocket screws. Cordless drills do not spin fast enough, so that may be the cause. Of course this a complete guess on my part, you mileage may vary :)

[scott spencer]

The table's looking great Tom, and I couldn't agree more about the Kreg. A good friend of mine gave me one last year and I love it. Best of all the Kreg blue matches the sliders on your straight edge clamp. ;)

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I just got one as well! As someone else said, it won't be a replacement for a lot of joinery. However, there are a lot of times where a pocket hole won't show where it is JUST fine :) I used it on my dresser project for a few of the peices where they pocket holes wouldn't show...

[Tom Pritchard]

HEy Tom, glad to see your post and your feelings about the Kreg. I just picked up the Propak and also several more face clamps for cabs. Glad to see a first time user had great look right out of the shoot. Be sure to post final pics of that table Tom, it is looking good!! Tom, did you use your PC to drill the holes or just to put the screws in?

Corey

Hi Corey, thanks for the kind words. To answer your question, I used the PC to both drill the holes and insert the pocket hole screws. The drill has two speed settings, and I used the high speed setting to drill the holes, and the low speed setting to insert the screws. I found that when I'm drilling the pocket hole, I pull back on the drill whenever I feel it starting to bind up, which pulls all of the wood shavings out. This seems to give me the nice clean holes that you see in the picture without any tearout. If I tried to drill the hole without clearing the chips, it overheated the drillbit and made a less than perfect hole. Sorry for the long answer. :) I hope to start finishing the table tonight, and post a pic of the final project soon.

[Tom Pritchard]

I keep getting bad tearout on the "upside" of the elongated drill hole. Any tricks to prevent this?

Russ, I pull the bit back out each time I feel it starting to load up with chips and clear them out. It seems to make a nice clean hole with no burning. The replace ment bit is a little expensive, so I want to take good care of this one.

[Dan Stuewe]

Quick question...It looks like you'll be using 6 screws to hold the table top to the aprons. Any concern for wood movement of the top?

[Lee Schierer]

I keep getting bad tearout on the "upside" of the elongated drill hole. Any tricks to prevent this?


If you don't have the piece clamped tightly you may see some tear out. I notice more tear out with my newer plastic jig than I ever got with the original diecast jig. There seems to be a better fit up on the metal jig than the newer plastic jigs where the hardened insert meets the surface of the board.

[Von Bickley]

I think Kreg recommends a drill with a speed at least 2000 RPM's. DeWalt makes a corded drill that's not too expensive that runs up to 2500 RPM's.

The extra speed really works good with this jig.

[Tom Pritchard]

Quick question...It looks like you'll be using 6 screws to hold the table top to the aprons. Any concern for wood movement of the top?

Dan, I'm really not sure. The Kreg screws do have some play to them when I exert force on the test ones I did, and my hope is that there will be enough play to account for movement. Maybe someone with more experience than me can give you a better answer.

[Corey Hallagan]

They do recommend a corded drill when drilling, however, even in the Kreg Project Videos they use to sell the product John Sillautes uses a dewalt cordless on all the projects.. go figure.

Corey

[Steven Hilger]

Tom,

That is good to hear on the Kreg pocket jig. I have an opportunity to tour their facility as soon as I make it back up to Huxley Iowa. If I time it right, I will get the tour by Mr. Kreg himself. I have put off the purchase until I get a chance to take the tour. Looks like you got a great start to the project.

Steve

[Jim VanBramer]

I just picked up the pro pack at the Woodworking show out here in Seattle, and I'm really excited about putting it to the test. The man demonstrating it said that every year you can bring your drillbit back to him at the show and he'll replace it with a sharpened one ... pretty nice customer service if you ask me!

[CPeter James]

I use mine for jigs and fixtures. They go together quick, are dead on, can be changed and if the holes show, so what!! I have had mine for about four years an dilled thousands of holes and still on the original bit.

CPeter