Jim Hager
01-08-2006, 7:11 PM
Well some of you guys were slobbering all over your keyboard the other day when I reported that I had recieved my Kreg Forman pocket hole machine so I thought I should give a review of my experiences of the newest tool in my shop.
Before I was using the kreg 2000 pocket holer in my shop to drill holes to assemble face frames and such. I looked at the pocket hole process as rather laborious, a major part of the face frame construction process.
I recieved the Kreg Foreman in a well packaged container with absolutely no frills but well packed. Not a plastic peanut anywhere to be found. I hate those things. The machine went together easily without even reading the manual which I did later to check to see if I had done everything right.:p Only three bolts for assembly by the way.
The stops are well planned out as they will swing out of the way with hardly any other effort than aiming a piece of material at them. I set the stops to the prefered setting for my task at hand with just a twist of the plastic knobed thumb bolts, very easy. I plugged it up (electric model) and drilled a couple of pocket holes into some mdf that was laying on the bench by pulling on the handle which clamps the material automatically while at the same time drilling the pocket hole.
I set the machine aside for a few days while I finished the present project. Yesterday I fired up on a new kitchen and found that the Forman is just the ticket for what I do. Each base cabinet face frame normally has 16 pocket holes in the frame and most of the top frames have at least 8 holes. I timed myself on the ends of a rail that I drilled 4 holes in and it took 10 seconds to place the material and drill 4 times. I began with the material in my hand away from the tool, placed drilled, repositioned, drilled, repositioned, drilled, and repositioned and drilled. I did not rush myself to complete the project. Sure can't do it that fast with the manual rig.
Someone asked the other day about dust collection, don't need it and won't be using it. I plan to use the pocket holer on one of my roll around tables that I roll stock around the shop on.
http://a5.cpimg.com/image/2D/E0/55265325-8093-02000180-.jpg
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a5.cpimg.com/image/2D/E0/55265325-8093-02000180-.jpg">This is the pile of drill shavings from the entire kitchen project that I begun yesterday.
While the machine is quite an investment, $799 from Amazon, it seems to me that it will pay for itself over time because it saved me lots of time just yesterday in using it to drill the pocket holes rather than do them manually with the kreg 2000. Time is really important to me because I get to work only on weekends and evenings and I'm getting some pretty big projects for a part timer.
<IMG SRC="http://a1.cpimg.com/image/3D/E0/55265341-17e8-02000180-.jpg">
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a1.cpimg.com/image/3D/E0/55265341-17e8-02000180-.jpg">
This picture is from the right side of the machine showing the stops and the hold down clamp that is automatically activated (mechanically) when you pull the lever to drill.
<IMG SRC="http://a9.cpimg.com/image/63/E2/55265379-529d-02000180-.jpg">
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a6.cpimg.com/image/4C/E1/55265356-f6e0-02000180-.jpg">
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a9.cpimg.com/image/63/E2/55265379-529d-02000180-.jpg">
This pic shows the inards of the machine with the drill motor, guide rods and drill bit in the middle. A no frills tool, just does one thing, pocket holes.
<IMG SRC="http://a8.cpimg.com/image/76/E2/55265398-a488-02000180-.jpg">
A view from over the top, in the center between the stops and underneath the clamp you can see the drill guide and the tip of the drill bit. The drill guide has a lifetime guarantee, they say you will get around 4000-6000 holes out of a drill bit in oak.
All in all I'm really glad I bought the machine. It has taken drilling pocket holes down to a quick and easy operation, not so much a major part of doing face frames. It is a shame that it's cost is so high and that it only does one thing. Setup to use is just flop it on a bench and set the stops, plug it in and you are making pocket holes. I also like that the stops swing out of the way so easily and it is not necessary to remove them to do and odd hole here and there. It is overpriced in my opinion but that is likely because it is a machine that has such limited use as well as limited customer base.
(http://sawmillcreek.org/%5B/IMG%5D%3CIMG)
Before I was using the kreg 2000 pocket holer in my shop to drill holes to assemble face frames and such. I looked at the pocket hole process as rather laborious, a major part of the face frame construction process.
I recieved the Kreg Foreman in a well packaged container with absolutely no frills but well packed. Not a plastic peanut anywhere to be found. I hate those things. The machine went together easily without even reading the manual which I did later to check to see if I had done everything right.:p Only three bolts for assembly by the way.
The stops are well planned out as they will swing out of the way with hardly any other effort than aiming a piece of material at them. I set the stops to the prefered setting for my task at hand with just a twist of the plastic knobed thumb bolts, very easy. I plugged it up (electric model) and drilled a couple of pocket holes into some mdf that was laying on the bench by pulling on the handle which clamps the material automatically while at the same time drilling the pocket hole.
I set the machine aside for a few days while I finished the present project. Yesterday I fired up on a new kitchen and found that the Forman is just the ticket for what I do. Each base cabinet face frame normally has 16 pocket holes in the frame and most of the top frames have at least 8 holes. I timed myself on the ends of a rail that I drilled 4 holes in and it took 10 seconds to place the material and drill 4 times. I began with the material in my hand away from the tool, placed drilled, repositioned, drilled, repositioned, drilled, and repositioned and drilled. I did not rush myself to complete the project. Sure can't do it that fast with the manual rig.
Someone asked the other day about dust collection, don't need it and won't be using it. I plan to use the pocket holer on one of my roll around tables that I roll stock around the shop on.
http://a5.cpimg.com/image/2D/E0/55265325-8093-02000180-.jpg
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a5.cpimg.com/image/2D/E0/55265325-8093-02000180-.jpg">This is the pile of drill shavings from the entire kitchen project that I begun yesterday.
While the machine is quite an investment, $799 from Amazon, it seems to me that it will pay for itself over time because it saved me lots of time just yesterday in using it to drill the pocket holes rather than do them manually with the kreg 2000. Time is really important to me because I get to work only on weekends and evenings and I'm getting some pretty big projects for a part timer.
<IMG SRC="http://a1.cpimg.com/image/3D/E0/55265341-17e8-02000180-.jpg">
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a1.cpimg.com/image/3D/E0/55265341-17e8-02000180-.jpg">
This picture is from the right side of the machine showing the stops and the hold down clamp that is automatically activated (mechanically) when you pull the lever to drill.
<IMG SRC="http://a9.cpimg.com/image/63/E2/55265379-529d-02000180-.jpg">
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a6.cpimg.com/image/4C/E1/55265356-f6e0-02000180-.jpg">
<A href="[/IMG]<IMG" SRC="http://a9.cpimg.com/image/63/E2/55265379-529d-02000180-.jpg">
This pic shows the inards of the machine with the drill motor, guide rods and drill bit in the middle. A no frills tool, just does one thing, pocket holes.
<IMG SRC="http://a8.cpimg.com/image/76/E2/55265398-a488-02000180-.jpg">
A view from over the top, in the center between the stops and underneath the clamp you can see the drill guide and the tip of the drill bit. The drill guide has a lifetime guarantee, they say you will get around 4000-6000 holes out of a drill bit in oak.
All in all I'm really glad I bought the machine. It has taken drilling pocket holes down to a quick and easy operation, not so much a major part of doing face frames. It is a shame that it's cost is so high and that it only does one thing. Setup to use is just flop it on a bench and set the stops, plug it in and you are making pocket holes. I also like that the stops swing out of the way so easily and it is not necessary to remove them to do and odd hole here and there. It is overpriced in my opinion but that is likely because it is a machine that has such limited use as well as limited customer base.
(http://sawmillcreek.org/%5B/IMG%5D%3CIMG)