Using a Kreg tool..

[Bill Ryall]

Wow... Just... Wow...

Really? I build custom furniture, both residential and specialty commercial technical furniture. Not meaning to come across with the arrogance of the OP, but my work is very high quality designed to last for generations. I use Kreg joinery a lot- it absolutely has its place it both types of furniture. To suggest that a specific tried and true fastening system should not be used, or a piece is not high end because it uses a specific system displays an arrogance almost beyond comprehension.

[Rick Potter]

Never made any 'fine furniture', but I have seen pocket holes used in hidden places on a lot of antiques.

One thing that interested me at the Colonial Williamsburg cabinet shop a couple days ago, was that they had used square cut (of course) nails to hold trim on and also to hold the top shelf, which will be under trim when it's finished.

Rick P

[Ryan Grubbs]

Not arrogance, Bill, ignorance. There is a definitive difference! I'm completely new to different joining techniques.

I am most curious as to people's opinion, although I admit after re-reading my post, it comes of like a fishing expedition. So sorry for that.

Poor verbiage on my behalf.

Wow... Just... Wow...

Really? I build custom furniture, both residential and specialty commercial technical furniture. Not meaning to come across with the arrogance of the OP, but my work is very high quality designed to last for generations. I use Kreg joinery a lot- it absolutely has its place it both types of furniture. To suggest that a specific tried and true fastening system should not be used, or a piece is not high end because it uses a specific system displays an arrogance almost beyond comprehension.

[David Weaver]

Just a side opinion, I don't make things to sell, so time isn't an issue with me. I would never buy anything above commodity furniture with pocket screws, and I'll never put them in anything.

My parents have a house full of vintage furniture that is of good quality (I mean more vintage than mission or craftsman stuff - I don't care for that at all, it's basically commodity stuff, too), and there is no pocket screw joinery in any of it.

To each their own, I don't have any interest in convincing anyone else to like what I like, but to me they are the height of tacky, the sign of the kind of junk that is pedaled to woodworkers in catalogs - magic plastic jigs, proprietary drill bits, etc.

[Bill Ryall]

I apologize for my reaction. After rereading my response, I realize it was pretty harsh.

Since most of my furniture work is for clients, time = money. The Kreg system provides for quick, strong joints in certain circumstances. It is not a be-all end-all but it absolutely has it's place, even in high end pieces. As demonstrated above, there is even a historical precedent for this type of joinery.

[Moses Yoder]

I don't see how you can use wood in high end custom furniture. It has slivers, it is difficult to work with, it cracks, it rots, eventually it falls apart. I simply fail to comprehend how a joint that will last longer than the wood itself can in any way be considered inferior to the project. Naturally, there are desirable and undesirable applications of the joint.

[DOUG ANGEL]

I agree with Bill Ryall, if it is appropriate, use it. Having said that I don't use them at all, because I'm just a retired hobbyist. No such thing as a missed deadline.

[john Intosa]

I'm a fan of pocket hole screws and using metal fasteners, like barrel nuts and draw bolts when building furniture for myself or friends and family. Sam Maloof built "high end" furniture and wasn't ashamed to use drywall screws to hold together his rockers. If you can build a piece of furniture quicker and stronger, with the end result being cosmetically indistinguishable from the purist version, neither I nor the majority of end users would really care. For those that are not woodworkers, they respond to visual appearance and function. For those that are woodworkers, they can appreciate the complexity and challenge of the design and construction.