Big award show this weekend.
I really hope Leo wins for his riveting performance as ...
Love it or hate it, pocket hole joinery has made making things a lot easier
for a whole new generation of builders.
There's a lot to like about the technique.
You can build things that are very strong with no special skills or experience needed.
And the cost of getting started is relatively affordable.
My show is mostly project based.
Usually I'm more interested in getting something made rather than the process of making.
I do like to find a balance between enjoying the process and having fun,
yet not getting bogged down in
complex skills. However,
there are a lot of people whose focus
is tilted more towards
technique and fine craftmanship.
I admire those of you who will spend
six months or more working on an
amazing heirloom quality
project with hand-cut dovetails
and mortise and tenon joinery.
Making things is fun and rewarding
no matter how you approach it.
This video is for people who are
new to or inexperienced with
woodworking but want to get started
making and completing projects without
a lot of fuss.
And maybe after completing a few quick and easy projects
using pocket screws, you
may gain the confidence to
explore more complex joinery
techniques. The possibilities are endless.
One thing I want to mention is that
all of my pocket hole tools are from Kreg.
Kreg does not sponsor Woodworking
for Mere Mortals, nor am I compensated
for this video. There are
other brands that make pocket hole jigs too,
I'm just familiar with the Kreg
jig. Sometimes
screwing into the end-grain of a board
is fine but it isn't the
strongest connection.
Think of the end-grain of wood like
this stack of pencils with
all of the fibers running in this direction.
When you screw into them
the wood fibers can just separate without
giving the screw much to bite into.
Screwing into the edge- or the
face-grain of a board will give you much better
holding power. So in a
situation like this the problem is how to join
the boards together this way
so that the screws aren't going into the
end-grain. The solution is to drive a screw
through this face-grain
at an angle into that face-grain.
To make a strong
connection you need a special drill bit
and a special screw. This is a stepped
bit; it has a narrow tip
for guiding the screw, and a wider
part for making the pocket hole.
This area where the two sections
meet creates a flat ledge that
the head of the special pocket screws
rest on.
I've cut away this board so you can
see how the wide, flat head
of the screw holds tight against
that ledge. It's kinda like a screw
with a built-in washer.
It's a good idea to attach the jig
to something so it doesn't move.
First, you'll need to adjust this thing to match
the thickness of the wood
you're using. There's markings on the side
and positive stops
I've rarely had to adjust that
because I almost always drill
pocket holes in three-quarter inch thick boards.
Next you need to set the depth
of the hole by adjusting this collar
on the drill bit. You loosen it with a
hex wrench.
Then drop the bit into one of these guide holes.
I let it touch the plastic base,
then I back it off just a hair.
Then I can lock down this collar.
So that'll stop the
bit from drilling into the base.
And this is also something I rarely
need to adjust.
Adjust this part to the thickness of your board.
One other thing I highly recommend
is this vacuum attachment.
It's amazing how much of a mess drilling
these holes makes. Hooking up a shop-vac
removes almost all of it.
Using the pocket hole jig is simple.
There are three guide holes
that help you to space apart
your pocket holes however you like.
Then you just set your board in place
and lock it down.
With your drill set to its highest speed,
drill into the board until the collar
stops it.
Usually you'll drill on the ends of the boards.
But sometimes, say if you want to join
two boards together like that,
you may need to drill along the edge.
The important thing to remember is that the point of the
screw needs to go into the edge-grain,
or the face-grain,
so a connection going this way
would make for a weak joint.
On the packages of the
screws there's a chart to help you
figure out what length of screw you'll need.
Obviously you want the screw to go
into the board as far as possible without
poking through the other side.
And running a couple of tests on some scrap boards
is always a good idea.
Most of the time I use inch and a quarter screws
since I most use three-quarter inch thick
lumber. Also the
screws come in fine or coarse thread.
I use the fine thread screws
only for hard woods like oak
or maple. For almost all other lumber
and plywood use the coarse thread screws.
Basically I just keep a supply
of the inch and a quarter coarse thread screws
on hand at all times.
To join the boards they need to be clamped
together while driving the screws.
If you don't, the twisting motion
of the screw will shift them apart,
and they won't be flush. For joining together
flat edges like for a picture frame
or the face frame of a cabinet
I use this clamp
right across the joint to keep the boards
in place. These are square drive
screws, and one of these long
drivers makes it easy to drive them.
Set your drill to a slow speed.
I usually drive the screws in
by feel, stopping just
when I feel them tighten.
Be careful you don't drive them too fast
or with to much torque which can cause them
to blast all the way through the wood.
For that reason I also don't recommend using an
impact driver. If you're afraid you might drive the
screws in too deep,
the safest technique is to
adjust this clutch on your
drill - you know, this thing
that you probably never use
and maybe you didn't even know what is was for.
Set it to a low number,
then it'll tighten the screw but stop
before it drives it in too far.
You'll probably be
surprised how strong that joint is.
Now let's say you wanna join
your pieces together at a ninety degree angle,
say for a bookcase or a box.
You still need to clamp them together but
obviously this kind of a clamp won't work.
One method is to use a
bar clamp or a pipe clamp.
You can also use one of these
specialty clamps that works like this.
Be aware of the
direction your screws are going.
Always make sure they're going into the
meat of the wood so to speak.
In other words, you always want the screws
angled in toward the main part of the
board, not toward the end.
There's just not enough wood there
to hold it.
One of the drawbacks to using pocket
holes is that they can be an eyesore.
Usually it's pretty easy to
conceal them in the back
or underneath projects in such a way that
they're not visible. But sometimes on
projects it's just impossible to avoid
placing them in a visible location.
The easiest way to hide them is to plug
the holes. You can either buy these
pre-made wooden plugs or you
can just use a dowel,
glued into place and sanded flush.
For painted projects especially, that's a good
solution. Once it's painted over you'll never
see that patch.
So let me know what you think about pocket hole joinery.
Do you use pocket srews, and if so
do you have any tips and tricks
you'd like to share with others? Please leave
your comments and questions about pocket holes
down below and I'll answer some of those
early next week on More Minutes.
Thank you for joining me for another basics video.
Have a great week, and I'll see you next Friday.