KREGS

[Trinity]

KREG pocket hole jigs have come up as the topic of Christmas presents. Does any one use them and if so out of the different kits is it worth spending that little bit more or does the basic system do enough.

[baughen]

I've only used them for furniture and box making. The wood has to be a reasonable thickness and therefore it wouldn't be suitable for most framing jobs unless they were large and heavy (in my opinion).

One thing I found was that you probably need a multi-tool to cut off the top of the Kreg plugs after the glue has set.

[SvenSvenson]

I have one and only done some test joints. One thing I discovered was although they state that the wood has to be a minimum of 16mm thick to use the jig, this is only because the screw will come out of the wood 8mm from the side you drill the hole, so 16mm thickness means the screw will be central. You could get away with less, but you run the risk of splintering.

It also means the the other piece of wood has no such thickness restrictions, so can be thinner (as long as it's thick(wide) enough to to splinter and deep enough for the tip of the screw not to penetrate (but this is adjustable).

Had I known this, when making a new kitchen drawer, I was concerned about the weight of the draw, being made from 16mm pine. I could have made 2 of the sides slightly less and the other 2 sides considerably less. I also would't have needed the timber merchant to plane the 20mm planks down to 16mm, and just use the 15mm plank off the shelf.

Other than that I think it's a good system and will use it for a big mirror frame I am making instead of 'L' tracks on the back, for additional strength over and above the underpinned corners.

Steve

[Not your average framer]

Those that use them seem to like them. I've gone a different way and bought a range of pneumatic narrow crown staplers, brad nailers and a headless pinner. So far I had not found much that I can't join with these!

[Roboframer]

I use this one and it's great for what I want, which is mostly joining boxes together, but if you're wanting to use pocket holes more often and do more types of joint then a Kreg and an upgrade on the basic will be well worth it.

There is a fully automated one!

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