QA

Quick Answer: What Is A Pocket Hole

What is the purpose of pocket holes?

A pocket hole is simply a hole drilled at an angle that forms a pocket for the screw. Think of it as a highly engineered toenailing technique. What makes it precise is the design of the pocket hole jig that guides the drill bit into the wood at a specific angle to produce an engineered hole to house the screw head.

Are pocket holes necessary?

Unless you’re using your hobby as a side hustle, or woodworking is your job, you probably don’t need Kreg’s Pocket-Hole Machine. But if you can afford it, it’s hard to find anything nicer, more accurate, or more convenient for repeated pocket hole cuts.

Are pocket holes better?

The superior strength of a pocket hole joint has actually been proven. Independent testing found that a pocket screw joint failed at 707 pounds when subjected to a shear load while a comparable mortise and tenon joint failed at 453 pounds – meaning that the pocket screw joint was approximately 35% stronger.

How do pocket holes work?

It works like this: You clamp the pocket hole jig onto your workpiece and drill angled holes with the special stepped drill bit. Then you simply align the two pieces to be joined and drive a pocket screw at an angle into the pocket to connect your pieces.

Who invented pocket holes?

The concept of pocket jigs dates to the ancient Egyptians, but Joon Park, the former Hughes engineer, who has registered 19 patents since 1987, claimed that he had sole right to three pocket hole jig designs he had registered with the U.S. Patent Office beginning in 2003.

Are pocket holes weak?

Matthias Wandel has an article on Testing pocket holes against mortise and tenon and dowel joints where he finds that they are indeed significantly weaker than other joint types. With the exception of small objects, 99lbs as an average breaking force for a pocket joint doesn’t seem very strong at all.

Is a pocket hole jig worth it?

The professional, the hobbyist, and the DIY woodworker. Ultimately, you’ll need to decide if one of their tools is right for you. The Kreg Jig is a valuable tool. If you plan to construct cabinets, bookshelves, tables, or anything with multiple joints, then the Kreg tool is undoubtedly worth your money.

Do I need glue with pocket screws?

If you’re using pocket screws to build a dining room table for your forever home, then you’ll want to use glue with your joints. The glue will give you some added strength and inhibit your joint from separating.

Are pocket hole butt joints strong?

The pocket hole screw system is especially important in DIY projects because the pocket hole screws allow very strong joints but the process of creating it is fairly simple. Also, pocket hole screws are strong enough to hold the board together, and you won’t need to use clamps (which can be quite expensive).

What is the weakest wood joint?

Butt Joint The butt joint is the simplest joint to make. It is also the weakest wood joint unless you use some form of reinforcement. It depends upon glue alone to hold it together.

Where are Kreg tools?

Kreg tool company is located in Huxley, Iowa. The box says “made in the USA of US and Imported Materials”. Like so many things in this global economy materials are from the US and other countries. The product is made in the US.

What angle is a pocket hole?

Pocket-hole joinery, or pocket-screw joinery, involves drilling a hole at an angle — usually 15 degrees — into one work piece, and then joining it to a second work piece with a self-tapping screw.

Who invented Kreg jig?

Craig Sommerfield – Inventor of the Kreg Jig. This is Craig Sommerfeld, a really nice guy from Iowa who had a great idea and followed it through. in 1986 Craig was building some kitchen units for his home and needed a better way of securing his face frames to the units than using nails and filler.

Can I use pocket holes on plywood?

Use coarse thread pocket screws for softwoods like pine, plywood, particle board and MDF. Use fine thread pocket screws for hardwoods like oak, maple, hickory, cherry, walnut and birch.

What is stronger dowels or screws?

Dowel Strength Dowel joinery is stronger than screw joinery. The increased glue surface caused by the glue deeply penetrating the wood gives the dowel more holding power. Dowels also have superior holding power in modern composite materials such as particleboard and plywood.

Which is stronger pocket screws or dowels?

The dowel joints were 1.5x stronger than the pocket hole joints. I could have made the dowel joints stronger by using four dowels instead of two.More videos on YouTube. Joint type Breaking forces Average Pocket hole 95, 120, 75, 105 99 pounds Dowel 160, 160, 149 153 pounds.

How many dowels are in a joint?

You’ll need to use at least two dowels for each joint, more if the joint is particularly wide. One rule of thumb is that if the board(s) are less than 6 inches wide, place one dowel 1/4 of the way across the joint, and a second dowel 1/4 of the width in from the opposite side.