Pocket Screws

[Guest]

They have been used for a long time. I have an antique oak, claw foot table, and the apron is attached with pocket screws. But with real wood screws.

[AgGEM]

An aside, I noticed 1" washer head pocket screws, just like the old style Kreg screws, at Lowes in case anyone else is looking for some.
Ag

[daddo]

Would you climb under this vehicle?


https://youtu.be/Ahb9RUf6wtg

 Of course not.
 I use a stand(s) even when using the metal ramps.

I had one truck slip once and that convinced me right then and there.

 I use two and sometimes three different supports when I get under the vehicle.  Jack, and two stands on each corner being held up.

 Old ramps can be strong though.

[EdL]

They have been used for a long time. I have an antique oak, claw foot table, and the apron is attached with pocket screws. But with real wood screws.

This....

Currently re-purposing a 50's Singer sewing machine cabinet, yup, pocket screws.

Ed

[Steve N]

I agree with AHill. Nothing wrong with doing what YOU want to do. Just ignore anyone that complains about it.

I agree with AHill. Nothing wrong with doing what YOU want to do. Just ignore anyone that complains about it.

Put me in this same camp with Allan, and Frank. Chances are great that the person making snarky comments does ZERO woodworking themselves, but rather tells you what they think from a place of ZERO experience as well. While not always the best choice for every joint, they have their place, and it is up to you to learn and decide which work the best.

Fact is every project made from wood isn't destined to become an heirloom, or IKEA wouldn't have the earnings reports they do. That said, pieces found intact from Ancient Egypt have been found to have been assembled with pocket hole construction. Screws weren't used because they had none, rather wooden pins were used in their place. So they will stand the test of time.

The entire history of "woodworking" and what was "the correct way" to do things was colored by what was available at the time. People using crude hand tools would have certainly used TS's, Jointers and Planers, Festool possibly had there only been ELECTRICITY. There is no absolute "right way" so all there is left is "your way" and if the end result has function, and you are happy, that is all that matters.

Good on you for actually doing some woodworking, you are that far ahead of your detractors

[Steve N]

Would you climb under this vehicle?


https://youtu.be/Ahb9RUf6wtg

Like daddo said, if my rear end is getting under even a part of a car it's gonna be: ramped, blocked, on stands, and anything else I can put under there to keep that car parked, and UP in the air, but that isn't the answer to the question. Me no, but I certainly admire the guys spit to do that to stand behind his conviction that the joint was sound. I think the better question is, would you use wooden Ho-made ramps, when HF sells heavier metal ones for not much money.

[CARYinWA]

I love pocket screws.  They are strong and you don't have to wait for the glue to dry before you move forward. If you cut your boards square they draw the joint square.

[Steve N]

If you cut your boards square

Actually the part of woodworking that needs to be, if you add, the correct length, and dimensioned the same as others of their type. Those and a few other bits are really what is important in woodworking. Naysayers usually never bring them up, because they never actually cut any pieces to build nothing at all. Instead they mimic what some writer somewhere wrote instead of just watching what real woodworkers do. Like to see a naysayer explain to T Mac he is doing it all wrong, because he used a pocket hole screw.

[robert146]

I am feeling much better; Pocket Screws are OK! I've built quite a few pieces of furniture using them and they have all worked out well. I find that I can get precisely accurate joints with them that I can't seem to accomplish with M&T.

So I've decided to concentrate on M&T joints to increase my personal skill, and that seems to be working. I bought some proper tools and that helped. I completed an acceptable small table that a granddaughter commandeered at first sight.
But when I see some of the photos of M&T joints on these forums I realize I have a long way to go.

I saw a picture of a coffee table with multiple drawers and decided to make one like it. The idea being that by the time I'm finished, I'll know how to make accurate M&T joints; just for starts, there are 12 corners in the frame alone. It's the frames for the drawer slots that are making me think pocket screws, but I'm hoping I'll feel comfortable with the chisels by then.

Thank you all for your comments. R.

[FloridaRetiree]

I bought one of those pocket screw jigs many years ago.

Quick and easy to use in a simplistic and relatively short-term bit of joinery.

A few years ago had to make about 30 new soffit screen vents outside this 35-year old house since the original screens were covered with paint by the person painters the board of directors had hired over the years.

Couldn't find any standard aluminum ones large enough to match the old ones so made my own using the best stock 1 x 2's I could find at Home Depot.

All corners were 45 degree cuts made on my old chop saw.

Took awhile but what the heck, I got nothing much else now to do.

After priming, painting and screening they were much better than the originals, allowing much more air to flow through the "attic".