Accessories

Great addition to shop
This is somthing I have wanted for awhile and now I can do more and better things in my shop. Grat product and easy to set up.

Great, but with a few problems
Kreg did a great job with this jig, but there are a few important things to keep in mind if you're thinking about doing pocket hole joinery; Things that I learned the hard way so I thought I'd share my experience.

First of all, forget about using pocket holes in MDF, Particle board, Melamine coated particle board, fiber board, etc. The screws enter too close to the edge for these materials and they just disintegrate.

Also, if you're going to be joining plywood, remember that plywood is rarely sold by actual thickness. For instance, 1/2" plywood is really 7/16" thick these days. And that 1/16" does make a difference with pocket hole joinery. The 1" screws that you're supposed to use with 1/2" material might poke out the other side if you're not careful. You can compensate for this somewhat by setting the drill depth, but you have to remember to do this and not just go with the 1/2" settings. I didn't have this problem with 3/4" material, even though it too is not really 3/4" thick.

You might want to consider buying some of the clamps they sell for doing pocket hole joinery Kreg RAC Right Angle Clamp, Kreg Standard Face Clamp. It's almost impossible to get a good joint without them. When possible, I'll tack the pieces together with brads and then drive the pocket screws, but you have to have something holding the pieces firmly together before driving the screws or it just won't work right.

If you're thinking about hooking up your shop vac to the jig, you'll probably need some sort of adapter. I wish these things were more standardized. This jig requires something like a 1 1/2" hose, my shop vac is 2 1/2".

Don't let this review scare you away from pocket hole joinery. It's quick, it's easy and it works if you know what its limitations are. And Kreg did do a great job with this jig. Well worth the price of admission.

Great system
I owned the older version of the Kreg pocket hole jig. Although it works fine, the new version made some helpful improvements. The holding mechanism is greatly improved. The locking clamp now has two large pads instead of the older system that has one large pad and one small one (although there is a place for both, if your two pieces of wood are slightly different thickness, you can better control the pressure and alignment with the old one). The vacuum port is nice, but I needed an adapter to connect it to my Festool vacuum.

Great tool to have
Face frames, cabinet joinery, and many other uses make this a diverse tool for your shop. The first time I ever used any kind of pocket hole equipment, and it worked flawlessly.
My first project was creating a custom transition from one room to another with a 2" difference in height. Instead of breaking out the biscuit joiner, marking and cutting BOTH pieces, gluing, then clamping, just cut all your pieces, use the extremely easy jig and drill some holes and you're nearly there. All that's left is to add a little glue, and screw it together!
The kit includes everything you need to set up your shop for production type drilling, as well as a jig and clamp to use in the field or on awkward pieces.

Disappointing results in dense cabinet hardwood
I was excited to start using my new Kreg jig when I got it and was immediately disappointed when the mating 1 1/2 x 3/4 inch hickory face frame split when I drove in the screws. I thought it was just a bad coincidence, but then the other end split too. So I think I'm doing something wrong and open the manual where it assures you that no pre-drilling is needed and specifically names hickory and maple as examples. Obviously this isn't true, so I set out to pre-drill the holes in the next joints. I put the screw in just so it marks the matting piece and then back the screw out. Pilot the hole then drive the screw back in. Now I'm thinking this is not a time saving device as advertised. This time on the second screw, it snaps off in the middle. I think well maybe it was a weak screw and maybe I over worked it until three screws later another one snaps off. I've got to tell you, save your money and your time on this thing unless you are planning on using less dense wood or wider face frames. With all the fiddling around to pilot drill the matting pieces it is much quicker to use a biscuit joiner with FF biscuits.