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What is a Pocket Hole?
Pocket holes are used to join boards with screws set at a very shallow angle. They’re one of the fastest ways to assemble face frames, but they’re also strong enough for most plywood case work, table rails, mitered corners, and on and on.
The trick to making a pocket hole is drilling the shallow-angle hole in exactly the right place. There are many ways to do it, but a jig is by far the easiest. Its hardened guide bushings ensure that the drill bit doesn’t wander.
A pocket hole has two parts. First there’s a large-diameter hole for the screw head to pass through. Below that is a small-diameter hole to guide the screw through to the end of the board. All pocket hole jigs use a special stepped drill bit to make both holes at once. A tight-fitting stop collar on the bit controls the depth of the hole.
After you drill the pocket hole in one board, the screw does the rest of the work. You don’t have to drill a pilot hole in the second board. Pocket hole screws are specially designed for this job. They have a thread-cutting tip (that’s why you don’t have to drill a pilot hole), they’re very slim (so the second board doesn’t split), and they’re hardened (so they don’t break). Two thread types are available: Fine-thread screws are best for hardwood and coarse-thread screws are best for softwood or man-made material. In a pinch, you can use regular or drywall screws, but there’s a greater chance the wood will split.
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Photo 1: The Kreg K2000 ProPack ($140) is the most complete pocket-hole joinery set on the market. It’s got everything you need to join boards from 1/2- to 2-in. thick and virtually any width. Most pocket hole jigs are designed primarily for 3/4-in.-thick face frame material, but this kit is much more flexible and easier to set up for other applications.
Photo 2: A pocket-hole joint is strongest when the screw comes out in the center of a board. As the board gets thicker, the pocket must be drilled deeper and shifted farther from the end to keep the screw centered.
Photo 3: The new Kreg jig is easy to set up for boards of any common thickness. To drill a pocket the correct depth, use the scale on the jig’s wing support. Line up the tip of the bit with a mark that corresponds to the thickness of your wood, and then tighten the stop collar.
Photo 4: The drill guide can be set up three different ways to center pocket holes in material of different thickness. At left, the jig is arranged to drill holes in 3/4- to 1-in.-thick material. At right, for thicker boards, there’s a riser under the guide block that raises the pocket hole. For thin boards, use the normal arrangement and drop a spacer (not shown) on top of the jig’s base. The guide block and riser are keyed and bolted together so the jig remains perfectly rigid in every position.
Photo 5: Both wide and narrow boards are easy to drill with the K2000. It’s got three guide holes, rather than the standard two, for more spacing options. With one push on the fast-action toggle clamp, you can drill two pocket holes in 1-1/4- to 3-3/4-in.-wide boards, the typical range of face-frame stock. Wings on either side of the guide block support boards that are wider yet. To drill holes spaced far apart, un-clamp the workpiece, slide it into a new position on the wings, and re-clamp it.
Photo 6: Sometimes you get into a situation that the standard Kreg jig won’t handle. If you have to add individual pocket holes after a project is partially assembled, pull out the Mini Kreg jig from the K2000 kit. Use a square to position the jig, snap on the clamp, and you’re good to go.
Photo 7: When you’re joining large panels, bring the jig to the panel, rather than the panel to the jig, and double up the screws. That’s the idea behind yet another useful part of the K2000 kit; the R2 Rocket. It’s got two guide holes spaced 7/8-in. apart and a two-position stopper for centering pocket holes in 3/4- and 1-1/2-in.-thick material. In addition, the stopper automatically squares the jig to the material. The R2 Rocket is also available separately for $60.
Photo 8: Tight joints are routine with the Kreg system. First, lock the parts together with the Kreg clamp. It holds the parts perfectly flush and is adjustable to fit boards up to 2-in. thick. Second, drive in the self-tapping pocket hole screws. The kit comes with a sample pack for you to try out. (A bag of 100 from Kreg typically costs $3.) They’ve got square-drive heads and an unthreaded shank below the head. The square-drive recess allows you to run the screws home without the bit slipping. The unthreaded section allows the rail to be pulled absolutely tight against the stile.
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