Why Pocket hole joinery?

Pocket hole joinery was supposed to have been known to and used by the ancients long before other forms of joining or assembling wood were used. However, it is only recently that this method has gained popularity because commercial jigs, the most popular being the Kreg Tool, have become available and reasonably priced. Click pictures to enlarge.

1. It is by far the easiest to do because you only have to drill holes into one workpiece to join it to another.

In this example, the holes were drilled to the vertical pieces; self-tapping screws were then driven to fasten them to the horizontal pieces for a very strong and durable joinery.

2. It is a very strong joint, without glue (although it is optional). On this test joint where a 4X4 is fastened to a 2X4 soft wood, the joinery is tight.

3. It is fast and the joint can be dis-assembled easily and just as quickly. As an afterthought, I needed a "lip" for a table saw sled to protect the corner. It took no time to do it.

4. In many of its applications one face of the joint has all the pieces perfectly flushed and that was made possible by the special clamp that comes with the jig.

5. A beginning woodworker can start assembling as quickly as he or she can cut the straight pieces and drill the pocket holes.

6. The process will not take long to master. Here I used the joinery to "stitch" several pieces to make a strong base for a sturdy workbench.

7. The instruction for this commercial jig that comes as a kit is very easy to understand.

The first two projects that I recommend a beginning woodworker should start with were done with pocket hole joinery to assemble the parts and the entire project. It is a very much more forgiving joinery to do versus dowels, mortise and tenons or even biscuit joinery (watch for a posting on this special form of joining wood)

Click link for photos of other various pocket hole applications:

http://picasaweb.google.com/109528829731927883373/ProjectsWherePocketHolesWereAlsoUsed#