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I called pocket screws a hack for years, then a job in Lansing changed my mind
For about 8 years I refused to touch pocket screws on anything visible, figured they were for garage shelves and weekend warriors. Then last spring I took a cabinet refacing job in Lansing and the homeowner wanted new face frames on 14 boxes without pulling the counters. A guy I sub with handed me his Kreg jig and said just try it on the uppers first. I did the first three frames that way and clocked myself: 40 minutes per frame instead of the 90 I was burning on dowels and clamps. The joints held dead square and the filler covered everything, and honestly the install went smoother than most of my glue-up jobs. I still won't use them on a table apron or anything that takes a racking load, but for face frames I was flat wrong. Anyone here run them on full cabinet boxes, or do you draw the line at refacing like I do?
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gavin36529d ago
Got to push back on one thing here. Pocket screws are not the reason those frames stayed square, the jig and your clamping are. Kreg screws pull the joint tight but they can still shift if you don't hold the parts flat while you drive them. The reason you beat your dowel time is no glue drying and no clamp shuffle, not the screw itself. So yeah they work great for face frames, but give the credit to the setup. Full boxes with pocket screws at the corners will rack over time unless you add a back panel or some kind of brace to lock it in.
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