How would you attach this?

[gale]

I need to attach a 1/2" thick piece of wood to the edge of a 3/4" piece. I have both the regular and micro jigs but I'm not sure which settings to use. I'm thinking I need to go through the 3/4" and then into the 1/2" from the inside or underneath (not sure which) but do I use the settings for 1/2", 3/4" or a combination? See the pic. Thanks 

[KregCS]

Gale, drill your pocket holes into your 3/4" piece and screw into the 1/2" stock. For this you would want to set everything up for 1/2" stock and use your 3/4" long screws. If you have any other questions please let us know. 

[gale]

Thanks! I can only find 1" screws around here so I'll see if I can order some 3/4" somewhere (without having to pay more in shipping than the cost of the screws). 

[Ken Kortch]

Gale,

In the spirit of "teaching a person to fish" ...

The Kreg Jig settings (both the jig's distance from the end of the board and the drill collar's distance from the tip of the step drill bit) should always be used based upon the thickness of the board in which the pocket hole will be made (3/4" in your case). These settings have nothing to do with the thickness of the NON-pocket hole board (1/2" in your case).

The jig's distance from the end of the board is set so that the screw exits in the center of the pocket hole board.

The drill bit's length is set so that the pocket hole stops just short of exiting the end of the pocket hole board. As a matter of fact, some people set the bit collar depth by placing a U.S. nickel at the bottom the Kreg Jig base, gently inserting the drill bit into the Jig letting the tip touch the nickel, butting the bit collar against the top of the JIg, and then carefully tightening the collar to the bit. This gives the perfect drill depth.

The screw length determines how deep the screw will penetrate into the NON-pocket hole board. The length needed depends on BOTH the thickness of the pocket hole board and the thickness of the NON-pocket hole board. 

KregCS suggested using a 3/4" screw for your application, but the Kreg Screw Selector Wheel suggests using a 1" screw. Why is that?  I"m not really sure. I suspect that given all the variations involved (board width, screw setting, Jig setting, ... come into play here. In the end either length might work. Shorter screws are less likely to pop out the back side of the NON-pocket hole board (bad!), but longer screws give more strength (good!). So the excellent recommendations I've read is to try BOTH 3/4" and 1" screws on scraps of the same wood you're using - to find out if the 1" screws can indeed be used.

[gale]

Now I'm confused, because KregCS said to use the settings for 1/2" board on both the jig and the drill. But your post says to use the 3/4" (since that's what I'm drilling the pocket hole in). I'll have to see if I have any of the right size scraps-otherwise I'll have to actually buy scrap. lol

eta: I can't try until around Tuesday when my 3/4" screws get here. I had to order them. 

[Ken Kortch]

According to the Kreg Screw Selector Wheel - which is a device sent down from the Kreg Jig gods ...

The board with the pocket holes is labeled as 'A'.

The board being attached to 'A' at a right angle is called 'B'.

The end of A butts into the side of B, if that makes sense. Like shown on the left side of the picture here:

For an "Edge Joint", for A=3/4" and B=1/2", the Kreg Screw Selector Wheel recommends:

    3/4" Jig Setting and 1" Screw.

... and as shown in the picture, for A=3/4" and B=3/4", it recommends 3/4" Jig Setting and 1-1/4" Screw,

BTW, I converted the Screw Selector Wheel recommendations to two tables in Excel. Here they are, if that helps:

[gale]

If that's the case i wasted $8 on 3/4" screws. I won't be able to try it for a few days anyway. thanks for the advice and the chart.

[Ken Kortch]

Eh, not such a waste. The 3/4" screws are good when you're attaching 1/2" material to 1/2" material.

The Kreg Micro Jig, which you may want to get someday. Its especially designed to work with 1/2" thick wood for things like drawers or small boxes. It creates smaller pockets than the regular Jigs. One never knows.

Actually, I find the instructions for putting pocket holes into 1/2" thick wood somewhat confusing. Sometimes I see 1" recommended and sometimes I see 3/4" recommended. I think the best thing is to try both with scrap and see what works best (longer is better). If you don't have 3/4" screws then you can't try them to see if they work.

gale said:

If that's the case i wasted $8 on 3/4" screws. I won't be able to try it for a few days anyway. thanks for the advice and the chart.

[Tim Grace]

Thanks Ken!  I've done drawers using 1/2" stock and have had difficulty getting it to work right, so resorted to other means (butt joints, drawer lock joints or rabbets).  I didn't understand the use for the micro jig, now I can go pick up a micro-jig  and make the drawers the easy way!  

[gale]

I do have the micro jig but for this one I'll have to use the regular one (I think). I'm sure if I don't use the 3/4" screws for kreg projects I'll find some other use for them. 

Ken Kortch said:

Eh, not such a waste. The 3/4" screws are good when you're attaching 1/2" material to 1/2" material.

The Kreg Micro Jig, which you may want to get someday. Its especially designed to work with 1/2" thick wood for things like drawers or small boxes. It creates smaller pockets than the regular Jigs. One never knows.

Actually, I find the instructions for putting pocket holes into 1/2" thick wood somewhat confusing. Sometimes I see 1" recommended and sometimes I see 3/4" recommended. I think the best thing is to try both with scrap and see what works best (longer is better). If you don't have 3/4" screws then you can't try them to see if they work.

gale said:

If that's the case i wasted $8 on 3/4" screws. I won't be able to try it for a few days anyway. thanks for the advice and the chart.

[wm frank straub]

The company reps usually are very good but are a bit [no pun intended] confusing on this.  The 3/4 setting sets your pocket hole 1/4" higher on the stock than does the 1/2".  It then exits the wood in the center of the 3/4 stock.  1" screws should work fine going into 1/2" material with this setting but as stated, "test on some scrap first."  Using !/2 setting to drill your pocket hole will make the hole be 1/4" closer to the piece being attached and 3/4" screws will most definitely be required.

I love my Kreg system and do have a micro jig, but when building drawers from 1/2" stock I find a drawer lock bit gives a much more finished look and is almost as easy

[gale]

Update-I used the chart posted above. Set the jig and drill stop for 3/4" and used 1" screws. It turned out great! I only had very small scrap so I ended up splitting the wood because the hole was close to the edges, but when I did the real piece I made it about 3" from the ends. 

I'm sure I'll find a use for the 3/4" screws. I don't often do much with 1/2" stock but maybe I'll make it a point to. lol

thanks everyone!! 

eta: I used the micro jig. Also, I printed the chart (page one only since I don't usually do edge to edge joining so far) and put it in a page protector and I'll keep it with my jig.