joining different sized wood

[John Newsome]

Hello all. I am new to the whole pockethole thing and have run across a problem when joining two different sized wood pieces. I am building a computer desk and making the end boxes using solid Red Oak for the faces and Red Oak plywood for the sides and shelves. The problem I have run across is when joining the face to the sides. I was using 1/2 inch ply for the sides and 3/4 solid for the face and rear support. I had to adjust things to keep the screws from going through the 3/4, do not remember the actual setting but know they were not normal as the normal set-up had the screw emerging from the 1/2 inch 3/4 of the way through instead of the center. So, my questions. Is 1/2 inch wood too thin to use with pocket holes, or just really short screws needed. What is the best way to set up for different sized woods? Being on a tight budget, a 60 mile round trip to get 3/4 ply to replace the 1/2 was not feasible, but will remember in the future to use 3/4+ wood. Thanks for reading and any help or advice you have.

 

John

[John Schaben]

Hi John - plywood is kind of a crap shoot. Odds are it is less, sometimes much less, than advertised. Likely need to play with some scraps and jig to get the hole as close to the center as possible and then play with the depth stop to get a nice pocket and not get to deep. Will also need to be something of a trial and error but with the pocket in the 1/2" side, I would guess 1" to 1-1/4" would be plenty. You may need to go with pan head screws also as they will hide in a shallower pocket.

To get to your question, no - 1/2" is not to thin for pockets but it does demand more attention. The micro jig was supposedly designed for 1/4" but I use it on 1/2" a lot for the issues you are having.

[John Schaben]

Coincidentally - this mornings e-mail had a flyer from MLCS. It appears they have started to carry a pocket hole jig where the holes are put in with a router. The thing that made it of interest to me is that it puts the angle at 10* vs. the Kreg 15* which would allow friendlier use of thinner stock. It is not however, anything close to a production device as the pocket hole drilling is a two step process, One to route the pocket and a second to drill the pilot hole. It also appears that it needs to be repositioned each hole.

[Gary roofner]

Sounds to much like work.

John Schaben said:

Coincidentally - this mornings e-mail had a flyer from MLCS. It appears they have started to carry a pocket hole jig where the holes are put in with a router. The thing that made it of interest to me is that it puts the angle at 10* vs. the Kreg 15* which would allow friendlier use of thinner stock. It is not however, anything close to a production device as the pocket hole drilling is a two step process, One to route the pocket and a second to drill the pilot hole. It also appears that it needs to be repositioned each hole.

[John Schaben]

Like I pointed out, the 10* angle looks to be the primary advantage. Be difficult to achieve with a Kreg style system, bit would need to be about 2 ft long.

Gary roofner said:

Sounds to much like work.

John Schaben said:

Coincidentally - this mornings e-mail had a flyer from MLCS. It appears they have started to carry a pocket hole jig where the holes are put in with a router. The thing that made it of interest to me is that it puts the angle at 10* vs. the Kreg 15* which would allow friendlier use of thinner stock. It is not however, anything close to a production device as the pocket hole drilling is a two step process, One to route the pocket and a second to drill the pilot hole. It also appears that it needs to be repositioned each hole.

[John Newsome]

John. Thanks for the reply and new information. I will keep my eye out for developments in the new system. I did manage to get the pocket holes to come out at the center by using a thin piece of wood to raise the 1/2" stock about a 1/4" though the screw head hole ended about 5/8" from the edge. I am hoping that is enough to maintain the strength, though the box seems stable. We shall see how it works out.