New R3 owner - beginner questions

[Josh]

Hi,

I picked up an R3 and built a table with it last week. As I've been working with it a few questions have come up.

First. On the R3 is the collar depth for 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" the same marking? 

How do you set the jig when you are using two different thicknesses of wood? Everything I see people are using the same thickness of wood for both pieces. Say I wanted to join a 2x4 to 2x2 or 1x1 stock? Do you just set the jig for the thickness of the wood you are adding the pocket hole to? Or do you set the jig for the thickness of the wood you are joining into?

Or if I wanted to add a pocket hole to the cross cut end of a 2x4?

I think perhaps I am still having a bit a problem visualising how the jig should be set up. 

Hopefully my questions make sense. Thank you!

[KregRep]

Hi Josh,

Thank you for your Kreg Jig R3 purchase, and welcome to the Kreg Owners' Community!

The answer to your first question is yes. The 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" depth collar marking on the R3 are the same.

When working with two different thicknesses of wood, here are two general rules of thumb:
1) Always set the drill bit for the thickness of the material you will be drilling your pocket holes into. 2) Always choose your screw length based on the thickness of the material you will be driving your screws into (the other piece that you didn't drill pocket holes into).

You can view the R3 manual here: https://www.kregtool.com/webres/Files/r3_manual-tri-lingual.pdf. And if after this you are still confused, feel free to contact the Kreg Customer Service Team by phone at 800-447-8638. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding Kreg products.

Happy Building!
KregRep

[Jack Charity]

Regarding the marks inscribed in the case for setting the collar -- I think that what might be confusing Josh, and me, is that on the other side from where you say there is one mark for both 1-1/4 and 1-1/2, there are two other marks for 1-1/8 and 1-3/8. 

But, the 1-1/8 mark would give a longer drill length than the mark for 1-1/4 ??

And the 1-3/8 mark would give a drill length longer than 1-1/2 (same mark)??

Something does not seem right.

Jack