Pocket Hole Placement: Joinning Aprons to end table leg

[Azor HomeatShop]

On an end table I am joining 3/4", 4 1/2" wide aprons to a 1 3/8" square leg.  Material is Red Oak.  Is it best practice to vertically position the pocket holes differently on one apron so the pocket screws do not interfere with each other when driven into the leg?  Any suggestions on how much I need to position them Or do I not need to be concerned about this?

Thanks, Dick

[David Roberts]

I'm not an expert by far but I'd probably try to use 3 or maybe 4 shorter screws to join to the square leg. You can always use a piece of scrap to see how far the different screw lengths penetrate into the legs. Good luck

[Don Harris]

Hi Dick,
I am on my second furniture project as well as my second using the Kreg jig, I admit being a novice. I did not pre-plan the locations of the pocket holes on the first project, as a result I had screw interference, first where the aprons attached to the leg, second where the top attached to the aprons, both situations required relocating some pocket holes. In addition I had routed slots in the legs for the 1/4" plywood side panels, in this case I had to use 1-1/2" screws to get past the slot, next time I will not route the slot where the aprons attach.
In my case I learned the importance of pre-planning the pocket holes the hard way.

[Azor HomeatShop]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will spend some time looking at vertically positioning the pocket holes on the back apron differently than they are positioned on the side aprons. Since the front contains a drawer there are two 1" rails instead of aprons where currently I am thinking tenon joinery. If you have the Anthony Guidice book "Tables" [purchased at Rockler , isbn1-56158-342-1]. I am working with his cover design project which is detailed on page 33. Of course there will be differences in my project as there always are ;-).

Dick