Pocket-hole placement recommendations

[C Sheppler]

Greetings.  Being brand new to using the Kreg system, I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a 'suggested/recommended' hole placement (inches apart) for material in the 4"-6" width range, such as a 2"x6"?  User's guide & videos cover up to 4" and which holes in the jig to use, then covers material that recommends holes every 6".  The only suggestion I can find so far is the generic: place the holes 2" in from the outer edge. 
Any 'suggestions'?

[James Waller]

Hello C!

It depends on a few things like...

What you are building and will it be load-bearing, like shelves, benches, chairs, etc.

Will there be long boards (like 6' to 12') in the project.

Do you have enough screws?

 

Obvious something like a side tabe will take less screws than a chair will. So it depends mainly on what you building on how many screws you need for that particular project.

[C Sheppler]

James,

I'm building a loft bed. Using 2x6's for the main mattress/frame supports & just trying to decide on how many screws to use on the ends, so nothing longer than 75". 

Testing with a piece of scrap after I posted this I found that three holes/screws look about right - centered the "A" jig slot on the board, then drilled "A" & "C", moved board to center on the "C" hole then drilled "A" - gave me 3 nicely spaced holes that I think should give plenty of support for a mattress and a 7-yr old.

Sound about right?

James Waller said:

Hello C!

It depends on a few things like...

What you are building and will it be load-bearing, like shelves, benches, chairs, etc.

Will there be long boards (like 6' to 12') in the project.

Do you have enough screws?

 

Obvious something like a side tabe will take less screws than a chair will. So it depends mainly on what you building on how many screws you need for that particular project.

[James Waller]

Oh, a loft bed for a 7-yr old. I will presume that this bed will be in use for a number of years and a LOT of use such as sleeping, reading, writing, JUMPING, up and down, in and out, and more.

There have been discussions on here about using kreg joinery on a bed and most agree that this will not be good as for the reasons above. Most have said to use nuts/bolts/washers to make the bed and I agreed with them.

I made me a loft bed a few years ago and used n/b/w so it would be stable and SAFE. I think that is what you should do to protect your 7-yr old and to give yourself a peace of mind.

Kreg joinery is great, but most members here will agree with me that in this case it is not, even if you have a Kreg HD.

Be safe, be happy....use nuts/bolts/washers...like I did on mine.