Setup

[Woody]

I still can't fully figure out when drilling through one thickness to a different thickness.

I am need to drill through a 2x4 and attach to a 15/32 plywood, or 1/2 plywood, what would I set the collar and other piece too.  :0)  THanks.

[David Dean]

Woody it would realy help if you had a picture of what your doing

[James Waller]

You are trying to make pocket holes in the 2x4 to drill into 1/2" plywood? Even if you used the shortest screw Kreg makes (3/4"), it will still protrude out the back of the plywood.

I am afraid that you won't be able to use pocket holes in this case. You will have to just drill screws from the back of the plywood into the 2x4 that is on the front side.

[Jay Boutwell]

Woody, in answer to your problem of Kreg Jig boring and  screwing a 2x4 into 1/2inch stock is done by adjusting your stop collar after you set it to the 2 inch settings.  The correct screw to use is the 1 & 3/4 " screw.  The big problem is that you have to make sure the bit is set correctly.  I do this using the nickel method and disregard all the other methods.  I have enclosed some photos to show you how it is done.  The material used here is a standard 1& 1/2 thick 2x4 and I have bored it and screwed it to a 1/2" piece of alder drawer stock.  You will see that I have screwed the material together in a tight joint and there is no screw protrusion out the back of the 1/2" stock. Note that the screw exits the 2x4 at the center and that the total penetration into the 1/2 inch stock is just under 1/2 inch.  The last photo shows the back of the 1/2 inch material.  There is no screw exit.  The joint is tight and solid.  The secret is in the stop collar settings.

 

[Vincent Cayenne]

Jay, you say "The correct screw to use is the 1 & 3/4 " screw" but the photo is of a bag of 1 & 1/4 inchers - which is it?

[Jay Boutwell]

Sorry about that, use the 1 1/4 inch screw.  It does get confusing and this is why I like to use photos.
 
Vincent Cayenne said:

Jay, you say "The correct screw to use is the 1 & 3/4 " screw" but the photo is of a bag of 1 & 1/4 inchers - which is it?

[DPat]

I was wondering about this too. Kreg has reference video that discusses this in http://www.kregtool.com/PocketHole-Screws-and-Plugs-Prodlist.html They gave some general tips, and experiments to try beyond that.

[Adam S.]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I haven't liked how my experiments with 2x4 and 1/2 plywood have gone.  So in my internet search, I was brought here.  Jay, when you say set your jig to the 2 inch settings, I am taking that you mean 1 1/2 setting.  However, when I do that and try the nickel method to set the stop collar, the drill bit is not long enough for the 1 1/2 setting.  Could I just get a confirmation of your Jig Settings for your successful joining of your alder wood?  Thank you in advance.

[Jay Boutwell]

Hi Adam, Yes the 2inch setting would actually be at 1&1/2 inch.  I said as people get confused when talking about the 2x4's .  The drill bit is too short but they used to make the bits longer,  I have two bits that are longer that the ones they sell to day.  A lot has changed in the last couple of years.  The reason I went to the nickel for setting the stop collar is that when the jig first came out there was no guide to setting them and there is a lot with jigs that have holes drilled in the base due to setting the collar to deep.  I started using the nickel trick as it assurred me that I was not going to drill a hole in my base.  Lately Kreg has came out with a piece of plastic of which they are using to set the stop collar.  If you look at one of them it will give you a setting that is much different but you also have to use longer screws.  If you take the time to look through the Kreg community you will see all sorts of posts on troubles with screw depth settings and comments about setting the stop collar.

 

That is what happens to many good tools when you try to make one tool do a lot more than it should.  If there is any perticular point that you are having with your setting send me some photos and I will try to help you.

Adam S. said:

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I haven't liked how my experiments with 2x4 and 1/2 plywood have gone.  So in my internet search, I was brought here.  Jay, when you say set your jig to the 2 inch settings, I am taking that you mean 1 1/2 setting.  However, when I do that and try the nickel method to set the stop collar, the drill bit is not long enough for the 1 1/2 setting.  Could I just get a confirmation of your Jig Settings for your successful joining of your alder wood?  Thank you in advance.

[mathew patton]

this should help

[mathew patton]

I re modified kregs table it was off. its for the kreg jig mini

[Adam S.]

Jay and Matthew,

Thank you both for your replies.  I have definitely searched the Kreg Community and like you said, Jay, Kreg has changed up some jig design in the last couple of years so I need to take some of the older threads with special consideration then.  My project is just a basic 2x4 and 1/2 inch birch plywood cornhole board.  There are a lot of blogs/plans/videos talking about doing similar construction as I am, but no one is really revealing their Kreg jig settings.  So, I have been experimenting with various, on scrap wood and not getting good screw grab into the plywood.  I will be using wood glue in the final product, but have not been happy with the "dry" joints I have tried.  I plan on starting the experiments over and be more methodical on tracking what I have done.

I have a K4 Master System so I will take some of your table values and see how I can apply that to my setup.

Again, thank you both for responding.

Cheers,

Adam

[mathew patton]

If you download a program called sketch up, get a straight edge ruler and copy the kreg jig on sketchup up then use that to figure all the screw lengths and drill depth, that's how I made that table. I made sure they all worked on cad