The screw head is not flush

[Jeff Varady]

I made a cake board out of plywood and framed it in solid pine.  I used pocket holes to attached the edging to the plywood.  The problem I have is the srew heads are above the surface of the board once screwed in.

 

What have I done wrong?

[John Schaben]

How thick is your stock? Which screws, pan head or washer head?

[steve kidd]

sounds like the holes were not drilled deep enough. check the stop collar on the bit and make sure it is set for the correct wood thickness. then use the right length of screws, 1 1/4 inch for 3/4 material. hope this helps.

[Jeff Varady]

The stock was 3/4". Washer head.

 

[KregRep]

Jeff, it's almost certainly the stop collar, as Steve said.  If it's set too shallow your hole won't be deep enough for the screw head to seat below the surface of the wood.

[Jeff Varady]

Ok, actually makes sense.  So then this leads to the next question.  do you set the depth based on the tip of the bit, or where it widens out?

 

[KregRep]

Per the instruction manual, you base the depth off of the STEP of the bit.  Not the tip.  Good luck!

[Tom Kearns]

I made the same mistake when setting the collar, instead of redrilling I used a 1 1/2 screw instead of the 1 1/4 for 3/4 stock, joint was weak with the smaller screw, once I refered to the DVD for proper setup I knew that the hole wasnt deep enough.   When I corrected the drill step for my second piece now using the 1 1/4 screw for the 3/4 stock, now the tip of the screw is just poking out of the board.  I rechecked the size and made sure the jig was set up properly and the drill was properly set up.  Was wondering if you have to compensate and go on the shy side when setting up the step drill?

[Jeff Varady]

I had the same problem.  I had the tip of the screw penetrate when I had the depth set on the bit correctly.  I must have had the depth wrong on the block itself.

 

I am ready to built a couple of cabinets for my garage, I will try again and see how it goes!

[Tom Kearns]

I just completed a building some 8' x 12" with a 4" (6 of them)  riser for the perimeter of my store to put inventory on.  I put in a pocket hole every 8".  A lot of drilling a lot of pocket holes.  I fudged the step by just about a strong 1/16 and it came out perfect.  I was also using MDF which I found was much more solid and not so soft as the pine I recently used, when thinking about I may have driven the screws a bit hard into the soft wood.  So I think it is also material driven.

Jeff Varady said:

I had the same problem.  I had the tip of the screw penetrate when I had the depth set on the bit correctly.  I must have had the depth wrong on the block itself.

 

I am ready to built a couple of cabinets for my garage, I will try again and see how it goes!

[Jeff Varady]

Ok I am still a bit confused and want to make sure I understand the concept. You set the height of the jig to the thickness of the material that is getting the pocket hole, correct?  You also set the collar on the bit based on the thickness of the material getting the pocket hole?  I am making a case that is comprised of 3/4" plywood on the out side and 1/2" plywood is forming the dividers and an trying to understand how to set everything to join it properly.

 

Thank you in advance.

[Eariyya]

It sounds like the issue you're facing is with the screw heads protruding above the surface of the kaker board after using pocket holes to attach the edging to the plywood. One possible reason for this could be that the screws were driven in too far, causing them to extend beyond the surface. To fix this, you can try adjusting the depth setting on your pocket hole jig or using shorter screws. Alternatively, you might want to countersink the screw heads slightly by drilling a shallow hole to allow them to sit flush with the surface. Hope this helps!