Pocket holes and cedar

[daddywoofdawg]

I'm putting together a outdoor chair and the plans use pocket holes and pine,but I would like to use red cedar,is there anything different I should do?is pocket holes ok in cedar?

[Tim Grace]

I would supplement the joints with glue and use coarse threaded Kreg screws.  

Western Red Cedar is very soft.  I've done a deck storage bench, an arbor and decking with 5/4 cedar, but none used pocket joinery.  If you are using 5/4, the finished size is a full inch thick, be sure to use screws of the appropriate length and treatment. 

[daddywoofdawg]

I'm more wondering about splitting of the cedar as the screw goes in. 

[KregRep]

Cedar and pocket holes go together just fine. I've built a lot of outdoor projects using cedar and Kreg joints. Because cedar is soft and can be brittle, make sure you're not over-driving your screws. Try backing the clutch way down, to about a quarter of its max, and see if that drives them adequately. If not, up the clutch setting just a bit.

For outdoor projects, use our Blue-Kote or stainless screws. They're made for use outdoors and will hold up to the elements long-term much better than our standard zinc-plated screws. In any case, coarse-thread is the best choice. As Tim said, glue (exterior type, of course)is a good option--not so much to keep the joint together, but to help prevent the end-grain from wicking as much moisture.

KregRep