It's hard to encounter a woodworking project in which you don't need to join a couple of boards together. Understanding the basic techniques for doing so is the first step to building awesome things. Pocket screws don't require any specialized skills and are an easy way to get started building furniture and other small projects.
Joinery is essentially joining two (and likely more) boards together to create something more complex. There are a number of ways to do this using everything from clamps and glue to specialized cuts. I'll be featuring several of these over the next several weeks in a series on Joinery 101. Pocket screws are a great way to start building furniture or other woodworking projects.
So, here's how a pocket screw works. The "pocket" is created by drilling a hole at a precise angle to allow a screw to be securely embedded in two pieces of wood without sticking out of either board.
Figuring out how what depth and angle to drill the hole at would require way more math than I like to do on a Saturday afternoon, but lucky for me (and you) there are plenty of jigs out there that will do the math for you, which is what makes this an easy entry-level way to join wood.
The Kreg Jig is the most popular of these jigs. It uses a drill bit with a stopper and a guide that can be set to varying depths, depending on the thickness of your wood.
To create a pocket screw, you would first set the depth of the jig and drill bit according to the thickness of your wood. Then, clamp the guide to the end of the board that will have the "pockets" (in most cases you'll want to do this on the inside or underside of the piece that won't be visible when it's complete.)
After drilling the holes, install a screw in the pocket, joining the two boards together. Kreg screws specifically have a long un-threaded portion of the shank and a large head that allow the two pieces of wood to be pulled tightly together without the use of a clamp.
When the pocket screws are installed, no screw is visible, and the boards are securely joined together.
Generally, using pockets on the inside of the piece keeps them hidden, but in cases where the pockets might be exposed, Kreg sells wooden plugs to fill the holes. If you're planning to paint the finished piece, you could also use wood filler in lieu of plugs.
This type of joinery can be used for a number of different projects. One of the couch sleeves featured last week used pocket screws, and you can see a they work on larger projects like this console table I just built in a few hours over the weekend.
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