Easy Pocket Hole Joint Assembly
George VondriskaAfter you’ve drilled pocket holes in your project, it’s time to assemble the joints. There are a bunch of things you can do to guarantee success with your assembly.
Pick the right screws
It’s very important that you choose the right screw to assemble pocket hole joints. There are lots of different screws you can use on your woodworking projects, but you specifically want to use pocket hole screws for this application. Pocket hole screws cut their own thread path and have pan heads that help reduce the likelihood of splits when the screw bottoms out in the pocket hole. Choose the right threads: fine threads for hardwoods, coarse threads for softwood or man-made materials.
Glue or no glue?
Yep, you should definitely glue your pocket hole joints. We did a little experiment to verify this. An extra-thick glue is the best choice.
Assembly
You HAVE to clamp your parts together before driving any screws. Because the hole is drilled at an angle the parts will tend to creep as you drive the screw if they’re not securely clamped. One way to align the parts, and keep them aligned, is with a face frame clamp. For larger projects, like big face frames, a bench clamp system works much better than a single face frame clamp.
Preventing glue from marring surface of the joint?
Hello Tom,
I’m not sure what you mean by glue marring the surface of a joint. Glue adds a lot of strength to a pocket hole joint. If you have squeeze out, it’s best to wipe it off with a damp cloth immediately.
Paul
Woodworkers Guild of America