Simplify Cabinetry with Pocket Holes

there's a bunch of reasons why pocket hole joinery has become so popular with cabinet makers the tools don't cost a lot the process is quick and easy to learn and the joinery it makes is fast and super solid pocket screws work a lot like toenail lling does in carpentry the screw goes at an angle into the side of one board and then passes down through into the board below but the screw threads make this joint a lot stronger than a toenail joint a good basic pocket screw kit comes with a jig like this craig k4 comes with a special drill bit and special driving bit you need and a good solid base clamp you'll also need some special screws you might also want to make a simple jig like this one that supports long pieces for drilling the key thing about this jig is that these support platforms are exactly flush with the top of the jig another cool shop helper to make is these right angle jigs these support big cabinet pieces so you can get the bar clamps on them and drill and drive your pocket screws so let's use this basic system to make a simple plywood cabinet plus a nice solid wood face frame we'll do it all fast and strong with pocket screws the first step in the process is to drill the pocket holes now these are not very pretty so the game is to figure out where to hide them in this case it's pretty easy because this cabinet is going to get sandwiched between two walls in a bathroom so we can hide most of the pocket holes on the outsides of the case this cabinet is basically a bottom piece attached to two sides up on top there's a web frame then a central web frame is screwed into place followed by a vertical divider and two drawer dividers we'll start with the web frame that serves as the cabinet top the first thing is we have to set the stop collar on the drill bit now we know we're working with three-quarter inch material so we'll set the jig for that thickness the upper web frame is made of two long stretchers that are connected by two short pieces I'm going to start by marking out the general locations of the pocket holes we need two screws on the ends of each of the short pieces will suffice in addition I'll drill a series of holes along what will later become the top front edge of the cabinet these screws will attach the face frame the two cabinet sides will rest on top of the base I'll mark four holes along the bottom edge of each side panel to secure them to the base then I'll mark four holes along the top edge of each panel to attach that upper web frame last I'm going to pre-drill for the vertical face frame styles that are going to go on the outer edges of the cabinet box using the jig watch how fast it is to drill pocket holes at all of our locations and notice how the support platforms keep the park nice and level now let's assemble this basic box aside from hiding the holes the other challenge with pocket screws is that they want to shift the work pieces slightly when they're tightened the solution is clamping the work pieces firmly in place as you drive the screws will begin with the upper web frame use the face clamp to keep all of the components flush with one another as you drive the screws into place a slow drill speed helps keeps components from shifting around as the screws go in and an impact driver doesn't hurt either this cabinet also has a central web frame that supports a vertical divider I'm going to go ahead and tackle that right now too now we'll attach the cabinet's top and bottom to the sides to join each side to the base I'm going to clamp on the right angle jig to help me position the pieces and then put a bar clamp as close as possible to each pocket hole to stop the pieces from shifting now I can just screw it all together now that we've built the basic box we've got it flipped upside down so we can install that last web frame that's going right through the middle I'm using spacers to make clamping this web frame easier they're also going to keep it from shifting when I drive the screws with the web frame aligned and set in place I can go ahead and screw it to the sides all right now that we put in this central web frame we're ready to put in the central divider once again I'm using spacers to secure this panel I'm screwing the divider in place from inside the drawer opening when the drawers are in place the holes will be hidden drawer dividers come next I've cut them to fit this space exactly but to keep the dividers level and spaced evenly as they go in I'm going to need you guessed it more spacers now we're ready to put on our face frame we've got all the pieces milled and cut and sanded and we're going to put on the vertical pieces first like this and then fill in with the horizontal pieces cutting them to fit precisely between these verticals you'll notice on the back of this vertical piece called the style that we've rabbet it out the edge that's because this edge is going against the wall now walls are not even so we're going to need to either sand or saw this edge to be snug dead snug to the wall and with the rabbet they'll be less material to remove okay we want this style here to be dead flush with the inside of this case and I know that the pocket screws which are on the outside are going to tend to want to pull it this way as they're tightened even with these clamps in place so here's a tip cheat the style over just a little bit maybe 1/32 of an inch and then clamp it in that spot nice and firm and then when the screws drive in it'll draw back nice and flush with this edge with an impact driver you can hear the sound change as the screws are driven home with a regular drill you probably want to set your clutch to medium so it doesn't overdrive the screws alright now we're going to put on the cross pieces we've cut them all to size to fit precisely between these styles and there's holes along the top edge or the bottom edge of each of these cabinet pieces to pull these rails tight to the cabinet but you'll also notice holes in the rails themselves these are intended to pull the rails tight to the Stiles we've clamped these bandings in place using the call to protect this soft pine and then I just screw them down we've got a row of screws along the edge of the cabinet and then one screw at each end alright well we've cut and fit and attached all of our horizontal pieces and I just got done putting in this vertical banding and right now I'm working on these drawer divider pieces and then we'll be done notice I'm using a call again to protect the wood and I'm driving screws both from the cabinet and through the face frame piece itself well that's how fast and easy it is to build a beautiful built-in cabinet with pocket screws now we still have to mount this one on a level base but we'll build that with pocket screws too

Channel: FineWoodworking

Views: 1,005,097

Rating: 4.8117337 out of 5

Keywords: 3929983009001, pocket hole, pocket-hole, free, Christiana, YT1, youtube, cabinet, TIV683, Edmundson, Fine Woodworking

Id: QB1wzR_wFlc

Length: 10min 39sec (639 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 08 2014