So I'm assembling a carcass.  I bought  a horrible fright  pocket screw tool.  It's really pretty good.  No complaints about the tool.

But I didn't consider the fact of the screws  being  on an angle.  the screws upset the alignment of the parts  precisely because they are coming in at an angle.

So I'm using a brad gun to stop the movement  but it takes more  brads than I'd prefer.

 

Where you been?!? Hope all is well!

 

Edited September 11, 20196 yr by lew

Cliff show us what you bought, what brand?  The one I use don't let anything slip out of alinement!

I suspect the brand was hidden in the post?

"I bought  a horrible fright  pocket screw tool"

 

Would I be right in guessing that's Harbor Freight? We don't have them here.

That's interesting about the alignment. I haven't had trouble, but I haven't done a carcass as such. I did use some on my router table build though

 

I clamp the pieces together then, insert the screws. The clamp Lew showed is really handy.

You can also use the other type clamp with pads on both ends or a plain wood clamp and just clamp at the joint to keep it flat. Now if this joint is in the middle of a panel vs edge that is another story and there is not an easy solution I know of.

Kreg clamps

Get one of those clamps, two even.  Well worth the investment and the problem will go away.  I am not much for using them for everything but I do when needed.  

I clamp across the joint to hold them aligned. 

 

 

 

With a Shopsmith, I do a completely different thing.  I have made chests and bookcases using this method.  However, I use a regular screw with a washer.  I just set the Shopsmith in the drill press mode, tilt the table to 12 degrees, drill the hole to the depth that I want, assemble and glue and then insert the screws.  I'll have to show off someday.  Right now, working on rolling pins.  

6 minutes ago, FlGatorwood said:

Right now, working on rolling pins.

Like this???   

 

 

The advice above is golden....if the work pieces are held firmly with a clamp, once the first screw is in you should be good to go. I haven't bought one of the Kreg clamps yet, but it's on my list of things to get someday.

2 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I haven't bought one of the Kreg clamps yet, but it's on my list of things to get someday.

 

The Vise Grip pad clamps work and are cheaper.  One can even make the pads bigger if they weld.

 

 

well I did a search and found that it's actually pretty common, Which  only makes sense  since  the force really is coming in in a way that  induces a motion. 

Some people claim too much glue causes the slick  pieces to slide  other's claim more clamping in the thing.

I'm doing right angle joints and unless I take an affirmative  measure to prevent slippage  the wood will move  at least  1/16 and some times more.

 

Do you mind showing what you are using???   Gene wants to know?? Or was it Cal?

On 9/11/2019 at 11:36 PM, FlGatorwood said:

With a Shopsmith, I do a completely different thing.  I have made chests and bookcases using this method.  However, I use a regular screw with a washer.  I just set the Shopsmith in the drill press mode, tilt the table to 12 degrees, drill the hole to the depth that I want, assemble and glue and then insert the screws.  I'll have to show off someday.  Right now, working on rolling pins.  

I remember seeing this at Shopsmith.   This works well for things like attaching a skirt/apron to a table, but does not work for long pieces like face frames (remember that the screws need to end up in side grain, not end grain).

 

I took a look at Shopsmith web site earlier today to see if Hands On! was still archived online.   The last thing I could find was dated 2007 and most all the plan links were 404.   Too bad to see the company go down the drain.

 

I also got a chance to use the 10ER at the furniture bank Wednesday.   The MarkV was a tremendous improvement.   The vertical adjustment on the saw table was push and hope you got in the right place, no geared rack and pinion.

23 minutes ago, kmealy said:

plan links were 404

That is very frustrating to see as well. Contacted Shopsmith a year ago and asked them bout that, they stated their website was going to go through a revamp and they are going to have a new and improved web viewer experience up and running shortly, as you know, it has not happened yet.

There are several Hands on Line videos on YouTube. Probably not all but, a good number. 

 

10 hours ago, John Morris said:

 their website was going to go through a revamp and they are going to have a new and improved web viewer experience up and running shortly, 

 They could have copied & pasted this statement from the Wood website.

I had the same problem, particularly when attaching panels at right angles - eg tops, bottom & shelves to cabinet sides.

I used to clamp a board across the side, on the side OPPOSITE to the direction that the screws were coming from - this would "push" the divider/shelf against the stop and locate it perfectly. Then it occurred to me that I could make the stop look like a T-square, line it up with my layout line and use only one clamp. The next, and final (So far) iteration was to add stops to the cross-piece of the T-square - these acted to locate the part flush with the edge of the part to which it was being attached. Now I just clamp the T-square in place to my layout line, push the part being attached against the edge of the arm and the stop at the edge and drive the screws. So far, it has proved to be quick and pretty fool-proof.

 

The first photo shows the way I used to clamp boards to the panel - although it's actually a step in the assembly here; I already have the panels attached to the first side and am getting ready to pick that assembly up and set it in place to attach to the second side. You can actually see the first side with the bottom and middle shelf attached at the right edge of the photo.

 

Second photo shows the assembled guide, with the end locator blocks attached to the cross-piece of the T-square.

 

Third photo shows the "test" to prove that the part being attached would be flush to the outer edge.

 

Final photo shows the jig being used to assemble the part and cabinet side to each other - screws would be installed from the back side as shown in the photo, pushing the part tight against the jig.

 

This jig saves a lot of time when I'm assembling cabinets, and I'm confident (assuming that my layout was correct) that the parts don't move during assembly and are in the correct location.

Edited September 15, 20196 yr by tomp
Added note.

That's pretty slick @tomp. Thanks.