Went into the furniture bank this morning to do some repairs and time-permitting assemble some "flat pack" furniture. What I didn't expect was about a truck load of boxes from a local online auction. No one there seemed to know much about it. It was a combination of stuff they didn't want to sell, couldn't get a bit on, or whatever. A lot of it is stuff that is damaged, incomplete (box 1 of 2), Amazon returns, etc. Some of it is not furniture (shutters, shower curtains, etc.) We have a large group coming in tomorrow and some of them will work with me on assembling stuff. It will take quite a while to sort thru it all. This is about half of it.

I have a number of Kreg jigs including a pocket hole jig. But I haven't used them in years. Also I have all kinds of screws and nails but haven't used them in years as well. I use them for replacement and outside stuff like the fence once in a great while. My woodworking now is all joinery with hand tools. Just sayin'.

I have used sheet metal screws but only to hold till the glue dries 😃. Not a recommended procedure but i made it work.

28 minutes ago, kmealy said:

The pocket hole screws have bugle head top (the underside is flat), pan head screws (a common type) have a v-shaped underneath. Since the pocket hole drill bits leave a flat secondary surface, the prior type works well and the latter type tends to split the wood.

I think you might have got that backwards, Keith. Pan head have the flat underside, bugle head have that curved tapered underside Most of the bugle head screws I've seen were drywall screws, which don't have much use for woodworking (IMHO).

Thinking maybe building up the edge to allow for longer screws may be my best option. Need to stew on this a bit yet.

Maybe thicken it with a small piece of hardwood (?).

1 hour ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I think you might have got that backwards, Keith. Pan head have the flat underside, bugle head have that curved tapered underside Most of the bugle head screws I've seen were drywall screws, which don't have much use for woodworking (IMHO).

Yeah, I tried too find a good picture and was not too successful

Thinking out loud here, @BB1 you said the pocket screws didn’t hold well in the plywood. Was it the threads didn’t hold or the head of the screw split the plywood?

My first pocket hole jig was a cheap "1 holer". Then one day in Woodcraft, I saw a two-holer. I bought it because I could fasten it down with a screw. I did not need a clamp. That was very useful when I was repairing upholstered furniture frames where I could not get a clamp on it. A while later, there was a used K3 at the local machine dealer, so I bought it. It's in my shop and the others in my travel kit.

At the furniture bank, we bought a Foreman machine. It was tough on the drill bits (either that or the users moved the wood when the drill was not retracted fully). After a couple of years, there was an electrical problem, so we replaced it. Same problems. We ended up going with a very expensive Kreg DK3100 machine that has a pneumatic hold down and machine driven bit push. We go thru thousands of pocket holes a year on table aprons (we're currently making ~200 tables a month)

53 minutes ago, lew said:

Was it the threads didn’t hold or the head of the screw split the plywood

Threads never caught so the joint was loose.

51 minutes ago, kmealy said:

We go thru thousands of pocket holes a year on table aprons (we're currently making ~200 tables a month)

Wow!! That's awesome!

1 hour ago, BB1 said:

Threads never caught so the joint was loose.

Well that foils my thought.

59 minutes ago, lew said:

Well that foils my thought.

Unfortunately, thinking my choice of the 1/2 inch plywood is complicating the joinery. Didn't get to look at this today as a good friend stopped by to see the shop updates. Then my husband and I worked on getting the mitersaw counter to the needed height using some 3D printed shims.

Today I finally got the two butcherblock counters glued up. Used screws in the middle for clamps plus added some weight.

(I try not to use too many clamps🙄...never too many!!🤣🤣)

Also shimmed the mitersaw (used some 3D printed shims) and snugged down the side counters.

Whoaaaaaa! That looks like alot of weight! Where's the train? Lol 😉

Believe it or not if the surfaces are flat you really should not need that many clamps. the weights for middle are a real good idea.

7 hours ago, Gerald said:

Believe it or not if the surfaces are flat you really should not need that many clamps

I figure too many is better than too few. I typically keep checking on glue squeeze out. When an added clamp adds a bit, have added assurance of good contact.

And that new mobile clamp rack has been great. No more running around to grab a clamp. They all are in place and ready.