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My old boss in Cincinnati swore by a 3/8 inch offset for pocket hole jigs
He said it gave a stronger joint than the standard flush setting, so I did it that way for years. Finally tested it on some scrap maple with a Kreg jig, and the pull-out strength was basically the same... but the offset made lining up the faces a real pain. Anyone have a different pocket hole trick that actually makes a big difference?
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henry5972mo ago
Yeah, that's the thing with a lot of these woodworking "secrets". They get passed down like gospel, but half the time it's just extra steps for no real gain. I see it everywhere, not just in the shop. Like the "right" way to load a dishwasher or fold a t-shirt. People swear their method is the only way, but the end result is basically the same clean dish or drawer. You spent years dealing with that alignment hassle for nothing. For pocket holes, the only real game-changer I've found is just using glue in the joint along with the screw. That actually does something you can measure.
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kai_bennett1mo ago
Came back to read this again because I still can't get over the offset thing. You dealt with that nonsense for years without ever checking? That's wild. I guess it's easy to trust a boss when they sound confident, but that's a lot of wasted effort on something that didn't matter one bit.
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