Securing the Kreg Pocket Hole Jig

[balzac.thegreat]

So I picked this up today and what a revelation! My joints are square, strong and it all happened with little effort. What a good feeling. Looking forward to using it a lot more.

I was using a normal quick release clamp to hold it to my stock. And the stock I was using was 1 1/2 wide by 3/4 thick. 95% of everything came out perfect. However, there were a couple times where the jig would shift from side to side over top the stock, causing some of the holes to come out not parallel to each other.

Has anybody built a jig for the jig to keep it straight left to right? Or any other advice on how to keep it steady. I'm thinking it may have also had to do with the relative thinness of the stock so the jig didn't have enough wood to sit on and to grab onto on the back.

Thanks in advance.

[LCHIEN]

...

Has anybody built a jig for the jig to keep it straight left to right? Or any other advice on how to keep it steady. I'm thinking it may have also had to do with the relative thinness of the stock so the jig didn't have enough wood to sit on and to grab onto on the back.

Thanks in advance.

So did you try the special face clamps that Kreg sells for that purpose? Based on a Vise grip and modified with a flat face clamp to hold the jig to the wood. Has that adjustable extra retention force at the end of the closure. Vise Grips are the champion of the "I need to hold this with exceptional force" clamps.
Try one.

[balzac.thegreat]

Yeah I also wondered if not springing for the special clamp was part of the problem. I'll have to go back to Rockler tomorrow and pick that up and see if that's the ticket. Not all that familiar with vice grips.

[poolhound]

No sure which version you bought. I went for the "master system" kit a few years ago and it come with the clamp but also has a benchtop base that I attached to a piece of ply which gets clamped to my bench when I use it. The main PH jig can also be used freehand (with the clamp). The kit also includes a bunch of PH screws and a dust extractor.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...0&filter=kreig

I wonder if they will let you take it back and switch for the bigger kit. Did you buy at rockler as they have a 25% off coupon right now. that makes the Master system a good bit cheaper.

[LCHIEN]

Yeah I also wondered if not springing for the special clamp was part of the problem. I'll have to go back to Rockler tomorrow and pick that up and see if that's the ticket. Not all that familiar with vice grips.

vice grips are like clamping pliers



Here's a conventional pair. You rotate the knob at the right until your jaw opening is tight enough that you apply a bit of pressure with the handle at the bottom using it like pliers. There's a bit of extra resistance as the jaws clsoe and then the handle snaps locked into the shut position. If the thing doesn't "snap" then you need to tighten the knob some. If you start applying too much pressure before it snaps, then loosen the knob some. To release from the locked position, lift the inner handle and it will unsnap. By adjusting the knob you can easily adjust the pressure when the vice grips are locked.

You can apply a great deal of pressure AND hold it with no hands... much more so than with a pair of quick grips (Made by Irwin also) or woodworking clamps. I use it grip and remove screws and fasteners that the heads have been damaged- you can successfully grip a rounded off bolt with these.

Great tool for your arsenal - like pliers than can be locked to a pipe or other object and hold in place without having to hold the pliers shut. Like having a third hand.

[BigguyZ]

I'm cheap. So I bought the padded vise grips from Harbor Freight and bought a strip of flat bar steel form the hardware store. All I had to do was cut and grind the stock into the same size discs as the actualy Kreg clamps, and use some epoxy to secure that to the clamp's original pads.

So for a fraction of the cost, I have a clamp that's just as good as the Kreg one.

I can take pictures if you need. But I highly reccomend making or buying oen either way, because attaching the jig to a clamp makes the process that that quicker.

[balzac.thegreat]

No sure which version you bought. I went for the "master system" kit a few years ago and it come with the clamp but also has a benchtop base that I attached to a piece of ply which gets clamped to my bench when I use it. The main PH jig can also be used freehand (with the clamp). The kit also includes a bunch of PH screws and a dust extractor.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...0&filter=kreig

I wonder if they will let you take it back and switch for the bigger kit. Did you buy at rockler as they have a 25% off coupon right now. that makes the Master system a good bit cheaper.

Yep, I bought it with the 25% coupon. I got the R3 system, the non-upgradable version. I figured I'd try and see how I liked it first and if I liked it I could come back for the master system and just have both. Little did I know it would take about 2 seconds to fall in love with it. They were out of the master system at the time as well.

I'll probably print out another 25% coupon and go buy their clamp. The clamp is not so hot of a buy without a nice discount.

[Ed62]

Check out the "Bargain Alerts". I just posted a sale on Kreg style clamps.

Ed