Wood has, for hundreds of years, been the material of choice for many household, commercial and craft items. Its popularity to a great extent is due to its warmth, beauty, ease of working and its adaptability to so many projects. Its one major drawback has always been the difficulty in joining mating pieces. Steel on the other hand is relatively easy to join with great strength. Drill a few holes and insert rivets or screws or bolts or use electric arc welding to make powerful joints. Wood does not yield so easily to such mundane joinery practices.
In order to make satisfactory joints in wood one must consider its ability to expand or contract according to its moisture content or the humidity or lack or humidity in its surroundings. This expansion and contraction can literally pull or split wood apart. To combat these forces many ingenious methods have been used over the years. Some of these methods have even added to the beauty of the finished product.
Dove tail joints for example when pins machined or hand carved in one piece and slots produced in the same manner in the adjoining piece make an extremely strong and long lasting joint that if produced properly display a beautiful joint. In addition the pegs and slots allow plenty of exposed surface for the application of glue.
Various types of glues produced over the years while making a somewhat acceptable joint tend to deteriorate with age and with the expansion and contraction of the wood. In most cases glue alone has never produced a satisfactory joint. Screws, nails or some other fastener are normally used in addition to the glue.
Mortise and tenon joints have long been a favorite of many wood workers. In the early years these were laboriously hand made with mallet and chisels. Later mortising machines replaced the hand work. To the present day many well made cabinet products will be found with these very joints.
The labor, time and talent necessary to properly make the above described joints have long perplexed the home craftsman who wished only to produce good quality projects for home or patio. These craftsmen needed a method to produce strong joints within a reasonable time that also produced a workman like finish. Simply gluing and nailing or screwing pieces together offended their creative spirit.
Fortunately a product appeared not so long ago called the pocket hole jig or the pocket screw jig. These tools solved the problem of making strong invisible joints in many cases without the need for glue. The pocket hole jigs have gained wide acceptance by home craftsmen and some professional woodworkers alike.
These tools allow the woodworker to drill angular holes through one piece, such as the shelf of a cabinet or bookcase, and into the mating piece. Because the screws pass through one piece and enter the mating piece at an angle they avoid the end grain of the wood which allows very weak holding surfaces and in some cases causes the wood to split. In addition these tools are relatively inexpensive and can be used immediately by even the novice woodworker.
If your goal is to build quality furniture and other projects and your budget for power tools is limited you would do well to investigate all that these remarkable pocket hole jigs have to offer.
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