General Tools Woodworking Pocket Hole Jig Kit - All-In-One Aluminum Pocket System with Carrying Case

First time I've really used pocket holes. Needed a way to assemble an odd cabinet in place in tight quarters. Pocket screws were the perfect solution. It worked so well and is so quick that I think I'm going to be using this approach for non-structural cabinets a lot more instead of glueing up biscuit-joints. A few cautions. Suggest spending a fair bit of time setting the drill stop for optimum depth then make sure that set screw is tight tight tight. Strongly advise using a variable speed drill which has really good low RPM control and good trigger control - that drill bit is really 'grabby' when you start up inside the drill guide. There's not much wood left in the plywood under the screw head, thought I could go cheap where the plywood didn't show. would have worked fine with biscuits but the internal layers weren't strong enough to hold the joint tight with just a few screw heads after a bit of lateral wracking, had to go with good 7 ply instead.

Over the summer I built a set of tables using my fathers name brand unit. After finishing it felt like I was missing one piece and I decided to add an end table. Dad had taken back his tools so I came here looking for a set of my own. After seeing the price difference I started reading some reviews and decided to pick this kit up. The kit has everything that you need to get started and I found it easier to use. The size of the unit and space in the clamp is enough to use it with 2” stock, it was also easy to adjust and versatile enough to use with the 1” that I used for my project. The quality of the materials and the ease of use make this as good of a product as the name brand. The materials fit the bill and I have no real complaints about this purchase.

I didn't want to spend a fortune on a Kreg so I bought this and it worked well. It only does 1.5" max width wood but that was fine for my project which used 5/8" plywood. I just needed recessed screws to mount the top of this board vs screwing top down. There were a few metal filings that came off the jig when drilling and the holes weren't "clean" (some rough edges) but with a little sanding, they cleaned up fine. For the DIY'er like me, I would recommend this especially for the price. And it comes in a nice carrying/storage case also. The project is a cornhole airmail box fyi.

The General Tools 854 Adjustable Pocket Hole Jig provides a cheaper alternative to drilling pocket holes. This model is designed to adjust for all wood thicknesses from 0.5 inch to 1-5 inch, the range of the possible pocket hole thicknesses. It also comes apart to allow drilling posket holes on a fixed piece that does not fit into the full jig. Unfortunately, there are no instructions and minimum essential markings on the jig. There is a web site that is suposed to have answers listed on the packaging but I have not loooked at it. The best way to understand how to use the jig and screw sizes is to make trial holes on scrap lumber. Good tool for the price!

With Kreg jigs tending to be more expensive, I have a feeling this product is a common choice for folks who, like me, aren't yet familiar with pocket hole joinery, and maybe just have one project in mind to try it out with. Once I received the jig, read the very limited instructions and started planning my joints and figuring out how I'd set the jig up to drill the holes, I very quickly realized this wasn't the best choice of jigs. Being able to clamp and drill anything from 1/2" up to 1.5" sounds great and flexible in application, but the fact that there's no actual adjustment of the placement of the holes or changes to the angle because of different board thicknesses means that flexibility is meaningless. With a static jig like this, there will basically be one thickness of wood that the holes end up coming out the edge at the correct point. All other thicknesses will be off the mark. The limited instructions show pictures of angled joint holes that honestly don't even make sense how they would have drilled them. The product video shows similar, though not quite so improbable angle joints, but again, they just show the board already drilled and never show drilling holes for an angled joint. Basically, they border on false advertising, and overall I feel like they are taking advantage of buyers who don't yet know enough about pocket joinery to know this jig is very limited in the applications it will work well for. It might seem like you are getting equal value or more than for a slightly higher priced jig from another company, but you are actually getting a lot less due to the lack of adjustment and versatility. I regret the purchase and wish I'd thrown another $10 at a better jig, now I'll be looking at buying a more expensive one after having wasted money on this one already. Yes, it is solidly constructed. It's basically a block of aluminum with some holes in it. Would be hard to break. Yes, it will work for very basic pocket hole joinery and probably works well for common 3/4 inch (1x...) material. But that's about it. Oh, and it's not even gold/brass/whatever color is shown. It's just plain old aluminum. ------- Update After going through a decent sized project with this jig, and shopping around a bit more, I'm adding a 3rd star based on the results I got with it, and the fact that while you can buy a better/adjustable jig for $10 more, you'd also need to buy a face clamp to actually use that jig, so in the end, and upgrade from this would be about double the price. So, for half the price, it's "Okay". The results you can get with this jig using 3/4" material are fine. Just know you'll need to invest more time into getting it set up and doing a lot of test pieces. Between the lack of adjustability of the jig, and the lack of any guidance on adjusting the bit, it takes fiddling to get set up right. I started with the general guideline of setting the bit 1/8" short of having the tip come out the end of the board. This made the holes too shallow, so the screw heads would be visible. Of course, if you set the bit too deep, you'll probably have screw points coming out the outside, which you definitely don't want. So fiddle about until you get that just right and you can get decent results. Also, despite 1 1/4" screws being recommended for joining 3/4" material, whether 1x boards or 3/4" sheet goods, I found that 3/4" plywood, being just shy of actual 3/4" you are likely to get bumps or screw tips coming out, so had to run out and buy a box of 1" screws. All in all, if you just need a jig for one or occasional projects using mostly 3/4" material, this one is fine if you are willing to put some time into getting it set up. If you are going to be using it a lot, it is probably worth investing in a better jig.

This is an excellent little tool. It's not Kreg quality, but it gets the job done well enough. It's excellent quality for the price, but don't expect too much from it. I've read other reviews where they're upset that it's not better quality. It's aluminum and under $30. Be realistic in your expectations. For small projects it's amazing. I used it to make new drawers for a project I'm restoring. I'm very happy with the purchase. Would recommend for other amateur hobbyists.

Great product and works great.

Works like a charm, I'll break the review down to under stand the 4/5 stars Accuracy: If you attached the jig to the wood and clamp it properly I'd say 49/50 times it'll work right. Not sure if I just happened to move the jig, fairly certain it was perfectly in place but 2 holes I drilled out of the some 100 I drilled came out too short and the screws went all the way into the wood I was joining with it. Versatility: It's a very small jig and has a built in clamp, so moving it around is no problem at all. On top of that it's adjustable up to 1.5 inches thick wood, which I used for 2x6's and it worked lovely. Overall the problem is incredibly easy to use and the extra screws are a nice touch, despite not actually using them. Square bit works great and works with Kreg screws. Totally recommend for a workshop on a budget.