Customer Reviews

Kreg K3MS K3 Master Pocket Hole Jig System

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me first say that like the K3 idea and I've had a K2000 for years and loved it. I like the idea of a single tool being utilized in two holders for both benchtop and portable work. It's also great that you can choose board thickness by just by a simple adjustment without having to remove or add parts.

Now, what I didn't care for was that the new benchtop system doesn't hold stock near as firmly as the K2000. This is true because I still have a 2000 and I've tested it because I thought it was odd that I could rock the material in the new K3 system benchtop system. The same stock (especially 1/2" material) was rock solid in the K2000. It's not enough to make the K3 unworkable, however it is enough that I noticed it right away. I wrote Kreg and they admitted that it doesn't hold the stock as firm but feel the other benefits outweight it. I'm glad I kept the old K2000 for benchtop work and use the K3 system like I did my old Rocket. In looking at the system, it became obvious to me why it doesn't hold stock quite as well - there is no lower support for the board and the face of the jig is now a polished aluminum instead of the glass re-inforced plastic which provides more friction. Additionally, the K2000 has a single ram which doesn't allow the clamp portion to move from side to side, where the K3 system does give a little.

I'm not down on the new tool, however this is a review of my experience and it defeats the purpose if I don't call it like I see it. If I had it to do again, I'd have remained perfectly happy with the K2000 and then just bought the K3 standard pack.

Edit as of 03-10: I stand by my review but will admit that I have used it a great deal - I simply hold narrow pieces with my left hand while drilling with my right. I was at a woodworking show and a Kreg rep was there. I posed the question as to why the jig does not hold material as solid and while they did admit that this is the case, my reasoning may be flawed. He said that it is due to the "spring" built into the K3 that allows for small thicknesses of wood without having to readjust the clamp. That makes sense to me, it's just too bad because the forward features of the jig such as that are certainly worthwhile, it just has this little side effect. If you never had a K2000 or earlier model, you would never notice it.

I bought the K3 Master System based on other reviews here on Amazon and because of the revisions Kreg made to the system (chip collection and front clamp handle). I just finished building a mission style media cabinet and I made all the joints with the Kreg pocket hole system. Overall, I'm very pleased with both the final product and the Kreg K3 Master System. The prospect of using pocket screws to connect the face frame components and to attach the major pieces together (rather than mortise and tenon or tongue and groove systems)gave me the confidence to attack a big furniture project. Kreg's pocket hole system is not only easy to use, but well thought out. It seems better designed and engineered than some of the piecemeal products on the market (like Rockler and CMT, although I love other products from those companies!). Not only does the K3 system make it easy to set up for any thickness of wood, it also makes it easy figuring out where to put the collar on the drill bit for proper hole depth. The K3 holds your part securely and the dust/ship collector system works like a charm. The only part of the kit that I'm still not satisfied with is the clamp. At times, edge joined wood sections (like a rail and stile on a door) were not held tight enough to prevent movement during the screwing operation. In addition, after fastening the two pieces, I sometimes found that the faces of the boards were not perfectly flat - something I counted on the C-clamp doing for me. I solved the problem somewhat by using bar clamps to hold the pieces together side to side while the Kreg clamp held them on even plane. That's the only complaint I have. Maybe I just haven't screwed the clamp tight enough, but it's difficult to unclamp as it is. I recommend checking twice before screwing once because once the self-tapping screws go in, it is difficult to take them out and make small adjustments. The screws want to go back into the old holes, naturally. I bought the Kreg screws recommended for oak (1 1/4" fine thread) and they worked perfectly. Nice tight joints, even without glue. Using a little glue is probably better, but not too much or it will get messy, with the face clamp in place.

One note...I used Kreg's oak pocket hole plugs to fill the pocket holes on the back side of the doors, since they would be visible when they were open. I found the plugs to fit better after trimming 1/4" off the tail end with my bandsaw. Otherwise they would have protruded from the surface 1/4" and that would have required a LOT of sanding! After staining, they look pretty good -- little ovals at each of the joints.

I have recommended this system to my woodworking friends and I recommend it to you. Don't settle for any of the smaller Kreg models to start out. Go with this one from the beginning. You'll be glad you did.

I've had this for a few weeks now. I tried using the last version of this (K2000), and I wasn't sure why so many people liked it. I didn't like the placement of the handle, the plastic at the point of most wear (on the backside of the jig), the mess it made and the price. All of those issues have been fixed, except the price. However, i'll say that it's worth it, if you need to do a lot of pocketholes. I had been considering one of the automatic ones, either by Kreg or Porter Cable, so $150 looks a lot better than $800. Plus this is more versatle and less maintenance and uses less shop space when not being used. Totally satisfied with my purchase.

What can I say? I love this tool. I've made 17 face frames and drilled tons o' holes in the ends and top panels. I've had the tool kit for about 6 months now.

When purchasing an x-y panel saw from an ex-cabinet maker, I asked him what he used to attach the face frames. He replied "pocket screws". I had never heard that term before. I used biscuits and face nails in the past. Well, I tried this tool and it's great. The face frames are strong (even without glue), the frames attach nicely to the carcases. The only tricky spots are the visible edges on end cabinets, etc. Do yourself a favor and buy two of the right angle clamps that do not come with this kit, they are invaluable for attaching face frames.

Warning, get yourself a spare bit. The mini drill at the tip of the bit breaks SO easily if the bit is dropped by accident. It's good to have a spare on the go, if one breaks, use the spare and order a replacement. I broke two bits on my 21 cabinet kitchen remodel project.

I bought the K3 kit last December when The Woodworking Shows show came to town, and I have gotten great use out of it, and can't believe I used to do most of my joinery (particularly cabinet frame style construction) with biscuits. Don't get me wrong, I think biscuits are wonderful for joining wood (I have the Porter Cable 557 biscuit cutter, and wrote a rave review about it), but the time savings with pocket holes vs. biscuits is phenomenal. You obviously don't have to wait for glue-up drying with pocket holes. And according to Wood Magazine's recent article/test about the strenth of joining methods, pocket holes are slightly stronger than biscuits. My thoughts are as follows:

POSITIVES:

- The biggest plus is regarding the concept of pocket holes in general. Due to the ability to mechanically fasten (ie screw together) workpieces, you don't have to wait for glue to dry before moving on in the construction process. And pocket holes are much more discrete and precise than trying to toenail/toescrew.

- The K3 system makes the physical act of creating a pocket hole very easy and foolproof. The stationary base is sturdy, the clamping mechanism has plenty of strength, the hole guide block is easily adjustable with pre-set stops for various wood thicknesses, the stop sleeve on the hole boring bit is easily adjusted on the pre-measured scale on the stationary base, and the dust collection port is very useful (due to the amount of waste creating from drilling, you basically MUST collect a vacuum to the dust collection port, especially if you are drilling a lot of holes).

- The construction of all of the parts (bases, hole guide, bits, clamps, etc) are all very impressive in terms of physical quality and ease of use.

NEGATIVES (all of which have nothing to do with this particular product and is no fault of Kreg...instead, these are my comments regarding the drawbacks of pocket hole joinery in general)

- If your pocket hole can't be hidden in the back somewhere and must be exposed you have to use the solid wood plugs that Kreg makes. The plugs come in a variety of wood species, but are still slightly noticeable, even when sanded, stained, etc. In such instances where a hole will be seen, I would still use a biscuit. However, the plugs could intentionally be considered a designer element, or form of visual flair, especially if you use a contrasting wood color...

- It is slightly difficult/awkward when working with a large piece of wood. You either have to make some kind of supports for the parts that overhang the stationary base, or take out the hold guide block, and manually/directly clamp it onto the work piece, which takes a lot more time. However, Kreg makes larger production pocket hole cutting machines, which would alleviate this inconvenience. Again, this is not Kreg's fault; it is the limitation of any small/portable tool when working with a very large workpiece.

- Pocket holes are not as strong as mortis and tenon, and presumably not as strong as dowels??? But the time saving is second to none, and for most things (cabinet face frame, panel joining, etc), pocket hole screws and glue are plenty of strength. I'm sure they are also strong enough for chairs, if you really put enough of them in at the right locations, but I would still use mortis and tenon for chair construction.

Overall, I absolutely love this product and have zero regrets. I can honestly say it basically revolutionized the way I join wood compared to the biscuit method. It may seem like the kit is a lot of money, but considering all that comes with it, the quality of the product, and the time you will save, it is more than worth it!

I have owned the CMT Pro Joinery system and used the Kreg K2000 and neither come close to the K3. The clamp handle placement is great. Unlike the CMT this jig can be used without the toggle clamp by clamping the guide block with an ordinary woodworker's clamp. My favorite feature is the dust collection. It works flawlessly and greatly speeds up the process since you don't have to blow chips away after every hole.

Kreg did a great job with this jig, but there are a few important things to keep in mind if you're thinking about doing pocket hole joinery; Things that I learned the hard way so I thought I'd share my experience.

First of all, forget about using pocket holes in MDF, Particle board, Melamine coated particle board, fiber board, etc. The screws enter too close to the edge for these materials and they just disintegrate.

Also, if you're going to be joining plywood, remember that plywood is rarely sold by actual thickness. For instance, 1/2" plywood is really 7/16" thick these days. And that 1/16" does make a difference with pocket hole joinery. The 1" screws that you're supposed to use with 1/2" material might poke out the other side if you're not careful. You can compensate for this somewhat by setting the drill depth, but you have to remember to do this and not just go with the 1/2" settings. I didn't have this problem with 3/4" material, even though it too is not really 3/4" thick.

You might want to consider buying some of the clamps they sell for doing pocket hole joinery Kreg RAC Right Angle Clamp, Kreg Standard Face Clamp. It's almost impossible to get a good joint without them. When possible, I'll tack the pieces together with brads and then drive the pocket screws, but you have to have something holding the pieces firmly together before driving the screws or it just won't work right.

If you're thinking about hooking up your shop vac to the jig, you'll probably need some sort of adapter. I wish these things were more standardized. This jig requires something like a 1 1/2" hose, my shop vac is 2 1/2".

Don't let this review scare you away from pocket hole joinery. It's quick, it's easy and it works if you know what its limitations are. And Kreg did do a great job with this jig. Well worth the price of admission.

In the past I have almost exclusively used either mortise and tenon, dovetail, block or biscuit joinery in all my projects.

I am currently involved in a project that requires the building of a bunch of base and wall cabinets. During the paper design phase of this project I saw that I was going to need a ton of stretchers. The stretchers are vital structural cabinet components but are not really visible in the end product. Since there were so many stretchers, it became clear that I needed an alternate method of joinery specifically for these components.

I had never used the pocket screw approach before mainly because I have always had an aversion to butt joints. I decided that using pocket screws for joining the stretchers might be worth a try so I purchased the Kreg K3MS Master Pocket Hole Jig System.

Being a real novice in this area I spent a lot of time researching the type of screws I would need. Since I was working with 3/4 inch oak laminate sheets and pine stretchers, I decided to order the Kreg SML-C125W #8, 1 1/4 inch coarse screws. What the heck, as long as I spent this much money I also ordered two Kreg right angle clamps as well. The literature I read suggested that these clamps made the joint alignment much simpler.

Well I got the pocket screw jig, read the directions, practiced a bit on some scrap wood and then proceeded to use it on my cabinet stretchers. After attaching my first stretcher I was sold on this type of joinery. The joints were simple and they were tight. The right angle clamps were a life saver as well. It turns out that the screws bite into the wood so hard that the torque will end up rotating the joint by a quarter inch or so if the piece is not firmly clamped in place.

I also built the solid oak cabinet face frames using pocket screw joinery. Since the face frame is constructed with hard wood I used the Kreg SML-F125 1 1/4 inch fine pocket screw. I had no problems with splitting. The joints were tight and strong.

The Kreg pocket hole jig, and supporting components kind of expanded my cabinet making horizon a bit. The joints were quick, easy and most importantly very strong. Although I will continue to use mortise and tenon, dovetail and/or biscuit joinery in most of my projects, I can see that there are applications where the pocket screw method is definitely warranted.

Would I spend the money to purchase these items again? The answer is a definite yes. This Kreg jig is well designed, it is well built, it is a quality tool, and it is now a "must have" tool in my shop.

If your interested, I have attached some "user supplied" photos of the pocket hole joined stretchers and face frame of my base cabinets.

This is the second Kreg pocket hole system I have purchased. A demonstration at a woodworking show impressed me with its capabilities and features, enough to buy it on the spot.. I used the first one (K2000 kit) quite frequently for years until Hurricane Katrina destroyed my home workshop. I enjoyed using the pocket hole jig so much that I had to replace it as one of my must-have tools as I slowly rebuild my workshop. For $10 more, the K3 Master System has several added features over the K2000 that make it well worth the money.

I have used the Kreg K3 for at least two years and it is a good tool, however it does use a resin/plastic/metal clamping mechanism that seems to be loosening up with time. Plus the all-thread locking screw has stripped inside the plastic. The K3 still works, but the K4 with its all metal clamping assembly is doing production now. The cost is negligible, go for the K4!


Kreg Jig K4 Pocket Hole System