Kreg pocket holes not drilling cleanly

Puckdropper wrote in news:5033fd58$0$17979$c3e8da3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:

OK, I'll look into it soonish. I've been sick with whooping cough, sapping my energies at anything more tiring than typing, plus I have 2 projects going and I need to reorganize my workshop, but right after that ...

Actually, IIRC, I gave my old Kreg Jig setup from that era to someone on the wRec ... don't even recall who I shipped it to, or if they're still posting?

The old one had the clamp on the opposite side from the user, the one I have now has the clamp handle on the user side:

I used the old one with a regular shop vac and don't recall the dust collection being all the notable.

With the one pictured in the link above, and the Festool dust extractor, the dust collection can only be described as awesome.

I attribute most of that, rightly or wrongly, to the Festool's highly efficient suckage ...

Ah. I should have made clear that I have the Kreg Jr. K3 jig, not the larger system. I do have their face clamp, which keeps it nice and steady.

Make sure the bit is spinning FAST.

Swingman wrote in news:BMCdnROQPovDlKnNnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Thanks, Karl!

Karl, didn't you say you were going to buy a pair of the pock-it hole clamps? Have you received them and used them yet? I was wondering how useful they are?

mentioned in the OP. I haven't tried them yet, but they hang from the wall nicely in the pocket-holes I drilled in a piece of scrap wood. :)

I am curious about the quick-release mechanism, and whether it makes the threads inside less able to hold tightly. I'll try to test it when I get a chance.

I'm sure they do recommend corded drills. Until very recently, most cordless drills were much slower. They also slowed down as the batteries got weaker. So even if they were fast enough at the start, they weren't fast enough for half your holes.

LIon batteries don't slow down, they just stop, so that problem is fading away (pun).

At one point, the Kreg site made a statement that the corded drill is the preferred tool for making holes. I have always used my 3/8 Makita with excellent results. I have used my Makita cordless with "similar" but not as good results.

In a little training session at the spring woodworking show in Charlotte, the Kreg rep used a cordless drill with pretty damn good results.

Your mileage and holes may be different with any drill.

It appears that this is happening on the holes that go against the grain. This would indicate either a loose fit of the bit to the guide hole, a dull bit, or the wrong type of bit. Every tool has limitations. It seems that the holes that are drilled with the grain are very clean. ???? Just my two cents.

That's the same in any boring situation. The direction of the grain will cause that with any other drilling. Sometimes, even with a new Kreg bit and new jig, you can get that. Different woods react differently.

Lion batteries can't handle heat. e.g. when the shop gets hot, the battery is failing. They are great in room temp places.

I got a wrench and a screwdriver / allen wrench unit. The wrench was a nice socket set type - that died in the summer or the winter.

I think the heat broke the seal and the cold finished it off. The other wrench was in the house and gets use now and then.

Mart> >>

How freakin hot is your shop? I'm pretty sure ambient temperature has to get well over 120 degrees before it affects performance.

It's maple, actually. But I had similar results in pine.

Any heat is bad for batteries. Chemical processes go something like the square of the temperature, doubling every 10C. I always keep them in the house during the summer. My garage (and attic where most of my tools are) can

I'm pretty sure he didn't mean storage, maybe he did. In any case, like you pointed out, heat like that is going to effect any battery. I've been working with battery powered tools, and audio/video equipment for

Every time a newer battery chemistry comes out, there are naysayers and they complain about this, that, and the other, when in fact, the new stuff is always better, almost without exception.

For many tasks LiIon is the best, though NiCd still has its place.

When it first appears, not so much. LiIon (which isn't just one "technology") certainly had its teething pains. NiMH looked like a sure winner but today its only real advantage is its "greeness" (nickel is about as benign as you can get).

Not for me. NiCad was better than the previous generation of batteries, but just barely. NiCads couldn't go away fast enough in my book. I can't think of a single use for which I would prefer NiCad batteries... except maybe ballast under my buffing wheel. :-)