I make no attempt to conceal my ulterior motives from my wife when it comes to home improvement projects that may directly or indirectly benefit my model railroading hobby.
For instance, I recently built this set of shelves to go at the bottom of our basement stairs to store extra kitchen stuff that doesn't fit anywhere in the kitchen and that only gets occasional use. I'm going to build another identical set of shelves to go to the left and butt right up against this set. You can see part of the glass block window in the upper left corner of the photo; the second set of shelves will frame that window perfectly. Railroad benchwork will begin just a few feet to the left of this window.
My ulterior motives for this project were twofold; I wanted a place to put some of this stuff to clear out room along the basement wall to the left of this location for railroad benchwork, and I also wanted to buy a set of Kreg Jigs.
For those who are not familiar with Kreg Jigs, they are a system of woodworking jigs and accessories for quickly and accurately drilling pocket holes. I haven't seen much writing on the Kreg Jig in the model railroading community, which actually surprises me. I didn't know much about the Kreg Jig until I happened to stumble upon a YouTube video where they were being put to use. From that moment on I had to have a set.
I for one was aware of what a "pocket hole" is but I had never used them and was completely in the dark on the benefits of using them in woodworking.
The shelving unit above was completely constructed of 1x4 dimensional lumber and MDF using Kreg pocket holes with the exception of the Spax screws that attach the shelves to the vertical sides of the shelf. All of the shelves use pocket holes to hold the shelf sides and backs to the shelf. Not really visible in the photo, but under each shelf there is a 1x4 crossmember that supports the shelf; these are attached to the vertical sides with pocket holes also.
Kreg actually makes many products but the heart of the Kreg Jig system is the jig unit below. The set I bought for $100 at Lowe's came with the jig (the blue contraption), the special quick release drill bit & collar, and also a square head quick release screwdriver attachment. Lowe's was running a special where if you bought the set they threw in a 500-ct of Kreg screws for free ($20 value).
The parts above are all included in the standard set and are really all you need to drill perfect pocket holes quickly.
Here are some in-progress construction shots of my shelf project:
I know what the skeptics are thinking. This is all just a gimmick and why spend the extra money.
After talking to experienced cabinet makers and reading about woodworking methods, I discovered that the traditional way of building model railroad benchwork by driving screws through the face of a 1x4 into the end of another 1x4 for crossmember joints, or through the edge of a 1x4 into the end of another 1x4 for corner joints is the weakest way of making a 90 degree joint. Cabinet makers can't drive screws through the face of the lumber anyway so they need to be able to hide the fasteners on the backside or underside of the work, hence the alternative methods of joining lumber like the pocket hole joint. Not only do pocket hole joints look better, but they are much stronger. You can also make joints at angles other than 90 degrees easily with the jig.
The shelf project was built as a test and I have to say it was a breeze to build it and not only that, the thing is very sturdy. I didn't use any glue at all, just pocket hole joints. Using the Kreg Jig was fast and easy. The screws would actually pull the joint together tight in a way I have not seen by just driving screws in the traditional way. I think it was totally worth the money.
For instance, I recently built this set of shelves to go at the bottom of our basement stairs to store extra kitchen stuff that doesn't fit anywhere in the kitchen and that only gets occasional use. I'm going to build another identical set of shelves to go to the left and butt right up against this set. You can see part of the glass block window in the upper left corner of the photo; the second set of shelves will frame that window perfectly. Railroad benchwork will begin just a few feet to the left of this window.
My ulterior motives for this project were twofold; I wanted a place to put some of this stuff to clear out room along the basement wall to the left of this location for railroad benchwork, and I also wanted to buy a set of Kreg Jigs.
For those who are not familiar with Kreg Jigs, they are a system of woodworking jigs and accessories for quickly and accurately drilling pocket holes. I haven't seen much writing on the Kreg Jig in the model railroading community, which actually surprises me. I didn't know much about the Kreg Jig until I happened to stumble upon a YouTube video where they were being put to use. From that moment on I had to have a set.
I for one was aware of what a "pocket hole" is but I had never used them and was completely in the dark on the benefits of using them in woodworking.
The shelving unit above was completely constructed of 1x4 dimensional lumber and MDF using Kreg pocket holes with the exception of the Spax screws that attach the shelves to the vertical sides of the shelf. All of the shelves use pocket holes to hold the shelf sides and backs to the shelf. Not really visible in the photo, but under each shelf there is a 1x4 crossmember that supports the shelf; these are attached to the vertical sides with pocket holes also.
Kreg actually makes many products but the heart of the Kreg Jig system is the jig unit below. The set I bought for $100 at Lowe's came with the jig (the blue contraption), the special quick release drill bit & collar, and also a square head quick release screwdriver attachment. Lowe's was running a special where if you bought the set they threw in a 500-ct of Kreg screws for free ($20 value).
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| The Kreg Jig is the blue contraption |
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| The quick-release Kreg drill bit with adjustable depth collar |
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| The quick-release Kreg square drive screwdriver bit and a 1-1/4" Kreg screw. Kreg makes the screws in many lengths and also in coarse thread (shown) and fine thread, allowing you to screw into different types of wood. |
The parts above are all included in the standard set and are really all you need to drill perfect pocket holes quickly.
Here are some in-progress construction shots of my shelf project:
 |
| Kreg makes many accessories for the jigs. One of the more useful ones is this clamp that fits in one of the pocket holes and is used to hold the work together to drive the first screw. Once the first screw is in, the clamp can be removed. |
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| Once you drive the screw in the empty hole, it will pull the joint together very tightly and the clamp can then be removed to drive the other screw. |
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| The Kreg Jig can hold any size & shape lumber for drilling pocket holes. The jig is depth-adjustable for drilling into different sizes of lumber. |
I know what the skeptics are thinking. This is all just a gimmick and why spend the extra money.
After talking to experienced cabinet makers and reading about woodworking methods, I discovered that the traditional way of building model railroad benchwork by driving screws through the face of a 1x4 into the end of another 1x4 for crossmember joints, or through the edge of a 1x4 into the end of another 1x4 for corner joints is the weakest way of making a 90 degree joint. Cabinet makers can't drive screws through the face of the lumber anyway so they need to be able to hide the fasteners on the backside or underside of the work, hence the alternative methods of joining lumber like the pocket hole joint. Not only do pocket hole joints look better, but they are much stronger. You can also make joints at angles other than 90 degrees easily with the jig.
The shelf project was built as a test and I have to say it was a breeze to build it and not only that, the thing is very sturdy. I didn't use any glue at all, just pocket hole joints. Using the Kreg Jig was fast and easy. The screws would actually pull the joint together tight in a way I have not seen by just driving screws in the traditional way. I think it was totally worth the money.
Very nice, I've always wanted one of the Kregg jigs. It should be a lot of fun to when you start building the layout.
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