Kreg jig bit snapped mid-project yesterday and I had to rethink my joinery on the fly

Was building a set of stairs for a deck in Austin and my Kreg jig bit broke at the 4th pocket hole. Ended up switching to dowels and a jig I borrowed from a buddy which took twice as long but held up fine. Anybody else had a pocket hole failure screw up their timeline?

4 comments

4 Comments

victor7791mo ago

Snap, that's brutal. Dowels probably saved your whole project though.

the_lisa28d ago

Knots can be tricky though. They're usually harder than the wood around them, so if you're pre drilling, the bit can wander off and make the hole crooked. Then when you drive the screw, it's not going in straight and that's what snaps them or strips the head. Dowels saved the project for sure, but the real fix is getting the pilot hole dead center and going slow through that spot.

miller.emery1mo ago

Did you check if a screw hit a knot, @victor779, because that's what usually kills mine?

lilyp371mo ago

Not to nitpick but knots don't really snap screws that way - that's more about splits running down the grain. Knots are actually harder to drive into but they hold tight once you get past em.