The Best Pocket Hole Jigs for Woodworking - Bob Vila

Armor Tools, known for hold-down clampshave entered new tool markets before, introducing tools such as bolt cutters. If you are not familiar with pocket hole joinery, it is a popular way of joining two pieces of wood together using a concealed screw.

To achieve, this you need an accurate way of drilling a hole at the proper angle and depth. A pocket hole jig takes all the complexity out of the process. The Armor Tools jig has an integrated clamp to hold your material in place, and a drilling block that adjusts to suit the thickness of the material you are working with.

This ensures the hole you drill is exactly the right depth for the material you are working on. I like the look of Armor Tools armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone and I see a couple of advantages over the Kreg jig. I think that the new Armor Tools pocket hole could be a worthy competitor, at least to the similarly-priced Kreg K5 system. It remains to be seen whether Armor Tools will launching smaller and more affordable jigs as well.

Ben Vincent started his love for armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone things at an early age, crediting Lego with its endless possibilities as his inspiration. Despite a failed attempt to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he eventually found a career in Software Engineering, and now has 58 worldwide patents to his name! As a very keen amateur he shares his passion for creating on Instagram and armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone on ToolGuyd!

I recently bought a K5, and took a good long look at the Armor jig before going for the Kreg. The auto adjust feature is pretty awesome, and simultaneously setting the stop collar was icing on the cake.

However, I wanted the extra options of the Kreg system with micro screw inserts and custom plug cutters, which is eventually what swayed my decision for the Kreg. Hopefully Armor comes out with those add ons in the future. Competition and new ideas are always good. In that niche — its a bit like armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone Porter Cable jig that Stuart posted about several years go.

I think that the Castle machine that we had in the shop used more robust boring bits. But in the field — we carried around Kreg jigs and extra step drill bits. Good to see it comes with a vacuum port, makes the process so much cleaner and faster and helps to keep your drill bit sharp by eliminating heat buildup on larger projects with many repeat uses. Kind of like color coded hex keys — how the heck am I supposed to remember what size purple is?!

The idea behind the color coding is that the jig auto-sizes, and has a cursor that points to the right color screw to use with the pocket hole you just bored. So it eliminates the need to stop and think about what screw length goes armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone what thickness of stock — just grab that matching color of screw. I might have bought this.

Agreed my biggest pet peeve with the kreg is the adjustment and set of the hole guide to the base. I find the K5s method of using a plastic jig to be a regression. The K4 still does that — or mine does. What I like about the armor is that you pull the lever to move the clamp arm — and it moves the color for you — to set even.

Every time. Seems a touch more repeatable I guess is my point. I will use it but then check my results manually. The K4 was better in that regard, and this looks even better. It would be definitely worth considering.

Thanks for this. I have an older K which works well for what I do. If I were to replace it, I would seriously look at a Foreman paired with an R3. When you take a board on the jig it can rock a bit if you are trying to do multiple holes in a panel for instance. The solution a lot of people have adopted is to build a fixture to hold the jig so larger pieces can be accommodated. I think a new product should identify those deficiencies and it would get more consideration as a new product in the market.

As it is there are enhancements but maybe not enough to sway users. Armor, Porter Cable, and Castle. Where is everyone in this market?

Safety Speed Saw probably best known for their vertical panel saws has been a more recent entrant to the pocket hole machine business to compete with Castle.

The Castle machine we had was wired for 3-phase. I thought it was armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone related but I found two valid patents for Pocket Holes. My HomeDepot stocks a bunch of Kreg tools now.

Not having read over the patent claims no being a patent attorney to know how to properly do interpret them — it may be that what Castle does with their machines is different enough to avoid infringement. The Castle machine also uses separate operations and bits to bore the recess and bore the pilot hole no step drill. It was very fast on our machine and there was no bit breakage — which sometimes happens with the Kreg step-drill.

Here is one not made of plastic. So is this one — albeit its much more expensive — even thought its the entry level for Castle:. I have this one. Armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone is incredibly solid, accurate, and easy to armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone. I looked hard at Kreg, and the thousand other versions of the Kreg jig but chose UJK for it quality engineering.

It continues to give good service, long after. Despite all that, I do like the auto-adjust features of this Armor jig.

If you are building kitchen carcasses, then set-and-forget metal ones like UJK will probably win, because of their solidity and longevity. But if you are moving from one type of workpiece to another with different thicknesses as I do now, reallythen this ultra-easy set-up jig has a lot going for it.

If I were buying one to fix the rail on a kitchen table, and then whatever else fate throws my way in future, I reckon Armor could be an excellent choice. The dust collection on the Axminster looks slick.

In fact, it seems like the best feature of the K5. Have any of you used the Port-Cable QuikJig now discontinuedand if so, how did you like it? Any plusses vs these? I bought the armor on pre-order. I had never used it or the kreg before. I had bought the kreg from HD on the Xmas sales, came across the armor and ended up returning the kreg.

Very Happy with the armor. Also build quality I armor tool pocket hole jig vs kreg zone is better. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Best Cordless Drills New for !

If you buy something through our links, ToolGuyd might earn an affiliate commission. Pocket Hole Basics If you are not familiar with pocket hole joinery, it is a popular way of joining two pieces of wood together using a concealed screw. Thanks for commenting!

I think Armor does use the cap head styles and the countersunk head is just a graphic. Competition is a good thing, glad to see it. Thanks, David. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.

The Armor Tool Auto-Jig is changing the landscape of pocket hole joinery and the way you make pocket holes in your shop. Our system self-adjusting system will set your drill guide setting and drill bit collar based off of the thickness of the piece you're clamping (see video for demonstration). No more manual setting, measuring, or adjusting. No more manual setting, measuring, or www.- auto-adjust clamp allows you to clamp varying thicknesses without readjusting. Simply put your work piece into the patented armor auto-adjusting clamp and the auto-jig will do the rest. The Armor Tool Pocket Hole Jig Vs Kreg Review color coded screw system with our color-coat technology makes it easy to match the screw size and head to the thickness and depth of the pocket hole. The Armor Tool Auto-Jig is changing the landscape of pocket hole joinery and the way you make pocket holes in your shop. Our system self-adjusting system will set your drill guide setting and drill bit collar based off of the thickness of the piece you’re clamping (see video for demonstration)/5().

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