Yeah, agreed. The problem with pocket screws is clamping everything
while you drive the screws. The Kreg format joints tend to shift
more than the Castle format joints, which is why the Castle style
is preferred sometimes.
I got rid of my pocket hole stuff and went over to doweling
which doesn't suffer from the same alignment ambiguities you get
with pocket screws and plate joints. Furniture and cabinetry
full of pocket holes also looks, in my opinion, cheap. Doweled
joints go together squarer and doweled boxes come out squarer
too. The arguments for pocket holes are good ones in terms
of speed of assembly, but professional face frame work demands
a pneumatic clamping table if you don't want to spend a lot
of time sanding misaligned joints flush… and if the case screws
together out of square (they often do with screws) it can be
hard to track down the problem and get the box to go square.
All I'm saying I guess is that if you're looking at pocket holes as
an efficient production method, it's worth looking at other options
favored by industry as well. A lot depends on where your stuff is
positioned in the marketplace and where you want to go in terms
of marketing to more affluent customers.
