Home DIY

Pocket hole jigs - anyone got one they recommend ? Kreg, trend, triton, ukj ?

I have a wolfcraft one which is cheap and cheerful. But if I was buying again I'd either go for a fancier self clamping Kreg, or go the other direction and get a basic, single hole one as I've not yet needed to do two pocket holes right next to each other.

Moving this here from the home owner thread.

Started painting the doors. Two coats on the back and three on the front (third after hanging to take care of any marks made while hanging). Having trouble properly aligning all 5 cabinet hinges so there is no rub as they are a very close fit.

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Colour for the doors is F&B Matchstick in Estate Eggshell, same as the skirting (dries darker).

how is the estate eggshell to lay off? do you roller on/brush off?

i'm contemplating not using white satinwood in the bedrooms but get frustrated when paint isn't easy to work with, one minute you are happily brushing it out the next it's starting to drag.

any reason not to buy a cheap pair of dickies work trousers and then some of those kneepads that fit in them?
will only be for 3-4 weeks work but a lot of it is floors/skirting.
or should i just wear jeans and get some kneepads? not looking for dandyrigout american organic loomed cotton/rope dyed hand riveted heritage edition bib n brace just sub £30 on trousers and 8.99 on the pads.
recommendations welcome.

With a medium pile roller, it gives (to me) a totally satisfactory result. To my eye, indistinguishable from the sprayed, primer finish the doors came with. I have only in recent year(s) given in to buying more expensive paint and constantly curse old me for cheaping out. The F&B goes on very nicely and covers amazingly compared to the old Valspar budget shit I used in the last flat that needed 6 coats and was still patchy. There is one slight droop, but that is definitely operator error when I was painting one of the doors upright late last night and wanted to go to bed. And it's on the back, so fuck it.

Buy the dickies and kneepads and you'll save yourself trashing your saville row of the denim world jeans.

I prefer slot in knee pads as I find the strap on ones pinch or pull hairs at the back of my knee, especially when sweaty (which is always). Plus, when you're not kneeling, they're not in the way or bunching up your trouser leg. This is not just from DIY but from when I was an archaeologist too.

paint and kneepad info noted.
thanks.

M12 fuel is a good range, many folk jump straight to M18 because POWAH, but the reality is you rarely use any M18 to its full load so your just lugging a load more weight and size of tool around.

Milwaukee's jigsaws aren't amazing, makita/dewalt/bosch blue/festool all do better ones IIRC, but once your on one battery platform you better keep it all red ;)

because POWAH

I resemble this remark

slot in knee pads

+1 this is the main reason I'd get something builder specific.

If you have a sports direct then they have work trousers. I think my Dunlop ones were £15. You'd need pads separately, so it may be better to get something as a pack.

I also have the Wolfcraft one, it works, but I rarely use it (ever since I have my dado blades for the table saw I dado joint everything). But would buy a Kreg or so, or UJK, definitely.

Looks like I just ordered two 4m slabs of elm for a dining table. Top end tracksaw it is!!!

I was going to hold off on the jigsaw or at most get a sub-£50 crappy one but today's eB** 15% discount pushed me over the edge. The M12 jigsaw isn't in the FUEL range so not sure what to expect, but I don't think it will disappoint in my use case.

Just as a heads up. If you plan to rip the elm and it's 40+mm make sure you get a blade with fewer teeth to rip it and then trim it with the fine blade.

I went for years trying to rip 50mm pieces and having the saw bog down before I invested in a few different blades.

Learned most of my tablesaw skills mainly cutting plywood, and had the importance of a fine tooth negative rake blade hammered into me. Blew my mind when I first used a proper ripping blade when dimensioning timber.

Ran out of paint, which is fine by me, as I'm a bit fed up of trying to align cabinet hinges for a bit.

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Don’t blame you, that’s alottalignment.

The first negative for Fittingly. The doors have pretty much zero clearance top and bottom. At first I though it was because I had put the whole thing together on the piss. But if that was the case they'd rub in the same relative places. But some rub top and bottom with no bow on the carcass pieces. So there will be some sanding and touch ups required. But small fish compared to the saving over going custom/carpenter built.

Also, one of the doors for the top cabinets came with no drilling for hinges and screws, so will need to wait for a replacement. But again, I have no doubt they will make good.

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Good on yer, those cabinets will be able to hide a lot of sins

I hadn't expected inset doors, that can be tricky. Were overlay an option?

Were overlay an option?

Yep, design committee wanted inset.

I picked up a pair of Site trousers from Screwfix for £8 in their Black Friday sale. Don’t know if it’s still on but full price is less than £20 I think. They have slot in knee pads which I find 100 times more comfortable and not practical than the velcro strap type.