Showerthought: Pocket hole jigs aren't always the answer for cabinet face frames

I kept seeing everyone online swear by pocket holes for face frames, but I tried it on three cabinets last month and got frustrated with the alignment issues. Switched back to traditional dowels on a glue-up for a kitchen remodel in Denver and it came out way cleaner with less fiddling. Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the jig, but has anyone else found dowels work better for certain joints?

3 comments

3 Comments

moore.beth1mo ago

Did you level the face frame before clamping or just go straight into the drill?

viola_lopez301mo ago

Level it first (trust me on this one).

kaigibson1mo ago

Heard a trim carpenter on a podcast talking about how pocket holes work fine for production work but fall apart on resawn hardwood where the grain moves. He switched to mortise and tenon on face frames and said it cut his callbacks in half. Makes sense since dowels give you that same mechanical grip without the screw head pulling things out of square.