Jig K5 Pocket-Hole System

Very intuitive and easy to use. Mount it to peice of plywood for ease of use and storage.

The jig is great, but I don't care for the on the K5.

While pocket holes are not the perfect solution for every joint, I find myself using this more and more. And pocket holes are easy and you don't have to be accurate. Recently I've used it to build a new pantry for our on-going kitchen remodel, as you can see in the picture I've attached. The panty (besides the doors) is put together entirely with pocket hole screws and glue. Nothing else. From the box to the face frame. And it's rock solid. An out of the box use... I needed to extend the kitchen fascia for the new pantry and pocket holes to the rescue. Made it much easier to attach the 2X4's. Sure better than toe nailing and so much more of a solid joint. I am not crazy about the plastic side pieces so I mounted the unit in my miter saw bench, giving me plenty of room for just about any size piece I need. If you are trying to decide between this and the K4, get this one because it has the locking handle is in the front, so much better. Having the handle in the back doesn't make a lot of sense. More so when you are drilling bigger pieces, like cabinet parts. The dust collection is a very nice feature on this unit as well, works quite well. Like I said, even though it's not perfect for every joint, I've gotten hooked on pocket holes and sure I will be using them more and more. This jig is well worth the money and will pay for itself.

The claim is that you can join EXISTING parts up to 1.5 inches thick. No way without making your own spacing jig; see pic. The hole guide detaches from the locking assembly (good), but there is no way to place the drill guide properly on existing work without buying 3 more spacers. These are not included. I improvised with my own wood spacers and two hold-down screws; see pic. Only ONE plastic spacer is included, but FOUR are needed for 1.5" material. The advertisement with the purchase is misleading. The detailed instructions say you need to buy more spacers for material thicker than 3/4 inch. I assume a very small increase in price would cover the cost of these additional (and necessary) spacers. The Kreg system for joining wood works well, but I fail to see why they advertise falsely.

Pocket screws are the fastest, easiest, quickest and one of the most efficient ways to make the joining of pieces a pleasure to do. They are also one of the strongest joints and make the common butt joint, when combined with glue, turn out to be very, very strong. The notorious 45 degree joining is a snap with pocket screws. Get one, of these jigs you will love them. I made a Shaker Hall Table using mainly pocket screws and it is one of the easiest builds I ever did. (See attached photo)

I like all the Kreg products that I own, and this one is no exception. The only reason I gave the Mitre Gauge System only 4 stars is because I believe it could be improved by making the fence 2" longer so the swingstop base doesnt fall out at 22". You can't set it at 24" for this reason

I build a significant amount of cabinets and furniture, and the Kreg K5 pocket-hole jig comes in handy more times than I can count. It can be used on nearly every project, and has yet to let me down. The K5 is a decent upgrade over the K5, adding more convenience features than really a major overhaul to how the system works. The K5 has a sliding adjustment for the workpiece thickness instead of adjusting a threaded rod like on the K4. The K5 also has the handle in the front of the tool, so if you are making pocket holes on a large panel, you don't have to reach over or around to the back of the tool to secure it. The K5 also has extension wings, which I thought I would not use at first, but they add a shockingly large amount of stability to the pieces, and they provide ample storage for the drill and driver bits. The hose port is fantastic at collecting the chips. I hook up my basic shop vac with an adapter to get the hose diameter down to the right size, and it sucks all the chips out, making it easier for the drill bit to get through the wood without any extra force, or having to back the bit out multiple times. You can also remove the hose adapter and just let the chips fly, but I find that is extra messy, and it still backs up a little if you are drilling more than a dozen holes. On a side note, I mounted mine to a piece of 3/4 plywood, that way I can move it wherever I want, and I just have to clamp that piece of plywood down to the workbench I am at and it is as secure as screwing it down in one place. I highly recommend doing that, as you never know where you will be using this handy tool next. I can move it all over the shop and still have the added stability. Fantastic. I don't know when they will be coming out with a new version, but it is hard to imagine improving over this one.

Found a good deal and purchased on sale.

The concept of pocket hole joinery is literal brilliance and makes carpentry reachable for amatures and beginners. What I cannot understand is why kreg would add and improve features such as the clamp and height adjustment of jig but at the same time remove and change there old way of measuring the drill collet length what a pain I'm really disappointed in why they would take a system so easy and effortless and make it so aggravating and difficult. What if you loose that little plastic block?? And what if you mound your jig to your work bench ???! You can never se the right hole A lot of solid metal that existed on the k4 has been changed to cheep plastic on the k5 I hope kreg isn't selling out like every other company on earth I honestly think I prefer the k4 and will return this k5 and reorder the k4 don't fall for the advertisement and upgrade if you already have a k4 A sticker reminding you of screw length for thickness of wood ??? Why can't I just print that out and scotch tape it to my wall Cheap flimsy storage bins for the bits and accessories Why not just require less accessories and keep the old simple method of adjustments or at least make them out of decent quality material. On a lighter note the drill bit is super sharp and hasn't dulled slightly after drilling hundreds of holes. The driver bit is tough and is magnetic witch I love but witch both existed on k4 as well Please accept my review as I feel it is honest and truthful

The K5 jig is a must have for anyone starting out in the woodworking trade or DIY. I built a kitchen cabinet in only 4 hours with the easy to use too.