TIL I was pocket hole screwing my face frames all wrong

I watched a guy at a local shop in Portland last month show me why pre-drilling even with the self-tapping screws matters. He had a scrap piece of maple that split clean down the grain after I just sent a screw in like I always do. His piece? Perfect. No split, no tear out. He told me the tip is to spin the screw in slow and back it out once before final drive. I tried it on a batch of five frames this week and zero splits. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific approach for hardwoods?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason1123d ago

Did they mean backing it out before it bottoms out, though?

luna_green4d ago

Wait wait wait, back the screw out once before final drive? That is so simple it almost makes me mad I never thought of it. I have been fighting with oak and hickory for years and just accepted the occasional split as the price of doing business. I am definitely trying this on my next face frame run because I am tired of filling in cracks with wood glue and sawdust. That guy in Portland might have just saved me a ton of headache, thanks for passing that tip along.