The Kreg Pocket jig, in fact a full 'tools' listing. youtube has a fair video if you've not come across it before.

I've been eyeing them for a few years and reading good reports. I finally took the plunge and invested in the K4 setup which was delivered (very promptly) by Axminster tools in the UK. These are my initial impressions after a couple of hours use, and making one 'ladder' frame pair, to support five shelves in my workshop.

Build it yourself. The delivery packaging is such that it won't go back in the box. Saves them assembly time I guess. It leaves the customer with nowhere neat to put the drill bit, allen key and square (WTF!) driver bit. Its made in the US, which leaves the Europeans with the problem of converting everything from imperial to metric. Seems a Euro version with metric measurements is just too much to ask. The company approach is very US centric though.

First setup. Don't forget to set the kit to the thickness of wood you're using (once converted to imperial). The drill bit is set to the stepped shoulder against the scale on the actual jig (again if you have strong light). I made the mistake of using the drill tip and it all felt wrong. RTFM and I corrected that. I'd guessed at the screw length I wanted, picking 1.5in screws, #8. As a test piece I tried normal screws, and believe kreg now that theirs produce a better joint.

Use. Keep a 13mm spanner handy. The clamp I have doesn't look like this, but the lock nut on the threaded bolt is identical and needs locking. No spanner provided. The drill guide is made of some tough plastic, and the moulding and finishing processes leave something to be desired. The surfaces don't run smooth. I used a wax lubricant (worktop or sawbench stuff) which helped. On that theme the markers (for the hole alignment and depth stops) are barely visible and could do with additional marking. The user video shows them painted white which makes them nice and clear! Pity they don't deliver on that.

Missing from the K4 setup I bought is this, a bench, or sheet of wood mounted stopper, which lines up the wood laterally for repeat cuts. I mimicked it and hence blocked up the vacuum extraction attachment. Makes the K3 'system' more attractive. I can't find it as a separate product on the Kreg site, perhaps it's only available as part of the K3 kit. It's called the Material support stop .

As I said, in use. I made two 'racks' or ladder frames for a five shelf system for the workshop. From unpacking the wood from the car to finishing I guess it was less than an hour. I was impressed. Using cut timber rather than t and t, I had noted that identical thickness timber helps. Really had no problems. Alignment was a breeze, drilling the pockets was easy once I'd clamped a small piece of timber to the vertical of the jig such that I could slide each cross piece up to it and start drilling. Not as neat as the one shown above, but sufficient. Screwing the screws into the pockets I was less impressed with. I used a bench clamp as per , which basically didn't have enough area to hold both the vertical and the horizontal pieces on the bench. They need to be secure to use the power driver (sorry, no screwdriver, Kreg assume we all have power drivers to hand I guess) with the Kreg 1.5inch course screws. Otherwise it all starts to misalign. The screws presumably are made by or for Kreg. In a box of 100 I had two where the square driver simply wouldn't fit in the screw head! Lousy QA? 2%! Not good. The Face clamps start to look attractive, though I'm unsure if they would have handled the six foot length I was using. That would have taken some acrobatics. Bad enough with the bench clamp.

Either way, I was happy with the speed and accuracy with which it all came together. I've left one frame dry, the other I glued. I really can't see how it will be strong enough without glue.... we'll see.

Overall? 8 out of 10. I can see myself buying the face clamps look like a good buy, but I'll wait a while before deciding.

Postscript

In the packaging was a freebie download of a cabinetmaking booklet. Along with a 'code' to use. The Kreg company are so US centric that they only allow phone numbers in nnn-nnn-nnnn format and insist that my address be within a US state! Wake up Kreg, the world does not end at the US borders.