Kreg Pocket Hole Jigs

I had a customer call the other day and the Eagle America catalog he used to order from was a catalog he borrowed from his father, that is not that unusual but the catalog was from 2000.  He is not the first customer to order from one of our catalogs from several years ago. I’ve asked "Why do you keep them so long" they usually say they keep it for reference. They would see a woodworking accessory or router bits that they had not seen before. So they hold on to it for when they need that item.

Do you know we carry over 6000 different woodworking tools? We have everything from; router table systems, router bits and router bit sets, saw blades and saw blade accessories, woodworking clamps, sanding supplies, wood carving tools, Kreg pocket hole jigs…. and the list goes on.

A few years back we ran a promotional offer to see who had the oldest catalog and I believe we had multiple customers that supplied us with catalogs from the late 80's and early 90's.

  Yesterday's Catalog                                      Today's Catalog
                                 

Wow what a difference, so don’t be so quick to toss that old Eagle America catalog it just may be worth something in the future.

Working here at Eagle America one question I hear more than any other is" where can I get that information"? I hear it in our outlet store, I hear it on the phones and I see it in emails. No matter what the woodworker is trying to do, setting up dust collection, looking for band saw accessories, questions about shaper cutters, any woodworking accessories that is new to a woodworker them we get questions about that item. Another thing we hear a lot of is, I am interested in one of the Kreg pocket hole jigs which one should I get? Or I am building some cabinets which set of stile and rail bits should I use? Which one of your router bit sets is the best for me? We do our best to answer all the questions we receive within 24 hours.

Did you know we have tech support available where we will take your question sent to us via email to us at tech@eagleamerica.com and pass it to our one of our woodworkers that we have on staff?

 

Don't they look knowledgeable! 

Well back to the question, where can I get this information?
You can find just about anything...
                                                                                                                                                                                                      
 ....ON THE INTERNET!     

There are thousands of website dedicated to woodworking. Places where you can ask questions of your peers or ask professionals like The Wood Whisperer's website.




You can find just about anything you need right here. They have a community where you can access blogs and forums where you can ask questions that will be answered by many people that are just woodworkers like you that want to help their experience is there to help you. Also in their community they have photos of the member's projects. Not to mention many videos that Marc Spagnuolo (The Wood Whisper) does showing how to do certain things or projects start to finish. You can also find Marc's work on You tube talk about a video library that you don't have to buy! You can also find many different woodworking groups that have joined the community, maybe you belong in one of these groups? Do you?

And of coarse what true Wood Whisperer member doesn’t have a Wood Whisperer hat and T-shirt. Well don’t worry you can get these items and more at the store. I should get a free t-shirt for this blog don’t you think?

There is a live chat room where you can discuss your project or anything woodworking related. You can even watch projects being made because there are dozens of people/workshops that stream live video to the site for you to watch.

This is just one site of the thousands of woodworking sites out there on the world wide web. So if you have a specific question maybe we can help. Or if you are looking for a place to go to learn and pick up some tricks of the trade and meet some woodworkers maybe The Wood Whisperers website is where you want to go.

No matter what you are looking for, the Internet can be the best tool in your workshop.

When I pull out my cabinet making tools and Kreg pocket hole jigs, I generally work under the impression that no holes will be visible when I am done working on my project. This is great in theory but when time is of the essence and I can’t wait 12 or 24 hours for glue to set up or I am attaching trim which is difficult for woodworking clamps, I turn to my pneumatic pinners, nailers and staplers.

As product manager at Eagle America, I was excited to introduce the full line of Freeman pneumatic woodworking tools. They are a great tool but there was one problem, Eagle America did not have the couplers and hose to go with them. I immediately went to work trying to find the best quality air tool accessories on the market.

My search turned up some wonderful new products I would like to introduce to you.

First, there is Flexzilla Air Hose. Flexzilla is a revolutionary hose featuring a premium hybrid polymer material that redefines flexibility.

This hose offers zero memory allowing it to lay flat exactly where you drop it and it won't work against you during operation or when coiling after use. It is currently in use by companies located in Alaska due to it’s extreme all-weather flexibility, even in sub-zero conditions.




Second, is our new selection of air plugs, couplers and blow guns. With the ColorConnex color coding system it easy to connect the correct tool to a specific dedicated hose line.

Color coding eliminates tool contamination and takes the guess work out of trying to determine which tool goes to which coupler or plug. Now you can quickly and easily separate and identify lubricated "wet" lines for air tools and filtered "dry" lines for paint guns or dedicated nitrogen lines for tire inflators.

 

Third, is the Rapid Air compressed air piping system. Rapid Air offers an easy and flexible way to customize your workshop or garage with applications ranging from woodworking to automotive.

This is a complete compressed air distribution system that is designed to easily install beneath walls of new construction or on wall surfaces of existing workshops.


 

These items are completely new to the Eagle America line and we hope you will try them out and let us know what you think!

Amongst all of the projects I have been working on this winter, my wife decided it was the perfect time to remodel our master bathroom.

After a few weeks of researching and planning, we finally agreed on a design and layout for the bathroom.

Not that it needed it, but after all of the upgrades and changes, the job ended up being almost a total tear-out.

The nice part of this project was that it was time for me to dust off my cabinet making tools and cabinet bits as I build my own custom vanity.

Naturally, I will be using Eagle router bits but I had to build the cabinet carcass first.

The quickest and easiest way I have found to build a cabinet is by using Kreg pocket hole jigs. I was able to use my pocket hole jig to assemble the face frame and body of the cabinet in less than a day.


Pocket hole jigs create strong joints and can save you time and money!

As I continue to build my cabinet, I will keep you updated on the tools and techniques I use.

You know you want me, but do they know that?
 

• Festool Power Tools - They will change the way you work, we promise!
• Kreg Pocket Hole Jigs or a new Kreg Router Table - Both will make your woodworking life and projects much easier.
• Router Bits - We are "The World's Router Bit Source" after all, you can never have enough bits.
• Sanding Supplies - Have you seen our new Scuff Balls?  They are one of our most popular new items because they are a true problem solver.
• Table Saw Blades - A sharp new Freud blade would be welcomed by your table saw.
• Woodcarving Set - Give carving a try, it's fun!
• Woodworking Clamps - Seriously, do you ever have enough clamps?  NO!

You may have noticed that I like to scour the web for interesting woodworking articles.  Here is a great one that I read on Monday in the Augusta Chronicle about Danny Hill and his son Chad, two dedicated cabinet makers from Georgia.  Some of the highlights from the article for me were:

• His home and his shop are on the same piece of land, just like many of our Eagle Woodworking customers
• He has been doing it since 1961 and has never made the same kitchen twice!
• He doesn't do it for the money, it's all about making the people happy
• He says there's always something new to learn in woodworking.  "You could do any kind of wood work you want to for 500 years, and you're still going to only know a small percent of what you can do with a piece of wood. You never quit learning."

It was a great article about about a woodworking family!  It also made me think more about how we can help you make your own beautiful cabinets.  It is a lot easier to do than you think.

We have lots of woodworking tools and woodworking accessories that can help you get the job done right and it all starts with our world famous selection of Router Bits.  Router bits are the key component for building your raised panel cabinet doors.  We offer a very large selection of cabinet bits between our Eagle Router Bits (Made in the USA) and PriceCutter Router Bits (imported).  In the very near future you will actually be able to build your very own Cabinet Making Router Bit Sets on our site!  Combine those bits with a router table system such as the Kreg Router Table and you are good to go. 

The cabinet doors give your kitchen their distinctive look and feel but it is actually the boring old cabinet itself that holds everything together.  You can't have form without function!  Building the carcass for your cabinets has never been easier.  First you need one of your favorite table saw blades to cut your stock down to size.  We then suggest using one of our Kreg Pocket Hole Jigs to make assembling the cabinets as easy as 1-2-3.

Enough for now, I am sure I will write more about cabinet making tools in the near future.  Just know this, like Danny Hill says in the article that started this post, there's always something new to learn in woodworking.  Who knows, maybe for you this year that something is cabinet making.




 

I decided to make the rockers first since that appeared to be the most challenging.  There are two layers laminated together, with the layers made up of 4 or 5 sections.  These were all cut at 22 ½ degrees which is one of the standard stops in the Incra miter gauges that I used. 

My son made a full size plot of the AutoCAD drawing for me and I laid out the rocker to make sure they were the right size and shape to cut out a smooth curve.  I then tried to match the grain and the color between segments as best I could, marked their relative position, and connected them using one of the Kreg pocket hole jigs and screws.

 

Once connected together, I could cut a smooth curve using one of Eagle America's router jigs, the large Casper Tools circle guide.  I made several cuts lowering the router height adjustment 1/4” on each successive swing.

I got a call one Thursday evening to go over to my in-laws for dinner. When my wife and I arrived, we sat down and had a nice meal. During the meal, my wife's aunt, Teresa, mentioned that she wanted to add kitchen cabinets on an open wall in her kitchen. The problem was, she could not find anything to match her existing cabinets. My wife immediately volunteered me for the job knowing I have all kinds of cabinet making tools!

After dinner, we stopped by Teresa's house and I took a few measurements, made a few drawings and made sure that Teresa was happy with the design.

The following Friday evening, I figured out what the total cost for the job would be and called Teresa to see if it was acceptable. She gave me her approval and I was off and running.

Early Saturday morning I was at the lumber yard hand selecting my material and by noon, I was back in my shop cutting everything to size.


Kreg pocket hole jigs have to be one to the best woodworking accessories you could have in your shop. I used it to build the cabinet's carcases and face frames all within a hour.

I used my woodworking router table with Eagle America's stile and rail bits to make the door and drawer frames and a 3-wing raised panel bit for the panels. It really helps to have some type of router height adjustment on your router table. I use a Jessem Master Lift and love it!

The edges of the door frames were finished using Eagle America's roundover bits. I figured I could use this project to showcase my talents as well as some of the cool cabinet hardware that is on the market so I used ball bearing drawer slides with Blum Blumotion accessories.

When it was completed, I took the top and bottom cabinet's over to Teresa's house and installed them. My wife's family was so impressed, I started getting more requests to repair, refinish and build things. But you all know how that goes...

Eric


 

 

Giving these old chairs a new look was simple and fast using some really great woodworking tools we carry at Eagle America.  I used sanding supplies such as sanding sleeves and sanding drums to clean up some of the rough edges and the Festool Rotex sander to clean up the flat surfaces. I also used one of the Kreg pocket hole jigs and a few other premium drilling products to fix a few loose joints.  

A great woodworking accessory for any woodworker to have is the Earlex sprayer. Within a half hour I sprayed 4 chairs, one table and one ottoman. By using the sprayer, it deeply penetrated the wood grains and gave it a clean uniform look.