Kreg on Crack?

[kiltedwon]

Just finished giving up on my cabinet face frame. I had some leftover Tigerwood flooring I was hoping to use, real pretty stuff. Anyway it kept on cracking and its all gone now. I'm a little surprised since I was using the Kreg system and all. All settings were for 3/4 thick wood, kreg screws, etc.

Anyone else have this problem?

[Mike Angeles]

Hey Kiltedwon, Kreg makes a couple different types of screws, coarse and fine, If you werent already you might try the finer threads for hardwoods. Thats all I got. Sorry about the cracking,

Mike

[planovet]

The Kreg system and screws are nice but I bet using biscuits and glue would have prevented the cracking. Makes for a tight joint but it is permanent. That's just my limited experience, YMMV. But I'm not an experienced woodworker either. I sure the Tigerwood would have looked nice.

[Steve_Cox]

Tigerwood is about 1.5 times harder than white oak, so to avoid splitting you just about have to drill clearance holes for screws because the cells of the wood won't compress much. Tapered drillbits work pretty well with wood screws or You could avoid screws altogether and epoxy and clamp everything together. To bad about having to scrap all that beautiful wood.

[Mike Angeles]

Well you see Norm.. Errrr

FAMILY
Anacardiaceae.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
Bossona, Bototo, Coubaril, Gateado, Gomavel, Goncalo alves, Guarabu, Gusanero, Jejuira, Kingwood, Locustwood, Muira, Muiraquatiara, Mura, Urunday, Zorrowood.

Very dense and heavy wood, with a Janka hardness of 2160 (67% harder than Red Oak at 1210)

Moderately difficult to work with, especially with hand tools, with a blunting effect on cutting edges. Pre-drilling is recommended for screwing and nailing, and carbide-tipped blades and bits are recommended for power tools.
Good call on the pilot holes!

Not so sure about this one, But it did come up in Google...
http://www.tigerwoods.com

Mike

[planovet]

FAMILY
Anacardiaceae.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
Bossona, Bototo, Coubaril, Gateado, Gomavel, Goncalo alves, Guarabu, Gusanero, Jejuira, Kingwood, Locustwood, Muira, Muiraquatiara, Mura, Urunday, Zorrowood.

Will there be a test?? (I like the name Zorrowood the best)

Not so sure about this one, But it did come up in Google...
http://www.tigerwoods.com

[looped]

Very dense and,,, Moderately difficult to work with, ,,blunting.

and he plays golf too.


a friend of mine who works in private avaition when talking about dealing with him used a variation of the words jack mule many times.

[kiltedwon]

Yeah, I'm pretty broke up about the wood, but also because it was my first time using the Kreg system, pocket holes and all. I guess its a learning experience.

[planovet]

Yeah, I'm pretty broke up about the wood, but also because it was my first time using the Kreg system, pocket holes and all. I guess its a learning experience.

Welcome to the club. Most of us here are on a learning curve, some steeper (like mine) than others. As long as you learn as you go it isn't a wasted experience.

[bdosborn]

I had the same problem with maple. I started clamping a piece of scrap on the wood that I was screwing into. I put the clamp and scrap right over the area where the screw lands. This cut my cracking down to about 1 in 10 as opposed to darn near every time. Kreg also make coarse thread screws for softwood that doesn't crack as much as the fine thread but you have to back it in and out a couple of times to get it to pull tight. eBay is a great place to buy cheap pocket screws.

Bruce

[kiltedwon]

Yeah, I actually was using the finer screws on account of the hardwood and using the clamp as instructed. I even tested on some scrap smaller pieces, but in the end I think I'll opt to drill pilot holes for any hardwoods.

[Donutboy]

Experience: What you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

[starleen2]

Experience: What you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

Experience is the best teacher, but the first lesson is not always free!

[planovet]

Experience is the best teacher, but the first lesson is not always free!

True, but usually worth it as long as no blood is involved.

[bdosborn]

Yeah, I actually was using the finer screws on account of the hardwood and using the clamp as instructed. I even tested on some scrap smaller pieces, but in the end I think I'll opt to drill pilot holes for any hardwoods.

Hmm, did you try it like this?

This way holds the two pieces in position as well as cutting down on splitting. This wasn't in my Kreg instructions. You might still need pilot holes but this way has worked well with maple and red oak.
Bruce