Overheard a guy at Lowe's say 'just use pocket screws for everything' and I had to bite my tongue

I was grabbing some 2x4s near the hardware aisle in Manchester last Saturday when this older contractor tells a younger guy that pocket screws work fine for any joint. Man, that's just not true if you're building a workbench that's gonna take any real abuse. Pocket screws have their place for face frames and quick assembly, but for a bench top that needs to stay flat and solid, you're way better off with some half-lap joinery or at least some good dadoes. Anyone else run into bad advice like that from random folks at the hardware store?

2 comments

2 Comments

emerycarr7d ago

On that point about putting screws into mortises, I want to gently push back a little. In woodworking, a mortise is the hole you chop into one piece to fit a tenon. If you're putting screws into a joint, that's not a mortise, that's just a countersunk hole or a pilot hole. I think you meant adding screws to a half-lap joint for extra holding power, which plenty of folks do. But calling it a mortise might confuse someone new who looks that up and finds a whole different kind of joint. I agree with your main point though, half-laps with glue and some good cabinet screws are way stronger than pocket holes for a bench top. Just wanted to clarify the terminology so nobody gets mixed up.

mark_cooper7d ago

Built a couple of workbenches for flips over the years and learned that lesson the hard way. Pocket screws worked great until a heavy vise started pulling the top apart after a few months of use. Switched to half-lap joints with glue and screws in proper mortises and that bench is still dead flat today.