PSA: Stop using pocket screws for face frames that get heavy use

I built a set of kitchen cabinets 2 years ago for a client in Denver. Used pocket screws on all the face frames like I always did. Last month she called me - the mitered corners on the main cabinet were pulling apart about a 16th of an inch. Took a crowbar and a hammer to fix it. Now I use mortise and tenon joints for anything that gets opened more than 50 times a day. Has anyone else had pocket screw failures show up way later?

2 comments

2 Comments

river_wright2d ago

Ha, sounds about right. I tried that once on a built-in entertainment center and the bottom drawer front popped off after about six months. Looked like I had tried to glue it back together with old gum. Pocket screws are fine for basic assembly, but I learned the hard way they don't hold up to real abuse. Now I just use biscuits and glue for anything that sees daily action.

paul_burns2d ago

Read an article in Fine Woodworking a few years back that tested pocket screws against traditional joinery under stress. They put a load on mitered joints and the pocket screws just gave up after a few thousand cycles while the mortise and tenon held strong. That article stuck with me because I had already seen the same thing happen on a kitchen job I did. The problem is pocket screws rely on the screw threads biting into the second piece but over time that bite loosens up with all the opening and closing. Mitered corners are especially bad because there's no long grain to long grain glue surface to help hold things together. I switched to dowel joinery myself for face frames after that and havent had a callback since.